- Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog
Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (1889–1959), also known as Isaac Herzog, was the first
Chief Rabbi of theIrish Free State , his term lasting from 1921 to 1936.cite web | title = Herzog, Chaim (1918-1997) | work = Israel and Zionism | publisher = The Department for Jewish Zionist Education | url = http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/people/BIOS/herzog.html | accessdate = 2007-11-05] From 1937 until his death, he wasAshkenazi Chief Rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine and ofIsrael after its independence in 1948.Biography
Rabbi Herzog was born in
Łomża ,Poland , and moved to the United Kingdom with his family in 1898, where they settled inLeeds . His initial schooling was largely at the instruction of his father, Joel Leib Herzog, who was a rabbi in Leeds and then later in Paris.After mastering
Talmud ic studies at a young age, Yitzhak went on to attend the Sorbonne and then later theUniversity of London , where he received his doctorate. His thesis, which made him famous in the Jewish world, concerned his claim of re-discoveringTechelet , the type of blue dye once used for the making ofTzitzit .Rabbi Herzog served as rabbi of
Belfast from 1916 to 1919 and was appointed rabbi ofDublin in 1919. He went on to serve as Chief Rabbi of the Irish Free State between 1922 and 1936, when he immigrated to Palestine to succeed RabbiAbraham Isaac Kook as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi upon his death.Legacy
Rabbi Herzog's descendants have continued to be active in Israel's political life.
Chaim Herzog , the rabbi's son, was a general in theIsrael Defense Forces and later becamepresident of Israel . Currently, his grandsonIsaac Herzog is a member of theKnesset , Israel's parliament and the country's minister of welfare. He has previously served as housing and tourism minister.Works
Rabbi Herzog was recognised as a great rabbinical authority, and he wrote many books and articles dealing with halachic problems surrounding the
Torah and the State of Israel. Indeed, his writings helped shaped the attitude of theReligious Zionist Movement toward the State of Israel. Rabbi Herzog authored:
*"Main Institutions of Jewish Law"
*"Heichal Yitzchak"
*"Techukah leYisrael al pi haTorah"
*"Pesachim uKetavim"
*"The Royal Purple and the Biblical Blue"References
ee also
*
History of the Jews in Ireland
*History of the Jews in Northern Ireland
*Shmuel Wosner
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