Nathan Marcus Adler

Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler
Chief Rabbi of the British Empire
Position Chief Rabbi
Began 13 October 1844
Ended 21 January 1890
Predecessor Solomon Hirschell
Successor Hermann Adler
Personal details
Born (1803-01-13)13 January 1803
Hanover, Electorate of Hanover
Died 21 January 1890(1890-01-21) (aged 87)
Brighton, United Kingdom
Painting of Nathan Marcus Adler (19th century, Kempf, The Jewish Museum, London)

Nathan Marcus HaKohen Adler (13 January 1803 – 21 January 1890) (Hebrew name: Natan ben Mordechai ha-Kohen) was the Orthodox Chief Rabbi of the British Empire from 1845 until his death.

Life

A kohen by birth, Rabbi Nathan was born in Hanover, in present-day Germany. He was apparently named after the kabbalist Nathan Adler (according to the biography of the latter in the Jewish Encyclopedia). His distant relative Jacob Adler, who made his acquaintance in the winter of 1883–1884, described him as the "highest religious authority not only of London Jews but of all Orthodox Jews throughout the United Kingdom and the Empire." He subscribed to what was known as the Frankfurter Orthodoxy.

Whilst Rabbi in Hanover, he became acquainted with Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Hanover (till 1837 a monarchy in personal union with the UK), who is thought to have recommended him for the post of Chief Rabbi in Britain.[1], one reason being given for him being chosen to succeed as Chief Rabbi: the wife of the Duke was in Germany and was about to give birth. The couple faced a difficult problem: were the chiild to be born on German soil, it wouldn't be able to ascend the throne as a British sovereign. Rabbi Adler was consulted and he advised for the mother to be taken out by ship to the open sea, well outside German territorial waters and years later the Duke remembered his prescient advice. [2]

Out of 13 candidates, mostly from Germany, he made the short list of four for the post of Chief Rabbi of the British Empire. The three others were: Samson Raphael Hirsch, Benjamin Hirsch Auerbach, Hirsch Hirschfeld. With 135 communities voting having one vote each, on 1 December 1844, Adler received 121 votes, Hirschfeld 12, and Hirsch 2.[3]

The first university-educated British Chief Rabbi, and the first to undertake regular pastoral tours within the United Kingdom, he was also a founder of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty and Better Protection of Children. His period as Chief Rabbi saw the completion of the emancipation of Jews within the United Kingdom; the election (1847) and seating (1858) of Lionel de Rothschild as the first Jewish member of parliament; Nathan Mayer Rothschild's ascent as the first Jewish member of the House of Lords (1885); and Sir David Salomons's term as the first Jewish Lord Mayor of London (1855).

Adler was instrumental in bringing together the United Synagogue, established by Act of Parliament in 1870. As of 2006, this remains the largest religious grouping within the British Jewish community, and takes its religious authority from the Chief Rabbi.

His monumental work is the commentary Netinah LaGer on the Targum Onkelos, an Aramaic version of the Torah.[4]

Adler is buried at the US (United Synagogue) cemetery in Willesden.

Legacy

Adler Street, in London E1, was named after him; the Jewish Institute (a reading-room) and two synagogues formerly stood there, until the area was destroyed in The Blitz.

His elder son, Marcus Nathan Adler (1837-1911) was involved in scholarly activities such as writing, editing, and translating. For instance, in 1907 his critical text, translation, and commentary of Benjamin of Tudela's important medieval manuscript, The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, was published.

Adler's younger son Hermann Adler (1839-1911) was also a distinguished rabbi: head of a congregation in Bayswater during his father's lifetime, Adler's assistant from the time Adler's health began to deteriorate in 1879, and his successor as Chief Rabbi.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Roger Fulford, Royal Dukes, London (1973), p. 295.
  2. ↑ See another version to this legend in the Inyan, January 2015 (a supplement published by HaModia newspaper): https://issuu.com/hamodia/docs/inyan_jan_15
  3. ↑ Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg. Guest Columnist: Samson Raphael: The British connection. The Jerusalem Post, June 12, 2008 Hirsch:
  4. ↑ http://www.oztorah.com/2009/08/nathan-marcus-adler-chief-rabbi/ Rabbi Raymond Apple's biographical essay on Chief Rabbi Adler

Sources

  • Adler, Jacob (1999). A Life on the Stage: A Memoir. Translated and with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld. New York: Knopf. pp. 233–234. ISBN 0-679-41351-0.
  •  Carlyle, Edward Irving (1901). "Adler, Nathan Marcus". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement​. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  • Deutsch, Gotthard, Adler, Nathan, Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906); on the kabbalist Adler, says that Nathan Marcus Adler was named after him.
  • Kirk, John Foster (1891). "Adler, Nathan Marcus (1803-1890)". A Supplement to Allibone's Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company.
  • Lipkind, Goodman, Adler, Nathan Marcus, Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906).
  • Sanders, Lloyd C. (1887). "Adler, Nathan Marcus (1803-)". Celebrities of the Century: Being a Dictionary of Men and Women of the Nineteenth Century. London: Cassell & Co.
  • Schmidt, Helmut Dan (1962). Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler (1803–1890): Jewish Educator from Germany. London: Leo Baeck Institute.
  • "History of the Chief Rabbinate". Office of the Chief Rabbi.
Jewish titles
Preceded by
Solomon Hirschell		 Chief Rabbi of Great Britain
1845–1890		 Succeeded by
Hermann Adler
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