Issued by Israel

Issued on Jun 16, 2015 

Type : Sheetlet, Mint condition

Security mark : Microtext

Colour : Multi colour

Plate : 991

Stamps per Sheet : 10

Tabs per Sheet : 10

Method of Printing : Offset

Printer : Cartor Security Printing, France

About : 

• The world of nutrition has undergone a revolution in recent decades. Plants such as vegetables have been found to contain tens of thousands of active ingredients that offer far-reaching health benefits. These substances are called phyto-chemicals (phyto = plant in Greek). Some phytochemicals are pigments (colors). These pigments and phytochemicals are abundantly healthy.
• The red color – contributes to fighting cancer and heart disease.
  The orange color – maintains proper function of the immune system and fights cancer.
  The green color – slows the ageing of the eye, maintains healthy vision and strengthens bones.
  The white color – helps maintain vascular and cardiac health and wards off bacteria and infection.
  The purple color – slows ageing processes such as that of the brain.
• Tomato
  Tomatoes are rich in the red pigment lycopene. Lycopene is an effective antioxidant that contributes to reducing the risk for various types of cancer, such as prostate cancer. Lycopene and other components of the tomato also help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Tomatoes are rich in vitamin C and are a source of vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin K, potassium and dietary fiber.
• Onion
  Layer after layer, the onion offers aroma, flavor and powerful healthful properties. The sulfur compounds that are unique to the onion and members of its family help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancers such as stomach cancer and more. Onions are rich in quercetin – an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, and also provide B vitamins and vitamin C.
• Lettuce
  Green lettuce contains chlorophyll and is rich in the yellow-green pigment lutein. Lutein is an antioxidant that contributes to slowing the ageing of the eye and maintaining healthy vision. Lettuce provides an abundance of nutritional components which help to reduce the risk of disease and contribute to bone health: vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K, folate and other B vitamins, potassium, iron and dietary fiber.
• Purple Cabbage
  Purple cabbage is rich in purple pigments known as anthocyanins, which are antioxidants that contribute to slowing ageing processes, such as that of the brain. They also fight atherosclerosis as well as cardiovascular disease. As part of the Brassicaceae family, this cabbage contains anti-cancer substances. Purple cabbage is rich in vitamin C and provides vitamin A, B vitamins, vitamin K, potassium, iron, calcium and dietary fiber.
• Carrot
  Carrots contain yellow-orange pigments from the carotene family, such as beta-carotene and alpha-carotene. These carotenes contribute to reducing the risk of cancer and also serve as a source of vitamin A. This vitamin is vital to vision, and in particular night vision, as well as to maintaining proper immune system function, healthy skin and normal growth. Carrots provide five different B vitamins as well as vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K and potassium and are rich in dietary fiber.
• Merav Mor–Ophir
  Clinical Dietitian, M.Sc.
  Scientific Advisor to the Plants Production & Marketing Board.

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Issued by Israel

Issued on Jun 23, 2014

Description of the Stamps :
Sara Levi–Tanai stamp
The stamp features a sketched portrait based on a photograph courtesy of Shalom Seri of “Eele Betamar”.
The tab features an adapted photograph of the Rikud Hashoavot (Dance of the Women Drawing Water), from Be’ikvei Hazon (Shepherd Songs), choreography – Sara Levi-Tanai, 1955. Courtesy of the dance library at Beit Ariela and Lee Perlman, Executive Director of the America–Israel Cultural Foundation.

Esther Raab stamp
The portrait featured on the stamp is based on a photograph courtesy of Ehud Ben Ezer.
The tab features an adapted photograph of Hovevei Zion Street in Petach Tikva, circa 1900. Courtesy of Dr. Dalia Levy Eliahu.

