The Correspondence Of Rav Yitzchak Halevi Herzog

Photo Credit: Saul Jay Singer

Rav Yitzchak Halevi Herzog (1888-1959) was the first chief rabbi of Ireland (1921-1936), in which capacity he strongly supported Ireland’s struggle for independence, and he was elected Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Eretz Yisrael (1936-1959), overcoming strong opposition by charedim, who argued that his secular education disqualified a “rabbi doctor” to the position.

Universally recognized as a leading rabbinical authority, he wrote many books and articles addressing halachic problems involving the Torah and the State of Israel; his writings played a leading role in shaping the approach of the Religious Zionist Movement toward the Jewish State. He wrote the Tefilla L’Shlom HaMedinah (the “Prayer for the Welfare of the State of Israel”), was awarded the 1958 Israel Prize in rabbinical literature, and became the progenitor of two Israeli presidents – his son Chaim and grandson Isaac.

Rav Herzog, who never attended a yeshiva, was educated by his father, a rabbi in Leeds and, after receiving semicha from Rav Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky (the “Ridbaz”), he went on to achieve the greatest heights of rabbinic scholarship. He also attended the Sorbonne and later the University of London, where he received his doctorate with his Ph.D. thesis, The Dyeing of Purple in Ancient Israel (1919), making him famous throughout the Jewish world. His thesis concerned his rediscovery of techelet, the special light blue dye that the Talmud describes as being exclusively derived from a marine animal known as the chillazon, which was used for the clothing of the Kohen Gadol, the tapestries in the Tabernacle, and tzitzit.

A true polymath and a classic Renaissance man, Rav Herzog was knowledgeable in a wide variety of academic disciplines, including areas such as Greek metaphysics, Roman legal theory, Arabic poetry, medieval Jewish philosophy, current political issues and contemporary science, including zoology, botany, astronomy, physics and chemistry. Over and above being a respected Hebrew grammarian and rabbinic scholar, he was a linguist who mastered twelve languages, including many ancient tongues such as Sumerian and Acadian and classical Greek and Latin.

His efforts were largely responsible for safeguarding shechita against the British Slaughter of Animals Act (1935), and, as an ardent Zionist, he founded the Mizrachi Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. Declining the prestigious Salonika rabbinate (1932), he proved to be a worthy successor of Rav Kook as chief rabbi of Eretz Yisrael (1937), earning the respect of the vast majority of the Jewish Yishuv, including the non-religious elements and kibbutzim.

Struggling to reconcile and harmonize traditional halacha with the principles of a modern democracy, he succeeded in enacting takkanot regarding questions such as how to maintain a Jewish state while protecting individual rights, promoting conversion according to halacha, advocating for shemittah (see discussion below) and Shabbat observance in a democracy, and addressing the role of women in the state, including particularly in the army. He served as president of the Supreme Religious Court of Appeals and the Rabbinical Council; was the founding president of the Va’ad Ha-Yeshivot, which was launched to administer and supervise the advanced Talmud academies in Eretz Yisrael (1940); and at his initiative, the Hechal Shlomo building, the seat of the Chief Rabbinate, was erected in Jerusalem.

One of the first to foresee the impending Holocaust, Rav Herzog wrote countless letters to European Jewish leaders warning about the coming cataclysm and urging them to leave but, sadly, his entreaties went largely unheeded. During World War II, he served as a representative of the Jews in Eretz Yisrael and worldwide at various conferences addressing proposed solutions to the Arab-Jewish conflict over Eretz Yisrael, and he proudly and with great erudition set forth the Jewish spiritual claim to the land. Stressing the need to establish a refuge for Holocaust survivors, he traveled worldwide between 1940 and 1944 expending every effort to rescue Jews, and among his grand successes was the granting of permits from Soviet Russia for staff and students of Lithuanian and Polish yeshivot stranded in Vilna to cross Russia to the Far East.

After the war, Herzog dedicated himself to saving Jewish children and orphans throughout Europe, many of whom did not even know that they were Jewish, and bringing them back from their hiding places of hiding – including notably those hidden in monasteries, convents and non-Jewish families, many of whom refused to return them. He successfully organized the rescue of thousands of abandoned Jewish children, often insisting on personally accompanying them on trains to Eretz Yisrael to assure their safety and smooth their aliyah process. In one celebrated case, he stood amidst a group of “Christian” children in a monastery and shouted out “Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokenu, Hashem Echad!” and several sobbing children repeated the verse in response, proving to the monastery authorities beyond any doubt that these children were raised Jewish.

