Yitzhak Halevi Herzog was born at
Łomża in
Russian Poland, the son of Liba Miriam (Cyrowicz) and Joel Leib Herzog. He moved to the
United Kingdom with his family in 1898, where they settled in
Leeds. His initial schooling was largely at the instruction of his father who was a rabbi in Leeds and then later in Paris. Herzog later moved to Ireland and became a fluent
Irish speaker. He was known as "the
Sinn Féin Rabbi" for his support of the
First Dáil and the Irish republican cause during the
Irish War of Independence. Herzog studied at
Wesley College, Dublin, and was involved with the
Federation of Zionist Youth and
Habonim Dror, the Labour Zionist movement, during his teenage years. 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 made him famous in the Jewish world, concerned his claim of re-discovering
tekhelet, the type of blue dye once used for the making of
tzitzit. In 1935 he visited
Palestine for the first time with a strong desire to settle there. Later that same year,
Abraham Kook, the first
Chief Rabbi of Israel died, and Herzog was elected as the second Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel and moved to reside in
Jerusalem. In 1936, he testified in front of the
Peel Commission in
London and participated in 1939 in the
London Conference of 1939 between Jews and Arabs from
Mandatory Palestine, convened by the British government. During the
Arab Revolt, he called, together with other rabbis, for adherence to the
Havlagah policy of the
Haganah and for avoidance of acts of revenge. He died on July 25, 1959, and was buried in the
Sanhedria Cemetery in
Jerusalem. Herzog's descendants have continued to be active in Israel's political life. His son
Chaim Herzog was a general in the
Israel Defense Forces and later became ambassador of Israel to the UN and sixth
President of Israel. His son
Yaakov Herzog served as Israel's ambassador to Canada and later as Director General of the Prime Minister's Office. He also accepted an offer to become Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth but due to ill health never took up that role. His grandson
Isaac Herzog is the President of Israel. He also previously served as a member of the
Knesset, Israel's parliament, and head of the opposition. He previously served as housing and tourism minister and minister of welfare and later was chairman of the
Jewish Agency. ==Rabbinic career==