Isabella Polock was the daughter of Rebecca Barnett and Hyman Polock,German Jews who had settled in Philadelphia in the early 1810s. Bornin Amsterdam, they had both moved to London, where they were marriedby the chief German rabbi, before setting sail for America at thebehest of Rebecca’s uncle Aaron Levy.Their last child, Isabella, was born November 26, 1834.

Theybecame members of Mikveh Israel and were deeply involved with Jewishlife in Philadelphia. Polock went to RebeccaGratz’s Hebrew school and later recalled being tested byGratz at the Cherry Street synagogue around the holiday of pruimin 1841. She later taught at the school, as did her sisters.

OnNovember 11, 1857, she married MorrisRosenbach, a clothing merchant who had come from Germany overa decade earlier. Despite some early success, Morris ended up losinghis business, and times were often difficult for the family.

Inspite of financial uncertainties, Isabella was actively involved withthe Hebrew Sunday School Society, Hebrew Female Benevolent Society,the Jewish Orphans’ Home and the congregation in which she had beenreared. Morris died in 1885, and Isabella was left to take care oftheir eight children, including their youngest, Abraham Simon Wolf,who would later in life become America’s most highly regardedmanuscript and rare book collector, bibliophile and antiquarian.