Rav Herzog’s death was marked as a national day of mourning for all of Israel, as all members of the government joined with yeshiva students, kibbutz members, and men and women from all the fighting services among the thousands lining the route of his funeral procession. His funeral was attended by leading rebbeim and Jewish scholars, judges of Israel’s Supreme Court, labor leaders, and workers and professionals from all ranges of life who all paid homage to their beloved spiritual leader, and government buildings flew their flags at half-mast for the week of shiva.

The essence of Rav Herzog’s piety, sterling character, inner strength, perseverance, commitment, enthusiasm, and love and respect for all Jews may perhaps best be seen through his correspondence, and I present here a sample of his letters from my collection.

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Gush Etzion, a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judean Mountains directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank, includes four agricultural villages that were founded in 1940-1947 on property purchased in the 1920s and 1930s and destroyed before the outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. From the time of the United Nations’ approval of the Partition Plan on November 29, 1947, Kfar Etzion was under siege and cut off from Jerusalem, and on May 13, 1948, the village surrendered and 127 Jewish inhabitants were massacred by the Arab Legion. The other villages surrendered the next day, and the inhabitants were taken prisoner and the homes plundered and burned. The area was left outside the 1949 armistice lines but was rebuilt after the 1967 Six-Day War.

When the Gush fell within the area allotted to a proposed Arab state, the Haganah command originally decided not to evacuate the bloc but, with the intensifying of hostilities and the destruction of Jewish convoys from the Haganah in Jerusalem, the decision was made to evacuate the women and children with British assistance. These survivors were moved to Petah Tikva, and some 135 were eventually resettled in a neighborhood called Jebaliya in southern Jaffa, later renamed Giv’at Aliyah by the residents, who organized it like a kibbutz. Four years after Giv’at Aliyah was founded, the returning POWs of the bloc founded Nir Etzion in the Mount Carmel area near Haifa. Nir Etzion sought to accept the bulk of the bloc’s children into it, but despite wishing to unite in a new place of residence, the issue of joining Nir Etzion was a matter of debate among the children, many of whom joined the Nahal military unit.

It is evident that these survivors of Gush Etzion are the subject of this beautiful 20 Adar 5709 (March 3, 1949) letter from Rav Herzog on his Chief Rabbi letterhead to “my dear brothers, may Hashem guard you and grant you life:”

I very, very much wanted to be among you on Sunday, habah aleinu l’tovah, at the reception and gathering for the redeemed of Gush Etzion. But the matter is impossible and I ask your forgiveness. I call them (those redeemed) [quoting the verse] “and those redeemed by Hashem will return and come to Zion with delight,” and eternal joy will be on their heads,” “celebration and joy shall come to them, and sadness and sighing shall disappear.” The Malbim, zichrono livracha, explains: “Why does the verse say the redeemed of Hashem? [Because] even though they do not merit it, they will return “through the graciousness of Hashem.” But I interpret this differently. Because the beginning of the Messianic redemption will occur naturally, therefore the prophet had to emphasize that they will be the “redeemed of Hashem,” because [verse from Hallel] “this came from Hashem, it is truly wondrous in our eyes.” “And eternal bliss upon their heads” – what is the bliss on their heads? Joy that fills the heart and makes the face glow! I refer to these matters with respect to the ultimate, complete redemption that is yet to come, to the eternal happiness that yet hovers over the heads of the redeemed but which is already close and not merely due to come in the future, because it already hovers over the heads of the redeemed. And over the heads of all of us.

With the blessings of the Torah and Zion and Jerusalem,

In this 2 Kislev 1949 correspondence on his Chief Rabbi letterhead, Rav Herzog writes to the Ministry of Religion:

Please communicate to His Honor the Nasi [President] of Israel, President Chaim Weizmann, Hashem yechazkehu v’yekayimenhu [may Hashem strengthen him and sustain him], my heartfelt blessings on the day of his receipt of a Sefer Torah from the Rabbinical Minister of Religion and the Religious Affairs Bureau.

May it come to pass that in honor of this holy Torah that has guarded the Jewish people from the inception of the world, more than the Jewish people guarded the Torah, may we soon merit the new light that will shine forth from Zion, the City of David, the light of Torah, the light of the Shechinah, and may it come to pass that a spiritual wind emanates from above over all of Israel and its leaders at its head to bring the hearts of the people closer to G-d, and to the abundant purity and holiness of our holy Torah, both Written and Oral. Quickly may we merit together with our Nasi the establishment of Jerusalem our holy city at the head of the State of Israel, Amen!

