Yaakov Herzog (1921-1972)

by Rabbi Jeremy Rosen

Yaakov Herzog

As we approach Pesach/Passover, I like to reminisce about past experiences. One I particularly remember because it is so relevant, goes back to Israel in 1960.

The Chief Rabbi Issac Herzog had recently died and his widow the redoubtable Sarah held court in their home. I was a student in Jerusalem at that time and  was ‘adopted’ by the Herzog family because of my father’s Irish connection with them. I used to visit her open home regularly on Shabbat and through her met one of her sons Yaakov, his impressive, brilliant wife, Pnina and their three children.  

Yaakov Herzog was the son of the First Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel. A brilliant, wonderful man in every respect. He was the brother of Chaim who became President of Israel and the uncle of the present President. Less well known but far more impressive intellectually.

Born in Ireland, (where his father had been Chief Rabbi since its independence in 1921), the family moved to Israel in 1936, and he became Chief Rabbi). Yaakov fought in the Haganah, the Israel Defense Forces, and after the founding of the State of Israel, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1948 to 1954 he specialized in issues relating to Jerusalem. From 1954 to 1957 he was the chief of the United States division. He advised David Ben Gurion on policy from 1956 to 1957. From 1957 to 1960 Herzog was the minister at the Israeli embassy in the USA. From 1960 to 1963 he was the Israeli ambassador to Canada. There, he famously engaged in a public debate with the notorious British historian Arnold Toynbee. Toynbee had called the Jewish people a "fossil" and compared Israel's actions in the 1948 War to the Nazis. Sounds familiar.

Herzog helped improve relations with the Vatican and his secret talks with Hussein opened the way to peace between Jordan and Israel. He cultivated contacts with Lebanese Christians, and the Imam of Yemen. He was a friend of President Kennedy, Secretary of State Dulles and even (surprisingly given Ireland’s anti-Jewish pathology today) Ireland's then leader Eamon de Valera.  

He had a PhD in International Law. He was a rabbinic scholar, a Talmid Chacham, and was appointed Chief Rabbi of Britain in 1965. However, on reflection, he wisely withdrew. He gave ill health as an excuse. But he continued his work in Israel for quite a while after. I like to think I contributed to his decision, because I told him that my father had warned against getting involved in the pettiness of Anglo Jewish politics.

The atmosphere in his home on a Shabbat was inspiring and eclectic. From the Talmud to history, from literature to philosophy; in the company of many outstanding Jewish minds who lived in the Rehavia area in pre-1967 Jerusalem. At the same time, the meals were always interspersed with the family singing together, exchanging ideas and challenging each other. 

One Seder night at his Jerusalem home stood out from the other memories. 1961 was an election year. The different ideologies, religious and political in all their varieties, had always been there, long before the State was founded. The election that year was particularly tense. Ben Gurion on the socialist left and Menahem Begin’s alliance of Sephardim and right-wing traditionalist. Of course, religion, freedom and the election, were central topics. One of Yaakov’s opinions has stayed with me ever since. Talking about this divide in Israel between the secular and the religious, and the ethnic differences, he said that were it not for the external threat from Israel’s enemies, Israel would tear itself apart in a civil war, so deep were the religious and cultural differences. If they were bad then, they are disastrous now. He was a moderate both religiously and politically.

He liked to tell the story of a Chinese Emperor who was asked whether he wanted to be loved by all his people. To which he replied, “I want to be loved by the good and hated by the bad.” Of course, that all depends on how one understands good and bad and by whose standards. But essentially it boils down to the need to take sides on matters of ethics and policy.

Herzog died on March 9, 1972, several months after suffering brain damage from a fall at his home. I wish he were still around today as a voice of reason between the extremes. Sir Isaiah Berlin described him as "one of the best and wisest, most attractive and morally most impressive human beings I have ever known."  I will be thinking of him this Seder Night. How we miss leaders like him. today.

Jeremy Rosen

April 2025

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Jeremy Rosen was born in Manchester, England, the eldest son of Rabbi Kopul Rosen and Bella Rosen. Rosen's thinking was strongly influenced by his father, who rejected fundamentalist and obscurantist approaches in favour of being open to the best the secular world has to offer while remaining committed to religious life. He was first educated at Carmel College, the school his father had founded based on this philosophical orientation. At his father's direction, Rosen also studied at Be'er Yaakov Yeshiva in Israel (1957–1958 and 1960). He then went on to Merkaz Harav Kook (1961), and Mir Yeshiva (1965–1968) in Jerusalem, where he received semicha from Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz in addition to Rabbi Dovid Povarsky of Ponevezh and Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Shapiro of Yeshivat Be'er Ya'akov. In between Rosen attended Cambridge University (1962–1965), graduating with a degree in Moral Sciences.