Type : Stamps with Tabs, Mint condition

Security mark : Microtext

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 6 & 10 Shekel

Plates : 947 & 948

Stamps per Sheet : 15

Tabs per Sheet : 5

Method of Printing : Offset

Printer : Joh. Enschede, The Netherlands

Name : Sara Levi-Tanai

Born on 1910 at Jerusalem, Israel

Died on Oct 3, 2005 at Ramat Gan, Israel

Name : Esther Raab

Born on Apr 25, 1894 at Petah Tikva, Israel

Died on Sep 4, 1981 at Israel

About : 

• Early signs of women’s aspirations for gender equality in Eretz Israel were apparent as far back as the First Aliyah, as some women chose to take part in public affairs or non-conventional professions. Although the pages of history have not granted them their proper place – they operated in a world of preconceptions and discrimination against women, their fight for self-realization and equal opportunity cleared a path and inspired others.
• The State of Israel embraced equality as a core principle early on, and just three years after the establishment of the State the Knesset passed the Women’s Equal Right Law of 1951, guaranteeing equal treatment of women and men.
• Women have yet to be fully included in society’s most influential bodies, but the efforts of these pioneering women set a quiet social revolution in motion, furthering gender equality and changing our society.
• Sara Levi–Tanai
  (1910-2005)Choreographer, songwriter and poet Sara Levi-Tanai was born in Jerusalem to parents who were originally from Yemen. After her mother passed away when she was seven years old, she grew up in an orphanage in Sated and in the Meir Shfeya youth village. Levi-Tanai’s many talents, including writing and dramatizing were apparent from the time she was a child and she was awarded a JDC scholarship to Levinsky Seminar in Tel Aviv. There she was trained as a preschool teacher and subsequently worked in preschools in little Tel Aviv. Due to a shortage of proper educational material, she began writing poems and recitations for children. She also published stories in a number of newspapers, Davar, Davar Yeladim and Davar Hapo’elet.

  In 1940 she moved to Kibbutz Ramat Hakovesh, where she taught preschool during the day and was a cultural creator at night. She wrote revues for the holidays, set biblical passages to music, wrote holiday songs and created folk dances, the most well-known of which is El Ginat Ha’egoz (To the Nut Grove). She also published two children’s books at that time. Her desire to be more active in the arts brought Levi-Tanai back to Tel Aviv, where she founded the lnbal Dance Theater in 1949. She brought young girls and boys from “Kerem Hatemanim“, and through them connected to her Yemenite roots, which inspired her unique artistic works.

  Sara Levi-Tanai developed a new language of movement. Her choreography was inspired by the bible, Israeli landscapes and Yemenite and Sephardic folklore. Through its many overseas tours, lnbal served as an ambassador of Israeli culture.

  Sara Levi-Tanai was awarded the Israel Prize in dance in 1973 for her contributions in the field of performing arts, as well as various other awards, including the title of “honored citizen of Tel Aviv“.

  Michal Degani
  Daughter of Sara Levi-Tanai

• Esther Raab
  1894-1981Esther Raab, Israel’s first native poet, was born in Petach Tikva, the first Hebrew moshava (agricultural colony). Her father, Judah Raab, was among the founders of Petach Tikva. Her poems began to be published in the early 1920’s and her first book, Kimshonim (Thistles) came out in 1930.

  The happiest years of her life were those spent growing up in the moshava, with its landscapes, animals and vegetation, and in time – her wealth, friends, home in Tel Aviv, which was a gathering place for writers and artists in the early 1930’s, and most of all – her poems, written over the course of more than 60 years, until just before her death at age 87.

  The low points in her life were marked by her disappointing loves and marriage, her years of silence, her childlessness and in her later years she lost her fortune and was haunted by nightmares.

  Author Yehoshua Kenaz wrote of her poetry: “Reading these poems is an Israeli experience, a Mediterranean experience, a first class artistic experience that poet Esther Raab was perhaps the first to express in such a bold and pure manner.“

  Ehud Ben Ezer
  Esther Raab’s nephew and author of her biography Yamim shel La’anah u–Dvash (Days of Gall and Honey)

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Issued by Israel

Issued on Jun 23, 2014

Description of the Stamps and the First Day Cover :
Near Eastern Fire Salamander stamp and tab, Southern Banded Newt stamp: photos by Guy Haimovitch.