Although Rav Herzog does not specifically mention this in our letter, there is great religious significance that attaches to President Weizmann having a Torah scroll in his possession because, at the rebirth of Israel as a Jewish State in 1948, most of the leading rabbis of the generation considered the president of Israel to have the Torah status of a “king” who, as such, was required to keep a Torah scroll in his possession.

Historically, three commandments became incumbent upon the Jewish people when they entered the Land of Israel, one of which was, “You shall surely appoint upon yourself a King whom the Lord your G-d will choose…” who “when he sits on the royal throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this Torah on a scroll before the Kohanim, the Levites.” [Devarim 17:18].

A king is commanded to write another Torah scroll for himself, for the sake of his sovereignty, in addition to the scroll that he possessed while a commoner. The one he possessed as a commoner should be placed in his storage chambers, but the one that he wrote while king – or had written for him – should be with him at all times. When he goes out to war, when he returns, when he sits in judgment, it must always be with him: “And it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life” (Devarim 17:19).

One can only imagine the joy experienced by Rav Herzog when he wrote a letter about keeping a Torah to the president of the new Jewish State!

In this 1952 correspondence on his Chief Rabbi letterhead, Rav Herzog writes:

Fortunate is the portion of our dear, pleasant, and beautiful brothers who are exemplary in fulfilling the mitzvah of shvi’it (i.e., shmittah) and who properly keep it. The Geonim and the Righteous, may their merit protect them, who, because of the exigencies of the hour, developed the well-known leniency to preserve life and maintain the Yishuv, repeatedly decreed that the mehadrim (the exacting ones who pursue the finest details of the mitzvah) keep the mitzvah of shvi’it through which is created a remembrance that, literally, constitutes an actual Shabbat of the land, their merit is very very great, and even I, the smallest of the small, I have already said, and I hereby repeat, that this is a grand mitzvah to strengthen and encourage, and they will help to assure that the shvi’it will not be forgotten from Israel, G-d forbid, and in this merit may we earn and live to see the return of the Biblical shmittah to us in all its holiness and purity, fortunate is he who waits for this. Until then, when it will become easier to feed the people, may it be the will of G-d to help us establish a movement to expand the number of those who accept upon themselves to entirely observe shvi’it and who are prepared to greet the shvi’it, may it come upon us for good, if meanwhile the Mashiach has not yet come, because then will be returned to us the Biblical observance of shviit.

May those who do, and assist, and facilitate the observance of shvi’it without relying on the well-known leniency be blessed with all the blessings betoratenu hakedosha (in our Holy Torah).

Yitzchak Isaac Halevi Herzog

Chief Rabbi of Israel

Who lives here in the Holy City

of Jerusalem, may it be established

and built

This letter by Rav Herzog is particularly poignant because 1952 was the first shemittah year in 2,000 years where Eretz Yisrael was under Jewish auspices, being the first shvi’it after Israel won its independence in 1948. Of particular note is the Rav’s monumental modesty, as he refers to himself as “the smallest of the small.”

Notwithstanding a largely socialist government and a farming population generally far from religiously observant, Rav Herzog undertook to promote shemittah observance in Eretz Yisrael. He led other leading rabbis in instituting the heter mechira amira l’nochri, a procedure whereby the entire land of Israel would be technically sold to an Arab who, as part of the sale, granted the rabbanim the power of attorney to sell the land back to themselves at the end of the sabbatical year. However, charedim and some others rejected the procedure, and the subject is too complex to discuss in any detail here.

During and after the Holocaust, included among the thousands of refugees who came to Eretz Yisrael were hundreds of distinguished rabbanim and great talmidei chachamim who could not secure a rabbinical position and were unable to earn a livelihood. The Relief Committee for Refugee Rabbis under the leadership of Rab Herzog as president was established to address this problem.

In this February 28, 1941, correspondence on Relief Committee for Refugee Rabbis letterhead, Rav Herzog writes:

Please be so kind as to participate in this great and holy undertaking, through which the refugee rabbis will be supported – a floor was erected in the Romema neighborhood in Jerusalem.

It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of this mitzvah and the merit of accommodating these rabbanim, the Gedolim of Israel, who toiled in the tents of Torah and who responded to everything good and beneficial.

It is my strong hope that your response will be commensurate with the value of the matter and the worth of the great visitors and be blessed with the tripartite blessing from the treasury for those who perform good deeds.

