This is a photograph of Rabbi Yitzhak Halevi Herzog that, although not dated, seems to have been taken in the second half of the 1940s. He is holding the pages of a book and is listening to a man who is sitting across from him, with his back to the camera.
Rabbi Herzog (1888–1959) was the first chief rabbi of Ireland and later on, the chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Mandatory Israel and of the State of Israel. He was born in Poland but moved to Leeds, England when he was ten years old. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of London and wrote his doctoral thesis on the rediscovery of the source of tekhelet, the blue dye that was used to make tzitzit. From 1916–1936, Rabbi Herzog held several rabbinic positions in Ireland including chief rabbi. He was a supporter of the Irish republican movement, which believed that all of Ireland should be an independent country, separate from the United Kingdom. In 1936, Rabbi Herzog moved to British Mandate Palestine. He was a vocal critic of the British White Paper which restricted Jewish immigration to Israel and was renowned for ripping up a copy of the White Paper at the end of a speech. His son, Chaim Herzog, later repeated his father’s actions during a speech at the UN in 1975, when he ripped up a copy of the UN resolution equating Zionism with racism. After World War II, Rabbi Herzog dedicated his life to finding the Jewish children who had been hidden in Christian homes and monasteries during the war and not returned to their families or to Jewish orphanages. He is also credited with writing the Prayer for the State of Israel, which was then edited by his friend and Nobel Prize winner, S. Y. Agnon.
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Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog – Rabbi Yitzhak Herzog was born in Poland and immigrated with his family to the United Kingdom, where his father served as a rabbi in Leeds. After completing Talmudic studies, Herzog studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of London, where he received his doctorate on the subject of techelet, the blue dye traditionally used for making tzitzit. Between 1916 and 1919 Rabbi Herzog served as the chief rabbi of Ireland and was known for his support for the Irish republican cause. In 1936 he immigrated to Israel and succeeded Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook as Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel. Rabbi Herzog led protests against the White Paper of 1939 which restricted Jewish immigration to Israel. Following one of these demonstrations, Rabbi Herzog ripped up a copy of the White paper in protest, a gesture that his son repeated with the UN resolution equalling Zionism with racism in 1975. During World War II, Rabbi Herzog made many attempts to help the European Jews under Nazi rule. He met world leaders, led demonstrations and protests, and dedicated himself to saving Jewish children after the war, bringing them to Israel from their hiding places throughout Europe. He also played an important role in shaping the religious Zionist movement and dealing with halachic religion and state issues. Rabbi Herzog’s descendants are also very well known in Israel. His son Chaim was a general in the IDF and went on to become the Israeli ambassador to the UN and, later, the president of Israel. Another son, Yaakov, was Israeli ambassador to Canada, and his grandson Isaac (Bougie) Herzog was a member of Knesset, head of the opposition, minister of welfare, and is currently the head of the Jewish Agency.
British Mandate in Palestine – In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote a letter declaring that Britain “views with favour” the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. After World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Britain received a mandate from the League of Nations to rule in Palestine. During the years of the British Mandate there was much tension and violence between the Jewish and Arab citizens of the country, and as a result, the British government issued a White Paper in 1939 that severely limited Jewish immigration.