Eastern Spadefoot Toad tab and stamp, stamp sheet margins and FDC: photos by Pini Hemo.

Hula Painted Frog stamp and tab, Southern Banded Newt tab: photos by Dror Galili. 

Type : Se-tenant pair of Stamps with Tabs, Mint Condition and First Day Cover along with Stamp and a Special First Day Cancellation

Security mark : Microtext

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 2 Shekel each

Plate : 950

Stamps per Sheet : 8

Tabs per Sheet : 4

Method of Printing : Offset

Printer : Joh. Enschede, The Netherlands

About : 

• This stamp series presents four of the seven amphibian species currently inhabiting Israel. All four species are endangered locally or globally. Human activity has harmed the amphibian class more than other vertebrates. Due to their extreme sensitivity, amphibians serve as a bio-indicator of deterioration in the global environment. Amphibians have mainly been harmed in Israel as a result of their habitats being destroyed, but the key reason for their being endangered in the world is infectious diseases which are mostly spread as a result of trade in amphibians.
• Southern Banded Newt : 
  • Scientific Name : Ommatotriton vittatus.
  • The Southern Banded Newt lives along the edges of winter pools in the Mediterranean area of Israel. The adults are active from the beginning of winter. They are reddish-brown in color with a white abdomen and orange edges. This species eats small invertebrates. During the mating season the males grow a crest of skin and enter the water. Once the male locates a female, a courting ritual begins, at the end of which the male lays a sperm sac on the ground for the female to absorb. The eggs are laid on plant leaves, which the female rolls up in order to protect them. The tadpoles develop over the course of a number of months, and then leave the winter. This species is classified as being critically endangered in Israel.

• Hula Painted Frog : 
  • Scientific Name : Latonia nigriventer.
  • The Hula Painted Frog was first documented in the Hula Valley in the 1940’s. Later, after not being seen since the 1950’s, it was the first amphibian species in the world to be classified as being extinct. It was rediscovered in the Hula Nature Reserve in November 2011 and since then additional frogs of this species have been found in the reserve and the surrounding area, attesting to the existence of an active population. There is very little biological and ecological information about this species. It was recently discovered that the Hula Painted Frog belongs to a species that became extinct in Europe one million years ago. This finding means that this species is a living fossil. It is classified as being critically endangered in the world.

• Eastern Spade–foot Toad : 
  • Scientific Name : Pelobates syriacus.
  • The Eastern Spadefoot Toad lives along the edges of winter pools in the Mediterranean area of Israel. There are approximately 40 known populations in Israel. The populations in the Golan Heights and the Upper Galilee are genetically different than those in the Lower Galilee and the Coastal Plain. The adults are nocturnal and active from the beginning of the rainy season, but only when it rains. During the day these toads burrow deep into the soil, using the bony spade-like tubercles located on their hind legs. This species eats invertebrates, mostly snails, Mating takes place in the water and the notably large tadpoles (up to 20 cms) develop over the course of 3-5 months. Once the pools begin to dry up the tadpoles roll out of the water. The number of Eastern Spadefoot Toad populations found in Israel is decreasing, and the species is classified as being critically endangered.

• Near Eastern Fire Salamander : 
  • Scientific Name : Salamandra infraimmaculata.
  • The Near Eastern Fire Salamander lives along the edges of winter pools, streams and springs on Mt. Hermon, in the Galilee and in the Carmel mountains. Adults (up to 30 cms) are mainly active in the winter. Their black and orange coloring serves as a warning of the toxin that is secreted on their skin. Mating takes place on land. The male locates a female and lays a sperm sac, which the female absorbs. The female spawns 15-100 tadpoles in the water, which then develop over the course of a number of months until they roll out of the water. This species is classified as being endangered in Israel.

• The above text is provided by Prof. Sarig Gafny, School of Marine Sciences, Ruppin Academic Center.

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Issued by Israel

Issued on 23 Jun, 2014

Description of the Stamp and the First Day Cover : The Stamp features Palmer Gate Street and the port; part of a ship at the corner; and statue of a fish with a ship on its back, Zvika Cantor‘s City Fish, which was erected in 2010 in the Haifa–Boston Partnership square, located on the corner of Palmer Gate and Kdoshei Baghdad Streets in Haifa.

The First Day Cover features a photograph of the illegal immigration ship Eliyahu Golomb, docked in the Port of Haifa.

Photo by : Lipa Kugel, courtesy of “Bintivey Ha’apala”, The Clandestine Jewish Immigration Research Center in Memory of Admiral Mordechai (Moka) Limon.

Type : Stamp with Tab, Mint Condition and First Day Cover along with Stamp and a Special First Day Cancellation

Security mark : Microtext

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 9.60 Shekel

Plate : 946

Stamps per Sheet : 15

Tabs per Sheet : 5

Method of Printing : Offset

Printer : Joh. Enschede, The Netherlands

About : 

• Holocaust survivors rose from the ashes of the crematoriums and immigrated illegally to Eretz Israel (Eretz Yisrael, The Land of Israel) during the British Mandate period. Under terrible conditions, on crowded decks of dilapidated immigrant ships, they made their way to the Promised Land, their hearts filled with hopes and dreams.
• The city of Haifa was the first thing that most Holocaust survivors saw as they approached the coastline. The bare concrete docks of the Port of Haifa were, to them, the Holy Land for which they yearned. They were part of an extremely dramatic and historic step taken by the Jewish people – the establishment of the State of Israel.
• Haifa Port was the entry point into Eretz Israel. Haifa was the Jewish people’s home port, both for the illegal immigrants (máaplim) who arrived prior to the establishments of the State and for the waves of immigrants who came after the State of Israel was established.
• Gate number five, which served for years as the mythological main entrance into the Port of Haifa, was later named Palmer Gate. The road leading out from the gate is also called Palmer Gate; named for Sir Frederick Palmer, a British engineer who planned and built the Port of Haifa from 1920 to its official opening in 1933.
• Palmer Gate Street is crossed by Port St. (Rehov HaNamal), which housed the administrative and commercial center of the port, and today is at the heart of the Port Campus – the academic center of Haifa’s downtown area.
• The Port Campus is a challenging project, which will turn an entire section of Haifa’s downtown into a complex of college campuses, dormitories and modern residential buildings, as well as supporting businesses that are typical of this type of complex.
• The Port Campus is very significant for the city of Haifa. The project reshapes the character and appearance of the city’s downtown, rejuvenates it and restores its past glory, and constitutes a critical phase in Haifa’s development.
• The above text by Yona Yahav, Mayor of Haifa.

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Issued by Israel

Issued on 5 Jun, 2014

Picture : The stamp features two types of fruit that are characteristic of their countries – a pomegranate from Israel and a mangosteen fruit from Thailand.

In addition to their tastiness, each of these fruits has symbolic significance in the traditions of its people and its country.

In Jewish tradition, the pomegranate symbolizes beauty, fertility and abundance. It is also one of the seven species mentioned in the Bible as being special agricultural products of Eretz Israel.

The mangosteen fruit, a very popular tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia, is known as the “Queen of Thai Fruit” probably because of its beautiful appearance and pleasant taste.

Each of these fruits is known to possess its own medicinal properties and they are also combined in food supplements, health drinks and beauty creams.

