Background
His father, Jekuthiel Solomon, a scholarly merchant who claimed he was a descendant of R. Moses Isserles, died in 1833, aged forty-four.
His father, Jekuthiel Solomon, a scholarly merchant who claimed he was a descendant of R. Moses Isserles, died in 1833, aged forty-four.
While diligently occupied with his Talmudical studies, he came across the "Tzemach Dawid," a chronological work by David Gans, which aroused his interest in Jewish biography and history. He received his ordination as rabbi from Solomon Kluger, Zvi Hirsch Chajes, and Dob Berush Meisels, the last named of whom was rabbi of Cracow until 1854.