The world's foremost Houdini experts did not believe it even existed. So it came as a complete surprise.
On our recent trip to Milwaukee for the 90th Official Houdini Séance, we discovered the remarkable document reproduced above. It is a certified official copy of the rabbinical ordination credential for Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiss, Houdini's father. It was issued in 1852, when Weiss was about 21 years old.
This document was filed with the Milwaukee County Registry of Deeds on November 16, 1882, and is now in the archives of the Milwaukee County Historical Society. Among other things, it definitively establishes that the Weiss family moved from Appleton to Milwaukee earlier than stated in all the biographies.
In future posts we will drill down into the details of the document and their implications. For now, here is the translation, from the old-style German.
By the Rabbinical Examination Committee for the Wespnimer Comitat, delegated according to the regulation of S.S. 12 of the A. H. P., dated August 15, 1851.
Rabbi Graduation i/Certificate of Ordination
Public praise be to God for the grace that he has fulfilled our desire which we have had ever since, namely that the wise men in Israel take to heart the words of our exalted monarch to reconcile the Mosaic law with the philosophy and, in doing so, continue to spread and firmly establish truth and peace, good and virtue. Praised be the Lord who has shown us such a wise man in the person of the esteemed Morenu Dr. Mayer Samuel Weiss in whom thorough knowledge and science are combined. We, therefore, ordain him a rabbi and grant him the power to act and decide with regard to things permissible and things prohibited and, in particular, to marriage and divorce of marriages according to the Mosaic matrimonial laws in accordance with his great wisdom and knowledge of the law. Besides that he shall assume the obligation to instruct the congregations of Israel in the fear of God and the duties of man, so that they shall come closer to God and following his teachings and commandments.
May our Father in Heaven be with him and give him the strength in his office, so that it will be a credit to him and to Israel as a whole.
Ofen, 16th May 1852
Jacob MaiselesDistrict Rabbi at
Tapolezo as President
of the Examination Committee
(Seal)
This is witnessed by
Samuel Bauer, Rabbi
and Royal Counsellor
(Seal)
The last page is in English. It is a notary's oath that this is a true and complete copy of the original, which, we assume, remained in Rabbi Weiss's possession. A couple of notes: Ofen is the old German name for Buda, predecessor of Budapest. A Morenu is a highly educated and trained Biblical scholar, usually a prerequisite for becoming an ordained Rabbi.
RELATED:
MYSTERIES OF MILWAUKEE
HOUDINI'S MISSING SIBLINGS
HOW HOUDINI'S FATHER GOT TO WISCONSIN
HOUDINI'S FATHER ESCAPES BUDAPEST
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