Rabbanit Sarah Herzog

Rabbanit Sarah Herzog

Sarah Herzog, mother of Chaim Herzog, was born in Riga, now Latvia, in 1896 (5656 Jewish year). Her parents were Sheina nee Feykampner and Rabbi Shmuel Isaac Hillman, Chief Rabbi of Glasgow and the London Rabbinical Court, founder of  “Ohel Torah” Yeshiva, and author of the “Or Hayashar” series of books.

Sarah Herzog married Rabbi Isaac Herzog in 1917 and accompanied him in his positions as chief rabbi in Ireland and the Land of Israel. Her two children were born in Ireland – Chaim Herzog, named after Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk (Brisker) – who ordained her father Rabbi Hillman to the rabbinate, and Yaakov Herzog, named after the Ridbaz – Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Wilowsky.

Sarah Herzog was deeply involved in the struggle against the British during the Mandate over Palestine. Parallel to her husband’s activity against “The White Paper 1939”, Rabbanit Sarah Herzog led Women’s march protests alongside Rachel Yanait Ben Zvi.

After the establishment of the state of Israel, Rabbanit Herzog worked to promote the status of women in Israel, mainly focused on promoting the public status of religious women. She led the union of the “Eastern Women’s Organization in the Land of Israel” established by her with other organizations and founded “Emunah” – the national religious women’s movement. Rabbanit Herzog was the first to lead the “Emunah World” movement.

Another main field to which she devoted the best of her abilities was mental health. Sarah Herzog founded the first psychiatric hospital in the Middle East and promoted awareness of geriatric problems, mental health diseases and addictions. The hospital, located in Jerusalem and continues to operate extensively, is named after Rabbanit Sarah – “Herzog Medical Center”.

Sarah Herzog passed away in 1979 (Jewish year 5739) at the age of 83.