Photo by : Shutterstock

Type : Stamp with Tab, Mint Condition and First Day Cover

Security mark : Microtext

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 3.10 Shekel

Plate : 949

Stamps per Sheet : 15

Tabs per Sheet : 5

Method of Printing : Offset

Printer : Joh. Enschede, The Netherlands

About : 

• The State of Israel and the Kingdom of Thailand have enjoyed friendly diplomatic relations for 60 years, since their establishment in 1954.
• These friendly relations include successful cooperation in many areas such as agriculture, water management, advanced technology, education and medicine.
• The versatile relations between these two countries have been demonstrated through a number of historical visits by members of the Thai royal family to Israel and by Israeli dignitaries to Thailand.
• A great many Israeli tourists visit Thailand each year, enjoying the rich culture, beautiful scenery and warm hospitality that Thailand has to offer.
• The employment of Thai workers in Israeli agriculture led to the signing of a unique agreement in 2011, aimed at protecting the rights of foreign migrant workers.
• Every year Israel welcomes hundreds of Thai students and professionals who come to attend various training programs, mainly in the fields of agriculture, technology and education.
  

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Issued by Israel

Issued on 3 Sep, 1989

Motif : Portrait of Rabbi Alkalai

Designer : R. Beckman

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 2.50 Shekel

Size : 25.7 mm x 40 mm

Sheets of 15 stamps

Tabs : 5

Plate no : 91

Method of printing : Offset

Printers : E. Lewin-Epstein Ltd.

Name : Yehuda Alkalai

Born on 1798 at Sarajevo, Bosnia Eyalet, Ottoman Empire [now in Bosnia and Herzegovina]

Died on 1 Sep, 1878 at Jerusalem, Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, Ottoman Empire [now in Israel]

About : 

• Rabbi Yehuda Hai Alkalai is known to history as being among those first promulgators of Zionism, before Herzl, who were given the epithet “the Fathers of Modern Zionism”.
• Rabbi Alkalai was born in Sarajevo (today the province of Bosnia in Yugoslavia), then under Ottoman rule. He received his religious education from his father, who was a rabbi and teacher, and later on he also immersed himself in studying the books of the Kabbalah.
• Early on he was appointed Cantor and Rabbi of the township of Semlin, near Belgrade. During this period he wrote his first work “Darkhei No’am” (“Paths of Pleasantness”) – a booklet on Hebrew language and grammar. This booklet was written in Ladino, though all his later works were written in Hebrew.
• It was the period of the “Birth of Nations” in Europe, a period of political ferment and national awakening which was particularly active in the Balkan Peninsula. In Serbia, the country in which he lived, and in Greece, Serbia’s southern neighbour, uprisings and wars of national liberation were taking place.
• Rabbi Alkalai was greatly impressed and influenced by what was happening around him and which was leading, in the end, towards the liberation and independence of small and oppressed nations. There is no doubt that in this situation and under these conditions, he conceived and nurtured the glimmering of the idea of the return of the Jewish People to its historic homeland.
• In 1840 the Damascus Affair took place, and this gave him the incentive to consolidate his ideas. The Damascus Affair was for him what the Dreyfus Affair was to be for Herzl some 56 years later. Rabbi Alkalai was taken up with Zionism before the word could be found in any dictionary.
• He began to travel and to visit some of the capitals of Europe. He met with contemporary leaders of the Jewish communities including Montefiore, Cremieux (a member of the French Parliament), Charles Netter (the founder of Mikveh Israel) and others. Quietly and with gentle, inexhaustible persuasion, he spread his propaganda and his new ideas. At the same time he wrote and published essays and pamphlets and had his articles published in the “Jewish Chronicle”, “Havazzelet”, “HaMaggid” and “HaMevasser”.
• In his meetings, publications and articles he related to the overall political events of his time and connected them up with Judaism and his own unconventional ideas. He built a complete political programme, assigning roles to the countries of Western Europe, particularly to Britain, to help carry it out, and all this two or three generations before Herzl and Hibat Zion. His ideas aroused a mixed response: from enthusiastic agreement to violent opposition and disparagement. In the course of his life he knew disappointment and disillusion, since his ideas were way ahead of their time.
• Towards the end of his life he emigrated to the Land of Israel and settled in Jaffa and Jerusalem. Here too he aroused disagreements; here too he had supporters and opponents. He was fanatically opposed to the “Halukkah – Charity from Abroad” means of survival, and promulgated the acquisition of lands for the Jewish masses who could come to the country and make their livelihood from creative work.
• Old age and deteriorating health finally took their toll; he died in the month of Tishrai 5639 (September 1878) and was buried in the Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives; and a few days later his wife Esther was buried alongside him.
• In 1879, about a year after his death, the first settlers arrived and settled the land of Petah Tikvah, the “Mother of the Settlements”, and three years later the settlements of the First Aliyah were founded.
• Yehuda Hai Alkalai did not live to see his dream realised.

