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Sarah Herzog

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Sarah Herzog
Herzog, c. 1900–1910
Born
Sarah Hillman

1896 (1896)
Riga, Latvia
Died1979 (aged 82–83)
Israel
Occupation(s)Rabbitzit, diplomat
SpouseYitzchak HaLevi Herzog
ChildrenChaim Herzog
Yaakov Herzog

Sarah Herzog (née Hillman; b. 1896 – d. 1979) was an Israeli rebbetzin (rabbanit) and diplomat. She was also the mother of Chaim Herzog, 6th President of Israel, and Yaakov Herzog, Israeli diplomat.

A young, brown-haired woman holding a baby.
Herzog holding her year-old son Chaim (Belfast, around 1919)

Early life

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Born in Riga, Latvia, Herzog grew up in London.[1] She was the daughter of Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman, who invited Belfast Rabbi Isaac Herzog (Yitzchak HaLevi Herzog) to his home for a conference regarding kosher dietary laws during World War I rationing in 1917.[2] According to family history, Sarah dropped a tea tray when she saw Isaac, who was also immediately smitten (in some versions, Sarah spilled tea all over Isaac).[2][3]

In August 1917, Sarah married Isaac and assumed the title and responsibilities of a rebbetzin, or rabbi's wife.[1][4][5][2] A year later, their son Chaim was born, in Belfast.[1]

The Herzogs moved to Dublin in 1919, where their son Yaakov was born in December 1921.[2]

The family moved to Israel in 1936, where Isaac Herzog became the Chief Rabbi of Eretz Israel.[5][2]

Later in his life, Chaim remembered his mother as clearly the dominant individual at home. She was very pretty and gracious and, although petite, almost regal in her demeanour. Wherever her home was, it was a centre of grace and culture and, later, in Israel, a magnet for the Jewish community from around the world.[1] In his inaugural address as president of Israel in 1983, Chaim spoke at length of the influence of both his parents and of his mother, a personality in her own right.[6] Her grandson remembered her as welcoming and hospitable, especially towards the impoverished.[7]

A man in military uniform seated next to an older woman.
Chaim Herzog in a British Army uniform with his mother Sarah

Life in Israel

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In May 1939, Herzog was active in protests against the "MacDonald White Paper," a British policy proposal for a single state in Palestine.[5][8] With Rachel Ben-Zvi and Ita Yellin, she organized specific women's protests against the policy of saving Jewish children from Nazi-controlled territory (Kindertransport) but not allowing these children to be relocated to Palestine.[9]

She was religiously observant and initially had reservations about Chaim's fiancée Aura Ambache, though she later welcomed her into the family.[2]

She proposed the creation of Mother's Day in pre-state Israel in 1947, though nothing came of her proposal.[10]

After her husband's death, Herzog continued to be active in Israeli politics as an unofficial ambassador and in international Jewish women's organizations. In 1954, she travelled to Montreal in her role as President of the World's Mizrachi Women's Organization.[11] She often hosted the wives of rabbis and other dignitaries, including during the first World Conference of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Congregations in 1968.[12]

In 1977, Herzog was the founding president of Jewish women's Zionist organization World Emunah.[1][13][14]

Honours, decorations, awards and distinctions

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An educational center in Bnei Brak for religious Jewish women is named Neve Sarah Herzog in her honour.[1] The Sarah Herzog Children's Home in Afula is a residential centre built in 1943 for children orphaned by the Holocaust is also named after her.[1][15]

In the 1980s, the Jerusalem hospital Ezrath Nashim was renamed Herzog Hospital after her, who was its volunteer president for forty years.[16][5][7]

Chapters of the Emunah Organization honour recipients with the "Rabbinit Sarah Herzog Award."[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Jaffe, Steven (22 January 2012). "Sarah Herzog – a Jewish woman in North Belfast" (published 2012). Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Bar-Zohar, Michael (15 September 2016). "Chapter 2: Two Worlds". Yaacov Herzog: A Biography. Halban Publishers. ISBN 978-1-905559-86-2.
  3. ^ Herzog, Chaim (1996). Living History: A Memoir. Plunkett Lake Press. pp. [no page numbers].
  4. ^ "Belfast teenage wife's historic life was as notable as her famous husband and son". www.newsletter.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d "Israel's History in Pictures: Women for the State". Israel National News (Arutz Sheva). 17 May 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  6. ^ Landau, David; Sedan, Gil (9 May 1983). "Herzog Inaugurated As Israel' Sixth President". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  7. ^ a b Cashman, Greer Fay (25 April 2012). "All in the family". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  8. ^ Dept, American Colony (Jerusalem) Photo (1939). "Jewish anti Palestine White Paper demonstrations. [Women's demonstration on May 22, 1939]. Delegation of women who carried the "Protest" to the chief secretary". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  9. ^ Hallgarten, Jason (2018). "Children Train (Chapter III)". Jewish Gen. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  10. ^ Sofer, Barbara (18 February 2016). "The Human Spirit: What happened to Mother's Day?". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  11. ^ ""Montreal Meetings" in The Canadian Jewish Review". Google News. Canada. 24 December 1954. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  12. ^ "World Orthodox Parlay in Israel Beset by Boycotts, Factional Disputes". The Detroit Jewish News Digital Archives. 12 January 1968. p. 9. Retrieved 28 November 2019. The wives of the delegates who accompanied them to the congress met at a separate session Wednesday morning under the chairmanship of Mrs. Sarah Herzog, widow of Israel's late chief rabbi. Later, the group toured East Jerusalem, visiting the West Wall and the sites of synagogues that were destroyed during Jordanian occupation of the city.
  13. ^ "Mission & History". Emunah of America. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  14. ^ "World Emunah". www.wzo.org.il. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Residential Care". British Emunah Fund. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  16. ^ Herzberg, Sam (21 July 2017). "Rosa Leah Radinsky". Herzog Medical Center. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Awardees | Emunah Canada Gala 2017". www.wizadjournal.com. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
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