International Conference for Applied Halakha
Since 1923, the Encyclopedia Talmudit has been under the auspices of the Yad haRav Herzog Association, in memory of the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Isaac HaLevi Herzog, zt”l. Rabbi Herzog accompanied the encyclopedia from its founding until his passing, offering his wise counsel and resourcefulness, and he even served as its president for many years.
2008 was the 50th anniversary year of the death of Rabbi Herzog zt”l. The encyclopedia team and Yad haRav Herzog decided to mark this date with a special event to celebrate the greatness, scope, legacy, and influence of the rabbi on religious life in the State of Israel in his generation to our times. The decision was taken to hold an international conference for applied halakha in cooperation with the Jewish Agency’s department for Torah Education and Culture. The conference took place from November 30-December 2, 2008, in the new home of the Encyclopedia Talmudit, the building of the Yeshurun Synagogue in Jerusalem. The conference was attended by hundreds of rabbis and Torah scholars from Israel and abroad.
The conference included dozens of sessions on the entire range of topics dealing with the crossing point between halakha and life in a modern Jewish state: Religion and the state; halakha and secular law; kashrut; internal security; agriculture and the Sabbatical Year; law and medicine, and more. The best-qualified experts on various subjects gave talks, and many innovative ideas were discussed, as the conference garnered media attention.
The opening session of the conference was attended by the Chief Rabbis of Israel. In addition, there was a gala dinner which featured the screening of a film about the life and work of Rabbi Herzog zt”l, produced specially for the occasion by the journalist Shaul Meislish. A particularly moving highlight involved the retelling of Rabbi Herzog’s trip to the Netherlands after World War II, where he visited a children’s home that was run by Rabbi Natan and Elisheva Dasberg, the parents of Rabbi Uri Dasberg, zt”l, head of the editorial board of the Encyclopedia Talmudit. Many children whose parents had died in the Holocaust were brought to this home during and after the war. At the time, Rabbi Herzog asked Dina, their little child, what gift she would like, and she responded: A prayer book from the land of Israel.” Although Rabbi Herzog did not manage to fulfill Dina’s request himself, at the festive meal Rabbi Yitzchak Herzog’s grandson, MK Isaac “Bougie” Herzog, closed the circle by presenting Mrs. Dina Amir (nee Dasberg) with the prayer book from Israel that she had requested from his grandfather in her youth.