R. Isaac Halevi Herzog

R. Herzog (1888–1959) was the first Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel when the state of Israel was established in 1948. R. Herzog therefore had to deal with Israel’s first war, its War of Independence. R. Herzog’s formulates halakhic positions on war that build on those of R. Kook, adopting the latter’s position that the laws governing war are different from those governing the everyday, and that for this reason conscription is permitted. However, R. Herzog moves in original directions on some issues, adopting, for example, Nahmanides’ view that the state of Israel can wage war to conquer the land God promised to the Israelites in the Bible. The chapter concludes with an argument that R. Herzog’s views on war may have influenced those of R. Tsevi Yehudah Kook, the son of R. Abraham Isaac Kook, who was a major figure in religious Zionism after the Six Day War.