1. Early Training Steeped in Ancient Traditions (Fragment)

One of the rabbis under whom Leon Rosenberg studied in the Seminary, had exclusively sons of priests in his care whom he carefully prepared for that service in the future Temple. This rabbi, Chofez Chaim, (a kind of “nickname” given to him because of his extreme piety and his belief that the Messiah would come in his time) was especially interested in preparing the sons of priests for that purpose.

Leon had three “birthdays.” His actual birthday was, as we mentioned earlier, the 15th of February 1875. However, because he was a child of a priest his real birthday could not be registered. His father, being strictly rabbinical, had some scruples in regard to registering his firstborn son with the Gentile authorities. His conscientious objection to this was based on the Holy Scriptures, Numbers 23:9, where the record reads: “Israel shall not be numbered among the nations.” Another particular objection to registering his firstborn son was based especially on the words in the Book of Numbers 1:49 regarding the tribe of Levi, “Thou shall not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel.” However, in compliance with the civil law regarding registration of new‑born children, the father was obliged to register his child. This he did, and it was done on the 22nd day of April of the same year. Only in doing so the father changed the name of his son somewhat, registering him not as Isaac Levi, the name which had been given to him on the eighth day after his birth, when the ritual of circumcision was observed on him, but under the name of “Leon, the son of Lazar Rosenberg.” This date became Leon’s official “birthday” and appeared in all of his personal documents ever after.

The third “birthday” came later at Leon’s twentieth birthday and after his graduation from the Rabbinical Seminary. It came at the time of his conversion as the most essential factor for every one who accepts Jesus as his Savior and Lord, and was THE NEW BIRTH of which the Lord Jesus spoke to rabbi Nicodemus, saying, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).

The new registration did not make any difference in the Jewish Synagogue, nor was his name changed there. The name “Isaac Levi” which was given to him at the time of sacred ritual by which he was admitted into the Covenant of Abraham, remained the same. There he was known as “Isaac Levi, the son of Eleazar the Priest.” No surname (last name) was ever mentioned in the Orthodox Synagogue of those days. The surnames, imposed upon Jews by a hostile government, involved much embarrassment and humiliation but were completely ignored by the Jewish Synagogue.

The reason why Jews in those days objected to surnames was not only because they were a novelty in Jewish history, but also because in their opinion these names constituted a violation of their religious rights, as unequal to non‑Jews.

It is well known that family ties in Israel were rigidly regulated by the Law of Moses — that Israel might be a “separated” nation — and the names given to children born into the family were usually of Biblical significance and were inseparably linked with the name of the father. This was carried on through many generations, until a cunning Emperor of Austria — who desired to replenish his empty treasury — decreed that every Jew under his dominion should purchase a surname and pay a price for the same, according to the name which he chose from a list of surnames presented to him by the tax collectors.

These names were classified according to their derivations from various plants, minerals, animals, etc. Hence we find a great variety of surnames among Jews, such as cat, dog, calf, cow, ox, bear, wolf, lion, silver, gold, diamond, stone, smith, taylor (tailor), carpenter — all, of course, in the Jewish version and not as they appear in English. The same was the case with names taken from various plants — a leaf, a blade of grass, a tree, a branch (“blatt” — leaf; “zweig” — a branch; “baum” — a tree, or combined as in “Birnbaum” — pear tree; “Greenzweig” — a green branch; “Rosenblatt” rose leaf; “Rosenblum” — rose blossom; “Rosenberg” — a rose mountain or a hill of roses; “Rosenthal” — rose valley; “Rosenfeld” rose field, or a field of roses, etc. These were German words).

In the synagogue, however, Jewish identification remained in the old manner, “Moses, the son of Amram,” “David, the son of Jesse,” etc.

Following this rule, young Leon never appeared under the name “Rosenberg” in the synagogue. When he was invited to read the Holy Torah, the Scroll, in the synagogue on the Sabbath day or during the Festivals, he was called by the name given him at the time of his circumcision, namely, “Yitzchak Ben Eleazar ha‑Cohan” (“Isaac, the son of Eleazar the Priest”).