On My Mind: Baron Wilhelm Karl von Rothschild, the “Frum” Rothschild

Printable Version Email to a Friend

July 17, 1992

Every Jew knows of the fabulous Rothschild family. I believe every Jew is proud of the Rothschild family, which for almost 250 years has stood not only for great wealth, honesty and influence, but also for charity. From childhood, pride in and respect for that illustrious Jewish family was installed in me by my late father.

I am sure every one of us knows of some "Rothschild story." Like the one about the poor teacher, who said, "If I were as rich as Rothschild, I would be richer than Rothschild -- I would teach on the side." Or about the young destitute businessman who came to Rothschild for financial help in his business. However, instead of offering monetary aid, Rothschild took him by the arm, and walked with him twice across the floor of London's Stock Market -- whereafter the young man's credit rating rose so much that he got all the loans he needed. Or about a coachman, who complained that Rothschild's daughter gave him a bigger tip than he, to which Rothschild answered, "that is because she has a rich father."

In these stories no heed is paid as to which Rothschild the story is about, or where or when it is supposed to have taken place. The name "Rothschild" is enough! But with a family so spread-out over the continent of Europe, and over so many centuries, we must try to be more specific.

The first Rothschild was Mayer Amschel Rothschild (from "Roth Schild," the "red shield" which hung on their Frankfurt ghetto house). He lived from 1744 to 1812. His signature, which appears on a letter which I bought some years ago, is of a strong hand and character. He had five sons, whom he placed to carry out banking transactions in Naples, Vienna, Rome, and Paris, in addition to Frankfurt. Ever since then every Rothschild bank has a coat-of-arms showing a cluster of five arrows. As their wealth grew, their attachment to Judaism grew weaker, but they always cared to be known as leaders in the Jewish communities where they lived. An outstanding member of the family was Baron Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934), also known to Jewry as "hanadiv hayadua" ("the famous philanthropist"), who gave financial support without which the early settlements in Eretz Yisrael could not have existed.

But there was one Rothschild who is little known, but who did great deeds for the old religious communities of the Holy Land at a time of great deprivation, poverty and sickness in Jerusalem and Safed. His name: Baron Wilhelm Karl (Shimon Wolf) von Rothschild (1828-1901). He was a deeply religious, learned Orthodox Jew. I recently acquired a marvelous document illustrating his great role in helping the religious Jews. The document lists the names of some 700 Ashkenazic families, and the European towns they came from before settling in Safed, and ends with a dedication to Baron von Rothschild for his great help, calling him "rosh alfey Yisrael, tzaddik betzidkato, al Yisrael hadrato, hasar m'Frankfurt" ("leader of thousands of Jews, righteous in his ways, his splendor is on Israel, the prince from Frankfort").

I asked myself where this particular Rothschild got his religious influences from, and now I have the answer from another document just acquired. It is a personal letter written by Baron von Rothschild for Rosh HaShanah 1845, addressed to the famous Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Lehren of Amsterdam -- who, together with his committee, organized and centralized all the collections from Jews in Europe and America, which he distributed to religious institutions throughout Eretz Yisrael. Known as a great Talmudist from Germany, he had settled in Amsterdam. The Baron's letter is written partly in pure Hebrew, and partly in pure German, written in Hebrew letters. What is remarkable is that he humbly signed the letter "divrey avdo vetalmido (the words of your servant and disciple) Shimon Wolf von Rothschild." It is evident from this that he was inspired by Rabbi Lehren, who was his teacher.

By the time the Baron reached his 50th wedding anniversary, in 1899, Rabbi Shmuel Salant and Chacham Shaul Elyashar, respectively the Ashkenazic and Sefardic Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem, presented him with a magnificent gold-lettered diploma -- which is also in my possession. In it he is called "rosh mashbir, aluf biYehuda, hasar hatzaddik, moreynu harav" ("the chief provider, lord among Jews, the righteous prince, our master and rabbi"). These were not empty phrases used merely to flatter their benefactor. As is clear from his humble devotion to his religious leader and teacher, we can judge him worthy of these exalted titles.

Unfortunately, after the "frum" Rothschild died in 1901, he left no heir behind, and so the Frankfurt branch of the family bank was closed forever. But his good deeds live on in Eretz Yisrael, and should be underlined in the proud annals of our history.

[ HOME ] [ BIOGRAPHY ] [ ARTICLES ] [ BOOKS ]
[ CONTACT US ] [ ORDER FORM ]
[ MISSING ITEMS FROM THE COLLECTION ]