Nathan hakohen Adler (1741–1800) was a German kabbalist born in Frankfurt, December 16, 1741. As a precocious child he won the admiration of Chaim Joseph David Azulai (Chida), who, in 1752, came to Frankfurt to solicit contributions for the poor of Palestine. Adler attended the rabbinical school of Jacob Joshua, author of Pene Yehoshua, who was at that time rabbi at Frankfurt, but his principal teacher was David Tevele Schiff, afterward chief rabbi of the United Kingdom. In 1761 he established a yeshivah himself, in which several prominent rabbis received their early teachings, notable among whom were Abraham Auerbach, Abraham Bing, rabbi in Würzburg, and especially Moses Sofer (Schreiber), rabbi in Presburg.
Nathan Adler was mystically inclined. He had devoted himself to the study of the Kabbala, and adopted the liturgical system of Isaac Luria, assembling about himself a select community of kabbalistic adepts. He was one of the first Ashkenazim to adopt the Sephardi pronunciation of Hebrew, and gave hospitality to a Sephardi scholar for several months to ensure that he learnt that pronunciation accurately. He prayed according to the Halebi ritual, pronounced the priestly blessing every day, and in other ways approached the school of the Hasidim, who had at that time provoked the strongest censures on the part of the Talmudists of the old school. His followers claimed that he had performed miracles (Moses Sofer, Chatam Sofer, Orah Chayyim, 197), and turned visionaries themselves, frightening many persons with predictions of misfortunes which would befall them. Finally, the rabbis and congregational leaders intervened in 1779 and prohibited, under penalty of excommunication, the assemblies in Nathan Adler's house.
David Bowie ( /ˈboʊ.i/ BOH-ee; born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. He is known for his distinctive voice and the intellectual depth and eclecticism of his work.
Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in July 1969, when his song "Space Oddity" reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart. After a three-year period of experimentation he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single "Starman" and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie's impact at that time, as described by biographer David Buckley, "challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day" and "created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture." The relatively short-lived Ziggy persona proved merely one facet of a career marked by continual reinvention, musical innovation and striking visual presentation.
Marilyn Manson (born Brian Hugh Warner; January 5, 1969) is an American musician, artist and former music journalist known for his controversial stage persona and image as the lead singer of the eponymous band Marilyn Manson. His stage name was formed from juxtaposing the names of two 1960s American cultural icons, namely actress Marilyn Monroe and convicted multiple murder convictCharles Manson as a critical and, simultaneously, laudatory appraisal of America and its peculiar culture. The seemingly outrageous styles for which he models and the controversy surrounding his lyrics have led to his public appeal.
Marilyn Manson was born in Canton, Ohio. He is the only child of Barbra Warner (maiden name Wyer) and Hugh Warner. Manson is of Polish and German descent on his father's side, and is a fourth cousin twice removed of Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan. In his autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, he detailed his grandfather's sexual fetishes (including bestiality and sadomasochism) which led to the forming of Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids.