 At the age of twelve he entered the "yeshiva" of Nitra, but returned to study with his grandfather until he could enroll in the Pressburg Yeshiva, then headed by Rabbi Samuel Benjamin Sofer (the "Ksav Sofer").He then proceeded to university studies and eventual doctorate in Mainz, where he became acquainted with rabbi Marcus Lehmann, one of the leaders of German Orthodoxy.He married Sophie, youngest daughter of rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch of Frankfurt, in 1876, and soon after accepted the rabbinate of Pápa in Hungary.