 The descendant of a family of scholars, he pursued his rabbinical studies at the yeshivot of Ujhely, Verbé, and Eisenstadt (the latter under the direction of Israel Hildesheimer).He studied (1868–71) philosophy and Orientalia at the universities of Vienna, Budapest, and Berlin, taking his PhD degree at Tübingen.In December 1871, he was called as rabbi to Lauenburg in Pomerania; in 1874, to Gnesen, Prussian Posen; and in September 1878, to Frankfurt am Main.