Nathan Adler (1741–1800) was a prominent German kabbalist and rosh yeshiva in Frankfurt. A deeply revered yet controversial figure, he mentored several of the era's most influential rabbis, most notably the Chatam Sofer. While Adler's unique practices led to significant institutional opposition and repeated threats or decrees of excommunication, his standing and reputation were formally restored by the Frankfurt community just prior to his death.
Rabbi Nathan Adler | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | December 16, 1741 |
| Died | September 17, 1800 (aged 58) |
| Buried | Old Jewish Cemetery on Battonnstrasse |
| Spouse | Rachel Cohen |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
Biography
editHe was born in Frankfurt on December 16, 1741. As a precocious child he won the admiration of Chaim Joseph David Azulai, who, in 1752, came to Frankfurt to solicit contributions for the poor of the Jewish communities in Eretz Yisrael. Adler attended the rabbinical school of Jacob Joshua Falk, author of Penei Yehoshua, who was at that time the Chief Rabbi of Frankfurt, but his principal teacher was David Tevele Schiff, later to become the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom. In 1761, he established a yeshivah himself, in which several prominent rabbis received their early training, notable among whom were Abraham Auerbach, Abraham Bing, rabbi in Würzburg,[1] Sekl Loeb Wormser,[2] and especially Moses Sofer, rabbi in Presburg.[1]
Nathan Adler was heavily involved in the study of the Kabbala, and adopted the liturgical system of Isaac Luria, assembling about himself a select community of kabbalistic adepts. He was one of the first Ashkenazim to adopt the Sephardi pronunciation of Hebrew, and gave hospitality to a Sephardi scholar for several months to ensure that he learnt that pronunciation accurately. He prayed according to the Sephardic ritual, pronounced the priestly blessing every day, and in other ways approached the school of the Hasidim, who had at that time provoked the strongest censures on the part of the Talmudists of the old school. His followers claimed that he had performed miracles,[3] and turned visionaries themselves, frightening many persons with predictions of misfortunes which would befall them. Finally, the rabbis and congregational leaders intervened in 1779 and prohibited, under penalty of excommunication, the assemblies in Nathan Adler's house.[1]
Nathan, however, paid no attention to these orders. He even excommunicated a man who had disregarded his orders, although this was contrary to the laws of the congregation. His doors remained open day and night and he declared all his possessions to be common property, that thus he might prevent the punishment of those who might carry away by mistake anything with them. Moreover, he commanded Moses Sofer, who had quarreled with his father, never to speak to his parent again. When the same disciple reported to him that he had gone through the whole Talmud, he advised him to celebrate that event by a fast of three days.[1]
In spite of the continued conflict with the congregational authorities, the fame of Nathan's piety and scholarship grew, and in 1782 he was elected rabbi of Boskowitz in Moravia. But his excessive and mystical piety having made enemies for him, he was forced to leave his congregation, and in 1785 returned to Frankfurt. As he still persisted in his former ways, the threat of excommunication was renewed in 1789, an act that remained a source of tension until the final year of his life. However, as his health declined in 1800, the communal stance shifted from opposition to veneration. Shortly before his death on September 17, 1800, the communal leadership moved to formally reconcile with him and restore his public standing. His wife, Rachel, daughter of Feist Cohen of Giessen, survived him. He left no children, though Nathan Marcus Adler, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, may have been named after him.[1]
His mysticism seems to have been the reason for his avoidance of literary publications. The kabbalists claimed that real esoteric theology should never be published, but should only be orally transmitted to worthy disciples. In his copy of the Mishnah he wrote brief marginal notes, mostly cross-references. Some of them were collected and explained ingeniously by B. H. Auerbach under the title Mishnat Rabbi Natan. One responsum is found among those of Moses Sofer on Yoreh De'ah, 261.[1]
Death and Restoration of Standing
editShortly before his death, the Frankfurt Jewish community enacted a significant public reversal of their previous censures. The communal leadership and the beit din—which held sole jurisdiction over the excommunication process—moved to formally restore Adler's standing. The communal ledger was amended just prior to Adler's passing to nullify any standing decrees or threats of excommunication. This was a formal restoration of his reputation, and also from a halachic standpoint, would ensure that he would not be buried with any restrictions typically imposed on those under a communal ban.
In a final gesture of reconciliation, the beit din and communal directors orchestrated his interment in a prime location in the Frankfurt Jewish cemetery, immediately adjacent to the past Chief Rabbi, Jacob Joshua Falk.
Works
editReferences
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Adler, Nathan". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Retrieved Mar 17, 2015.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography:- Auerbach, preface to "Mishnat Rabbi Natan," Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1862;
- M. Horovitz, Frankfurter Rabbinen, iv. 38 et seq., Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1885;
- S. Schreiber, Huṭ ha-Meshulash (Biographies of Moses Sofer, Akiba Eger, and Abraham Samuel Benjamin Sofer), pp. 2b et seq. (full of legends), Pecs, 1887;
- L. Löw, Gesammelte Schriften, ii. 91-94, Szegedin, 1890.
- ↑ Scholem, Gershom (2008). "WORMSER, SECKEL". Encyclopaedia Judaica. American–Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (published 2013). Retrieved Mar 17, 2015.
- ↑ Moses Sofer, Ḥatam Sofer, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 197