Zerach Warhaftig
| Zerach Warhaftig | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date of birth | 2 February 1906 |
| Place of birth | Volkovysk, Russian Empire |
| Year of aliyah | 1947 |
| Date of death | 26 September 2002 (aged 96) |
| Knessets | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
| Faction represented in Knesset | |
| 1949–1951 | United Religious Front |
| 1951–1955 | Hapoel HaMizrachi |
| 1955–1969 | National Religious Party |
| 1974–1981 | National Religious Party |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 1961–1974 | Minister of Religions |
Zerach Warhaftig (Hebrew: זרח ורהפטיג, Yiddish: זרח ווארהאפטיק, also Zorah Wahrhaftig; 2 February 1906 - 26 September 2002) was an Israeli lawyer and politician. He was a signatory of Israel's Declaration of Independence.
Zerach Warhaftig was born in Volkovysk in the Russian Empire (today Vawkavysk, Belarus) in 1906. His parents were Yerucham Warhaftig and Rivka Fainstein.
In 1941 Warhaftig and his family travelled east from Lithuania to Japan. On 5 June 1941 the Warhaftigs left Yokohama on the Japanese ocean liner Hikawa Maru and on 17 June they landed at Vancouver, Canada. He described the trip as "a summer vacation and with the war seeming to be so far away" although, he said "I didn't have a peaceful mind because of the strong responsibility I had to help the Jewish refugees with the troubles they faced."
In World War II Rabbi Warhaftig convinced the Japanese Vice-Consul in Kaunas, Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara, to issue visas for the entire Mir Yeshiva. By so doing, Chiune Sugihara saved thousands of lives and families from the Nazis who had occupied first Poland and then Lithuania.
In 1947 Warhaftig immigrated to Mandatory Palestine. Initially he joined the Hapoel HaMizrachi party, a religious-zionist party, and in 1949 he was elected to the first Knesset as part of the United Religious Front, an alliance between Mizrachi, Hapoel HaMizrachi, Agudat Yisrael and Poalei Agudat Yisrael. In 1948-1963 he taught Jewish Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
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