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Issued by Israel

Issued on 18 Dec, 1986

Issued for : This stamp is issued along with other stamps brought out by the Israel Philatelic Services in honour of the non-Jewish population of Israel. Examples of other such stamps are – the al-Jazzar Mosque in Akko; the Tomb of Nabi Sabalan in Hurfeish and the ISRAPHIL 85 souvenir sheet of the Dome of the Rock, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall.

These stamps express the freedom of worship for all, which is a corner-stone of the Israel democracy.

Designer : A. Berg

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 70 agorot

About : 

• Nazareth, an old city in the heart of Lower Galilee, has many tourist attractions and many points of interest for pilgrims. Its name is not mentioned in the Old Testament but appears several times in the New Testament and in non-Christian sources from the third and fourth centuries. For hundreds of millions of Christians, Nazareth is the cradle of the origin of their faith as, according to the Christian religion, it was here that Mary was annunciated on the birth of her son and it was here that he spent his formative years.
• The town has gone through many historical phases; more than once it has been conquered, destroyed and rebuilt. During recent years Nazareth has developed and become the centre of Galilee where many tourists and pilgrims come to see the holy sites of Christianity and other religions such as the Grotto of the Annunciation and the Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation, Mary’s Well, St. Joseph’s Church, Greek Orthodox Churches and also smaller churches, monasteries, seminaries and mosques of which the most important are the White Mosque and the Mosque of Peace. Nazareth is also a good base for visitors to the holy and historical sites which are in the vicinity, like Zippori and Kfar–Kanna, Mount Tabor and sites around the Sea of Galilee.
• The Basilica of the Annunciation – the Franciscan Basilica, which is shown on the stamp, is located in the centre of Nazareth and impresses one with its architectural beauty. Its rebuilding was initiated by the franciscan fathers of the custody of the Holy Land during the 1960s above the Grotto of the Annunciation and on the remains of old churches that had been built above the cave during different historical periods. Pope Paul VI visited the Church during his visit to Nazareth in 1964. The Church was planned by the Italian architect Giovani Muzio and built by the “Solel Boneh” Company. The Basilica is made up of two parts – the lower part which includes the Annunciation Grotto and different old remains, and the upper part which is crowned with a dome which resembles an inverted rose, the roots of which reach up to 60 m. Inside the Church there is a large mosaic depicting the Madonna, the Mother of the Church, which can be seen above the main altar. The inside walls of the Church are adorned by several mosaics – gifts from different countries round the world.
• Antoine Shaheen, Nazareth

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Issued by Israel

Issued on 22 Jul, 1986

Designer : A. Berg

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 40 agorot

About : 

