Samuel Adler (December 3, 1809 – June 9, 1891) was a leading German-American Reform rabbi, Talmudist, and author. Early life Samuel Adler was born on December 3, 1809 in Worms, Confederation of the Rhine (present-day Germany). He 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 two cities. After graduating from the Frankfurt Gymnasium, Adler entered, in 1831, the University of Bonn and later that of Gießen, where he studied Oriental languages and philosophy for five years and awarded the Doctor of Philosophy in 1836. Career 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. In 1856 Adler removed to United States at New York City, and at the beginning of 1857, he received an offer from Temple Emanu-El, New York to succeed Leo Merzbacher, recently deceased, as the head rabbi of the leading Reform congregation in the United States. Adler accepted the call and moved to New York in March 1857. He remained active as the spiritual head of Emanu-El until 1874, when he was made rabbi emeritus and relieved from active work for the rest of his life. He was succeeded by Gustav Gottheil. During his tenure, Adler continued the practice of conducting Temple services in German, in preference to the traditional Hebrew, for the congregation that consisted mostly of prosperous German immigrant families. Adler also revised the German prayer book introduced by Merzbacher. He also authored the bi-lingual A Guide to the Instruction in the Israelitish Religion (Leitfaden für den israelitischen Religionsunterricht) for use in Emanu El's Hebrew Sunday school. Samuel Adler was not merely a thorough Talmudic scholar, but also had a considerable command of the knowledge of various issues concerning the Jews, including their history, religion, and literature. Adler was committed to translating his scholarship into social action. During