Eliezer Adler

Eliezer Adler
Personal life
Born	(1866-08-30)30 August 1866 Stanisławów, Galicia (now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine)
Died	16 January 1949(1949-01-16) (aged 82) Manchester, United Kingdom
Spouse	Sarah (Rosenthal) Adler
Children	10
Parents	Yehuda Yona Hass (father) Chayala Adler (mother)
Religious life
Religion	Judaism
Main work	Business (self-employed)
Dynasty	Adler

Eliezer Adler (30 August 1866 – 16 January 1949) was an early Jewish communal leader in England and is regarded as one of the founders of the Gateshead Jewish community. A self-made businessman and devout Orthodox Jew, Adler played a foundational role in establishing religious institutions in Gateshead, which has since become one of the leading centers of traditional Jewish learning in Europe.^[1][2]

Early life

Adler was born in Stanisławów, Galicia, then part of the Austrian Empire (modern-day Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine), to Yehuda Yona Hass and Chayala (née Adler). Due to the absence of civil marriage, he was likely registered under his mother’s surname. He immigrated to Liverpool, England, in 1882 at the age of 15, seeking to support himself and his widowed mother.

Gateshead community leadership

After settling in Newcastle upon Tyne, Adler sought a community that met his high religious standards. Dissatisfied with the existing synagogues in Newcastle, he began crossing the River Tyne to Gateshead for prayer. When his mother died, Adler organized a minyan to say Kaddish, catalyzing the formation of Gateshead's first Orthodox congregation.

In 1887, Adler co-founded the *Shomrei Shabbos* synagogue with fellow immigrant Zelig (Zachariah) Bernstone.^[3] He soon became the congregation’s first president and its most prominent figure. His leadership laid the foundation for Gateshead's emergence as a leading center of Orthodox Judaism in the UK. The community he helped build went on to establish:

• a cheder (religious primary school) in 1912,
• the Gateshead Talmudical College (yeshiva) in 1929,
• the Gateshead Kolel in 1941, and
• the Jewish Teachers’ Training College in 1944.^[4]

These institutions have trained thousands of students and continue to operate to this day. In recognition of Adler's foundational role, his seat in the Gateshead synagogue was left permanently vacant after his death.

Personal life

Adler married Sarah Rosenthal Doyschen, with whom he had ten children. He worked as a hawker of jewelry^[5] and later as a furniture dealer.^[6] He passed away on 16 January 1949 (15 Tevet 5709) in Manchester while living with one of his daughters and is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Rainsough, Manchester.^[7]

Legacy

Eliezer Adler is remembered as a central figure in shaping Gateshead into a bastion of traditional Jewish education and observance. Scholars have noted that *“with his arrival, Jewish Gateshead began to expand”*.^[1] His commitment to Orthodox principles and communal leadership continues to influence Gateshead’s Jewish institutions to this day.

References

1. Dansky, Miriam (1992). Gateshead: Its Community, Its Personalities, Its Institutions. Targum Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-944070-88-8.
2. Olsover, Lewis (1980). The Jewish Communities of North-East England, 1755–1980. J.N. Olsover. pp. 189–192.
3. Wise, Yaakov. "The First Jews in Gateshead". Jewish Communities and Records – UK. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
4. Dansky, Miriam (1992). Gateshead: Its Community, Its Personalities, Its Institutions. Targum Press. p. 82.
5. "1901 Census: Eliezer Adler". Find My Past UK. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
6. "1911 Census: Eliezer Adler". Find My Past UK. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
7. "Eliezer (Hass) Adler". Geni. Retrieved 26 May 2025.

Further reading

• Dansky, Miriam (1992). Gateshead: Its Community, Its Personalities, Its Institutions. Targum Press. ISBN 978-0-944070-88-8. OCLC 28050187.
• Olsover, Lewis (1981). The Jewish Communities of North-East England, 1755–1980 (1st ed.). Ashley Mark Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0950622446.