• The Druze community, which is domiciled mainly in Syria and Lebanon, numbers about one million, less than 10% of whom live in Israel.
• The Druze left Islam during the rule of Fatimida Caliph al-Hakim in Egypt at the end of the tenth century. Very little is known about the Druze religion and its followers are reluctant to disclose details about their faith. As far as it is known, the religion is monotheistic and it is influenced by other such religions and by the philosophy of ancient Greece.
• Nabi Sabalan is one of the important Druze prophets. The Holy Place connected with his name lies south of the village of Hurfeish, near Israel’s border with Lebanon, on a mountain which rises 700 metres above sea level. This place was chosen because it was here the prophet used to pray and both the rock near where he prayed and the small cave where he lived can be seen there. The exact time the prophet lived is not known today.
• What is especially remarkable about Nabi Sabalan is that all the communities in Galilee which live in the vicinity of this Holy Place worship the prophet and honour his memory. They come there to pray for the recovery of their sick, and also on the occasion of the birth of their sons.
• Nowadays four large buildings stand near the Holy Site; a number of ancient fir trees mark the place. A legend about this place relates how, once, when all the other fir trees around were consumed by a fire, these four large firs remained unharmed because it was in their shadow that Nabi Sabalan used to pray. The Druze visit the site throughout the year but especially on September 10^th, when all those living in Galilee, in the Carmel villages and in the Golan come to worship there and to discuss community affairs.
• The ties between the Druze community and the Jewish people have a long history. They are mentioned by Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela in the 12^th century, while in our own times the Druze have fought side by side with their Jewish comrades in the Israel Defence Army, first as volunteers and later, at their own request, as conscripts. Close cooperation exists between both peoples in many and various civilian activities in the country.

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Issued by Israel

Issued on 27 Nov, 1984

Designer : Z. Narkiss

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 400 Shekel

Name : Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog

Born on 3 Dec 1988 at Łomża, Congress Poland [now in Poland]

Died on 25 Jul, 1959 at Jerusalem, Israel

About : 

• Rabbi Isaac Ha–Levi Herzog was born in 1888 in Lomza, Poland where his father served as Rabbi. His father who was known for his inspiring sermons and as a spiritual leader, officiated in Lomza, Leeds, and Paris; and it was from him that his son imbibed a deep love for Jewish Studies and a love for Zion. Isaac was an outstanding scholar and when no more than 16 years old had mastered the whole of the Babylonian Talmud and a few years later was ordained as rabbi by one of the outstanding Jewish scholars of the day.
• Rabbi Isaac Ha–Levi Herzog was regarded as an authority on Jewish Law and respected for his profound knowledge and judicial skill. He also devoted himself to secular studies and studied mathematics, classical and semitic languages, philosophy and science at the Universities of London, Leeds and Paris. He was fluent in a dozen languages and his writings show a mastery of such subjects as marine biology and Roman and English Law.
• In the year 1916 he was invited to take up the position of Rabbi in Belfast Northern Ireland and shortly after that moved to Dublin as Chief Rabbi of what is now Eire. He was a close observer of the Irish people’s fight for independence and became friendly with their leaders. Until this very day he holds a special place in the memory of the Irish people who saw in him both an exceptional personality and a true friend.
• In 1936 Rabbi Herzog was invited to succeed Rabbi Kook as the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbni of Eretz Israel and following the declaration of the State, was privileged to serve as Israel’s first Chief Rabbi, a post he continued to hold until his death in 1959.
• Throughout all those stormy years of the Holocaust and the rebirth of the Jewish State, Rabbi Herzog fought unceasingly to bring the people of Israel closer to Judaism. He strengthened the yeshivot, established contacts with all sections of the Yishuv, strove for national unity and for a greater understanding between religious and non-religious sections of the community and negotiated with the Mandatory authorities as equal to equal. He was one of the leaders of their fight for independence and frequently represented his people before world tribunals. Again and again he pleaded the Jewish people’s case before the various Enquiry Commissions set up to solve the problems of Eretz Israel and on one never-to-be-forgotten occasion publicly tore to shreds the infamous White Paper on the future of Palestine.
• During and after the Second World War he worked unceasingly to save the Jews of Europe from destruction and conversion. At the risk of his life he travelled to Europe and the USA to speak personally with the world’s leaders and was received by presidents of the USA and the Pope. His rescue mission undertaken in 1946 saved hundreds of Jewish orphans from the danger of conversion. Rabbi Herzog was among those who helped draft the laws of the new State. In the judgements that he handed down in his capacity as President of the Rabbinical High Court of Appeal he interpreted Jewish Law in terms of current realities, emphasizing its relevance alongside the laws of the new Jewish State. His judgements in matrimonial cases from the basis of present-day legal decision and contributed greatly to enhancing the status of the woman in our society.
• He left behind him a whole treasury of responsa (rabbinical opinions) on questions of Jewish Law, part of which have been published; two volumes (out of the five that he planned to write) on “The Main Institutions of Jewish Law” as well as numerous articles and scholarly theses.
• Rabbi Herzog’s family too have left their mark on Israel public life. His wife Sarah served as President of Mizrachi Women and chairman of the Ezrat Nashim hospital; his son Ya’akov was an intellectual and statesman who served as Director-General of the Prime Minister’s Office until his untimely death, while his other son Chaim is Israel’s sixth President.

