Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog

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Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog

Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (1889-1959), also known as Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, his term lasting from 1921 to 1936. Later, he became Chief Rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel, once formed.

Herzog was born in Lomza, Poland, and moved to the United Kingdom with his family in 1898, where they settled in Leeds. Herzog's 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 Talmudic studies at a young age, Yitzhak went on to attend the Sorbonne and then later the University of London, where he received his doctorate. His thesis, which made him famous in the Jewish world, concerned his re-discovery of Techelet, the type of blue dye that is used for the making of Tzitzit.

Herzog was appointed Chief Rabbi of Belfast in 1916 and Chief Rabbi of Dublin in 1919. He went on to become Chief Rabbi of Ireland in 1921, a position he held until his immigration to Israel in 1936, where he succeeded Abraham Isaac Kook as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi upon his passing.

Herzog's son, General Chaim Herzog of the Israel Defense Forces, was later to become president of Israel (and, incidentally, the only president of Israel who was born in Ireland).

Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog

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