Samuel Adler

Who was Samuel Adler?

Samuel Adler was a leading German-American Reform rabbi, Talmudist, and author. He was also the father of Felix Adler, the well-known founder of the Society for Ethical Culture.

Adler received his early religious education from his father Isaac, who was one of the associate rabbis in Worms and instructed him in Hebrew and the Biblical and Rabbinic literature of the Jews. When Rabbi Isaac Adler died on December 23, 1822, thirteen-year-old Samuel, his four young siblings, and their mother were left in straitened circumstances. In spite of innumerable difficulties and extreme privation, Samuel continued his studies at the yeshivot in Worms and Frankfurt-am-Main, while concurrently pursuing a regular course of classical and general studies at the high schools of those cities.

After graduating from the Frankfurt Gymnasium, Adler entered, in 1831, the University of Bonn and later that of Gießen, where he was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy in 1836. Adler assumed his first official appointment as a preacher and assistant rabbi in Worms. In 1842, he was elected rabbi of the Jewish congregations in Alzey and remained in this position until 1857.