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Issued by Israel

Issued on 5 Aug, 1980

The Designer : DAVID BEN–HADOR, born in Tel Aviv in 1954, studied graphic design at “ORT” and worked in the field of computers. He represented Israel in the international contest for young film-makers held in Finland in 1973 with a short artistic film which he himself produced, directed and edited. In 1978 he designed the banner headline “SHALOM” which graced the front page of “Máariv” on the day that the Israel–Egypt Peace Treaty was signed. In 1979 he was awarded a prize by the Israel Export Institute for inventing and designing an original children’s game.

David Ben–Hador is currently occupied in formulating new ways and improved means of expression in the field of visual communication through his work in designing posters, bulletins, packaging and emblems.

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 19 Pound

About : 

• The Gush Etzion settlements were established half way between Jerusalem and Hebron. Modern Jewish settlement of Gush Etzion dates back to 1927 with the founding of Migdal Eder, but this isolated settlement was destroyed during the Arab riots of 1929. In 1932, the “El Ha-Har” group set up by Zvi Holtzman made renewed attempts at preparing the land for planting orchards and establishing a settlement on the spot – Kefar Etzion. Once again Arab riots forced the workers to abandon the site.
• A third attempt at settlement was made in 1943 when the land was redeemed by the “Keren Kayemet Le-Israel”, and the “Abraham” group founded Kefar Etzion on the site. In the autumn of 1945 a second group of settlers reached the area and established Massu’ot Yitzhaq which was followed in 1946 by En Zurim and Revadim.
• With the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1948, the area came under siege and was cut off from Jerusalem and the Jewish hinterland. Bitter fighting took place over a period of six months. In the spring of 1949 the defenders of the bloc could no longer stand up against the forces of the Arab Legion and Arab irregulars who were greatly superior to them in numbers and fire-power and the settlements were overcome one by one.
• Two hundred and forty of the defenders, settlers and those who had come to reinforce them, fell in action and the remaining defenders were taken into captivity to Transjordan where they were interned until their release at the end of the war. The settlements themselves were all razed to the ground.
• For 20 years the survivors and their children gazed longingly at the solitary tree standing on the ridge of Har Etzion which was visible for miles around and dreamed of returning to their former homes and reestablishing their settlements.
• In the course of the Six-Day War (1967) the Etzion Bloc was recaptured and the children of the original settlers of Kefar Etzion organized themselves into a settlement group and made plans to return to their former home under the slogan “and the children shall return home”. In the autumn of 1967 their dream was realised.
• In the following year the foundations of a regional centre – Allon Shevut – were laid and the Har Zion Yeshiva which had taken up temporary residence at Kefar Etzion was moved there. This in turn was followed by a new settlement – Rosh Zurim – established on the ruins of En Zurim, and the settlements Elazar and Migdal Oz. In 1979 the Military Government established a Regional Council – Etzion – comprising these five settlements together with the neighbouring settlements of Tekoa and Har Gilo.

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