Yosef Burg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yosef Salomon Burg (January 31, 1909 - October 15, 1999) was an Israeli politician and Rabbi.
Born in Dresden, Germany, he attended the Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin and the University of Berlin from 1928 to 1931. He received a Doctorate in philosophy from the University of Leipzig in 1933. He continued to study at the Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin and became a Rabbi in 1938. In 1939, he made aliyah to become a research fellow at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
In Israel, Burg joined the Mizrakhi Workers, a religious-Zionist party. Alongside three other religious parties, the Mizrakhi Workers ran on a joint list called the United Religious Front for the first Knesset elections in 1949. The group won 16 seats and Burg took a seat in the Knesset and became Deputy Speaker.
In the 1951 elections the party ran by itself, winning eight seats. Burg remained in the Knesset and became Minister of Heath in the third government. In the fourth, fifth and sixth governments he served as Minister of Postal Services, a position he retained until 1958.
In 1956 the Mizrakhi Workers merged with their ideological twins from the Mizrakhi party to form the National Religious Party (NRP). The party was a member of all governments until 1992, and as a key party member, Burg maintained a ministerial position in every Knesset until his resignation from the Knesset in 1986, holding the positions of Minister of Welfare, Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister Without Portfolio and Minister of Religious Affairs.
In 1977, he became the President of the World Mizrakhi Movement.
He is the father of Avraham Burg, who was speaker of the fifteenth Knesset.
[edit] References
- Yosef Burg. The State of Israel. Retrieved on July 29, 2005.
- Dr Yosef Burg. The Department for Jewish Zionist Education. Retrieved on July 29, 2005.