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In the handwritten 19 Cheshvan, 1941 correspondence on his Chief Rabbi letterhead exhibited here, Rav Herzog writes to the leaders of the Vaad Ha’Kellali:

I turn to you with every language of request to please provide support to the widowed Rebbetzin Esther Bukhantz, the widow of Rav Shmuel Nosson Bukhantz in Helsingfors [the original official name of the city of Helsinki]. The community there ceased sending her pension and, since then, she is about to experience literal hunger. The Organization of Rabbis from Russia provides some minimal support, but they cannot help her substantively because, to our great pain, the need is great while income is diminishing and decreasing. I am quite certain that you will not turn me away empty-handed and that you will budget for her at least two Israeli pounds a month.

With blessings of Zion and Jerusalem and the holy Torah.

In the early 1940s, Finland was a center of attention for both the Nazis and the Soviets, who sought control of the nation, creating hardship for the Jews of Finland. On August 24, 1939, Germany and Russia signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a secret part of which assigned Finland to the Soviet sphere of influence. However, when negotiations between Finland and Russia concerning control of Finnish territory failed, the Soviets shelled their own village of Mainilla, blamed the Finnish army for the shelling as a pretext for withdrawing from its non-aggression pact, and proceeded to attack Finland. [The attack was denounced by the League of Nations, which expelled the Soviet Union.]

The “Winter War” between the nations commenced at the end of 1939 with Russia’s bombardment of Helsinki and its establishment of a puppet government in parts of Finland. Though the resistance of the Finnish people, both military and civilian, drew much sympathy throughout the world, it drew little material support. Molotov served a tough peace proposal to Finland and, by March 1940, Finland signed the Moscow Peace Treaty and the Soviet Union gained significant Finnish territory. The Soviet Union kept up intense pressure on Finland and, when all its political and military efforts proved fruitless, Finland then turned to Nazi Germany for military aid. As the German offensive against the Soviet Union approached, cooperation between the two countries intensified and German troops arrived in Finland. “Operation Barbarossa” began on June 22, 1941, and, a few days later, the Soviets launched a massive pre-emptive air raid against Finnish cities, including Helsinki, after which Finland declared war and allowed German troops stationed in Finland to begin offensive warfare.

It is in this context that the widowed Rebbetzin Esther Bukhantz, stuck in Helsinki and destitute, sought financial assistance from Rav Herzog. Given the times, she was surely not alone among the Jews of Finland suffering terribly during the war.

Finally, and on a much lighter note, exhibited here is one of the stranger items from my collection: A signed 1956 program from a concert tour given by Lionel Hampton (1908-2002) during his spectacularly successful Israel tour, the profits of which he donated to the Jewish State. Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor, perhaps most famous for essentially developing the jazz vibraphone, an amplified xylophone with vibrato – and who claimed that one of his most important compositions was inspired by Rav Herzog.

Prior to the tour, Hampton had taken Hebrew lessons from Cantor Moshe Silverman, who also taught him Jewish folk songs during breaks in Hampton’s shows at the Blue Note in Chicago. After his Israel tour, Hampton would occasionally sing songs in perfect Yiddish during performances.

Hampton manifested a strong interest in Judaism and was a prolific fundraiser for the Jewish State. His interest in all matters Jewish underscored his famous King David Suite (1953), which he performed in Israel with the Boston Pops Orchestra. The symphonic jazz suite was written in five movements: David’s Prayer to G-d; David at the Wailing Wall (which, of course, never could have happened because it was built after his death by his son, Solomon); David’s Deliverance of the Children of Israel; Israel Today; and Israel Tomorrow.

According to Hampton, the inspiration for King David came when he was reading the Book of Psalms while in Israel visiting David’s tomb: “the Chief Rabbi [Herzog], that ís the spiritual leader of Israel, he helped me out a whole lot. I dedicated The King David Suite to him.” As Hampton tells the story in his autobiography, Rav Herzog told him that when King David entered the Temple, he would take 54 musicians with him, who would sing as he entered and as he departed. [Again, one must question Hampton’s recollection of this story, since the Beit HaMikdash was not built until after King David’s death.] According to Hampton, when Rav Herzog, “who was a hip Rabbi,” told him that “King David held the first jam sessions,” he responded “Man, I just play music the way that David prayed.”

In 1963, Hampton revealed that he had a particularly strong affinity for the Israeli songbook; he sang Hava Nagila in Hebrew and vamped behind Israeli singer Regina Ben-Amittay on Exodus and Song of the Negev. He attended a Youth Aliya conference in Israel; participated in many “Salute to Israel” type programs, including the Israel 2000 Musical Gala in Los Angeles; was an honorary member of Hadassah; and was honored with the prestigious Israel Statehood Award (1954). He was made an honorary citizen of Israel, and the Jewish National Fund planted trees in his honor in Israel’s Martin Luther King Forest.