Nathan Adler | |
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| Personal life | |
| Born | (1741-12-16)December 16, 1741 |
| Died | September 17, 1800(1800-09-17) (aged 58) |
| Spouse | Rachel Cohen |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
Nathan Adler (1741–1800) was aGermankabbalist androsh yeshiva. He was responsible for training several prominent rabbis of the era.
He was born inFrankfurt on December 16, 1741. As a precocious child he won the admiration ofChaim Joseph David Azulai (Chida), who, in 1752, came to Frankfurt tosolicit contributions for the poor of theJewish communities inEretz Yisrael. Adler attended the rabbinical school ofJacob Joshua, author ofPenei Yehoshua, who was at that time rabbi at Frankfurt, but hisprincipal teacher wasDavid Tevele Schiff, afterwardchief rabbi of the United Kingdom. In 1761, he established ayeshivah himself, in which several prominent rabbis received their early teachings, notable among whom wereAbraham Auerbach,Abraham Bing, rabbi inWürzburg,[1]Sekl Loeb Wormser,[2] and especiallyMoses Sofer (Schreiber), rabbi inPresburg.[1]
Nathan Adler devoted himself to the study of theKabbala, and adopted the liturgical system ofIsaac Luria, assembling about himself a select community of kabbalistic adepts. He was one of the first Ashkenazim to adopt theSephardi 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 theHasidim, who had at that time provoked the strongest censures on the part of theTalmudists 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]
Rabbi 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 commandedMoses 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 Rabbi Nathan's piety and scholarship grew, and in 1782 he was elected rabbi ofBoskowitz inMoravia. 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 was not repealed until shortly before his death at Frankfurt on September 17, 1800. His wife, Rachel, daughter of Feist Cohen ofGiessen, survived him. He left no children, thoughNathan 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 theMishnah he wrote brief marginal notes, mostly cross-references. Some of them were collected and explained ingeniously byB. H. Auerbach under the titleMishnat Rabbi Natan. One responsum is found among those of Moses Sofer onYoreh De'ah, 261.[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Adler, Nathan".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. RetrievedMar 17, 2015.| International | |
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