Longtime Boston Celtics coach Arnold “Red” Auerbach, son of a Russian Jewish immigrant and nine-time NBA champion. Photo: City of Boston Archives / Wikimedia Commons.

As a boy I was not enamored of my family surname. To be sure, Auerbach secured a place at, or very near, the top of the alphabetical register in my grammar school classes. My father and his brother and daughters aside, I knew no others. It did not have the instant Jewish resonance of names such as Cohen, Greenberg or Rosenthal. Whether that was a blessing or curse was of no concern.

But as a teenager there was a widely known Auerbach to admire: Arnold “Red” Auerbach, the highly successful coach of the Boston Celtics basketball team. At an age when sports were my passionate preoccupation, he provided reassurance that my name did not lack significance. But when, as a budding historian, my first published article embedded my name in print, I felt proud — of my achievement, not my name.

That began to change years later during my early wanderings through Jerusalem. I was intrigued by the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim, perhaps because my assimilated Jewish self — once my required Hebrew school years and bar mitzvah had passed — had no place for religious observance. When I came to a street named Rehov Averbuch I became curious, for the first time, about my family history — or, at least, my family name. My interest was further sparked when my son sent a photo of himself in Germany standing by a sign for the town of Auerbach.

Auerbachs were identified as descendants of Moses Auerbach, court Jew to the bishop of Regensburg during the 15th century. Eager to assimilate “in speech, dress and manners,” court Jews displayed an “entrepreneurial spirit” that enabled them to manage the finances of European royalty and nobility — and, to be sure, enrich their own.

I was proud to learn of Auerbachs who had been scholars between the 16^th and 19^th centuries. Rabbi Menahem Mendel Auerbach became an internationally recognized Talmudic authority and author of “A Crown of Old Men.” His brother Benjamin authored “Source of Wisdom,” combining “worldly wisdom and pious reflection.” Samuel Auerbach, son of the chief rabbi of Prague, wrote a book praising his father’s charitable generosity. Another family member, Phineas Auerbach, was president of the Jewish court in Krakow and author of “Lucid Law.”

The most prominent 19th century Auerbach, Rabbi Meir Auerbach (son of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Auerbach), encouraged members of his congregation to emigrate to Palestine, as he did in 1860. Leaving Poland behind he became the chief rabbi of Jerusalem. He established a synagogue in the Old City Jewish Quarter and was one of the founders of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea She’arim. Rehov Averbuch testifies to his leadership and prominence. Other Auerbachs followed in his footsteps. Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was a renowned Orthodox rabbi and Rosh Yeshiva of the Kol Torah yeshiva in Jerusalem. The Ramat Shlomo neighborhood is named after him.

By the late 19th century Jewish piety and rabbinical authority — and Auerbachs — were overshadowed by the entrepreneurial success of Rothschilds, Oppenheimers and Seligmans and, more recently, billionaires Michael Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheldon Adelson and George Soros.

By now the range of Auerbachs, geographically and professionally, is widespread, demonstrating their integration into modern secular society. Among successful Auerbachs Wikipedia lists an economist, guitarist, novelist, television and film writer; German politician and magician; classic composer and pianist; artist; private equity investor; Australian journalist; American soccer player and Russian chess grandmaster.

The transformation from a religious to secular identity, with the diversity of choices that accompanied it, is not limited to Jews. (Catholics followed a similar trajectory.) The Auerbach journey from rabbinical Orthodoxy to commercial and professional success testifies to the opportunities for achievement in a modern secular society — and the price of assimilation that is exacted. Auerbachs are hardly alone in their willingness — indeed eagerness — to pay it.

Jerold S. Auerbach is the author of twelve books, including Print to Fit: The New York Times, Zionism and Israel 1896-2016, selected for Mosaic by Ruth Wisse and Martin Kramer as a Best Book for 2019