(Aschkenazi Chief Rabbi of the Holy Land 1888-1959). Autograph Letter Signed in Hebrew, concerning the Prayer for the State of Israel

HERZOG, ISAAC HALEVI.

Jerusalem

9th Ellul, 5708 [1948]

Black ink on letterhead stationery, "Office of the Chief Rabbi of the Holy Land."

In this important letter to his Sephardic counterpart the Rishon le-Zion R. Benzion Uziel, Chief Rabbi Herzog urgently seeks Rav Uziel's approval for the composition of the "Prayer for the State of Israel" that Rav Herzog (in tandem with Shmuel Yosef Agnon) had just composed. Rabbi Herzog stresses that time is short as the prayer must be sent throughout the Diaspora in time for the High Holy Days, less than three weeks away. Composed four months following the establishment of the State of Israel, the Tefillah LeMedinat Yisrael is now intoned by Jews across the world and is a fundamental text to religious Zionists