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Project photo: King David of Israel by Marc Chagall. Israeli stamp, 1969
Biblical Heroes
- אדם הראשון, Adam & חוה, Eve, 'Adam & Eve stamp1'; '2' (c.4004 BCE — 3070 BCE) According to the Genesis creation narrative, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by the God of the ancient Hebrews. Adam and Eve ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, causing their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
- נח, Noah, 'Noah stamp1', '2', '3' (c.2948 BCE — c.1998 BCE) Noah was the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The story of Noah and the ark is told in the book of Genesis (6–9), which is followed by the story of the Curse of Ham. Outside Genesis his name is mentioned in Ezekiel, Isaiah and Chronicles. He was the subject of much elaboration in later Abrahamic traditions, including the Qur'an.
- אברהם אבינו / Abraham / إبراهيم , 'Abraham stamp1'; '2'; '3'; '4' (c.2050 BCE — c.1870 BCE) Abraham features in the Book of Genesis as the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites and Edomite peoples. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims and the founder of monotheism.
- שרה אמנו, Sarah, سارة , 'Sarah stamp' (c.2040 BCE — c.1913 BCE) Sarah was the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. Her name was originally Sarai. God changed her name to Sarah as part of a covenant after Hagar bore Abraham his first son, Ishmael. According to the Bible, she was also half-sister, the daughter of Abraham's father Terah. The Talmud identifies Sarai with Iscah, daughter of Abraham's deceased brother Haran, so that Sarah turns out to be the niece of Abraham and the sister of Lot and Milcah. Sarah died directly after the sacrifice at Mt. Moriah.
- יצחק אבינו / Isaac, 'Isaac stamp1'; '2'; '3'; '4' (c.1950 BCE — c.1770 BCE) The only son of Abraham by Sarah and was the father of Jacob and Esau. One of the three patriarchs of the Israelites. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah was beyond childbearing years (Genesis). Honored in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
- רבקה אמנו, Rebecca, 'Rebecca stamp' (c.1926 BCE — c.1793 BCE) She was the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. She was also the sister of Laban, who would later become the father of Rachel and Leah, two of the wives of Rebecca's son Jacob. Rebecca and Isaac were one of the three couples buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs, the other two being Abraham and Sarah, and Jacob and Leah.
- יעקב אבינו, Jacob, 'Jacob stamp1'; '2'; '3' (c.1892 BCE — c.1744 BCE) Jacob, also later known as Israel ( יִשְׂרָאֵל, Yisraʾel), was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.
- לאה אמנו, Leah, 'Leah stamp' (c.1829 BCE — c.1745 BCE) The first of the two concurrent wives of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob and mother of six of sons whose descendants became the Twelve Tribes of Israel, along with at least one daughter, Dinah. She is the daughter of Laban and the older sister of Rachel, whom Jacob originally wanted to marry. Leah is Jacob's first cousin, and she was the eldest niece of Rebecca.
- רחל אמנו, Rachel, 'Rachel stamp' (c.1837 BCE — c.1772 BCE) Rachel is a prophet and the favorite wife of Jacob, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife. Jacob was her first cousin, and she was the youngest niece of Rebecca.
- יוסף, Joseph, 'Joseph stamp, Sukkot' (c.1562 BCE — 1452 BCE) Joseph or Yosef was the eleventh of Jacob's twelve sons in the Book of Genesis and Rachel's firstborn.
- אהרון הכהן הגדול, Aaron the High Priest, 'Aaron, stamp, Sukkot' (c.1397 BCE — c.1274 BCE) "Aaron the High Priest", was the older brother of Miriam & Moses and prophet of God.
- מרים הנביאה, Miriam sister of Moses, 'Miriam, stamp' (c.1396 BCE — c.1280 BCE) Elder sister of Moses.
- משה רבנו, Moses, 'Moses, stamp1, Red Sea'; '2, Sukkot'; '3, high holidays', '4', '5', '6'; '7, in the bulrushes' (c.1393 BCE — c.1273 BCE) "Moses the teacher" was a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. He is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important prophet in Christianity and Islam, as well as a number of other faiths.
- יהושע בן-נון, Joshua son of Nun, 'Bin Nun stamp1', '2', '3', '4'; (c.1500 BCE — c.1390 BCE) A minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel (Num 13-14) and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua. According to the books Exodus, Numbers and Joshua, he became the leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses; his name was Hoshea the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him Joshua, (Numbers 13:16) the name by which he is commonly known
- דבורה הנביאה, Deborah The Prophetess, 'Deborah stamp' () Deborah was a prophetess of God and the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel. Being the only female judge in the vast history of Israel, Deborah led a successful counterattack against the forces of Jabin, king of Canaan and his military commander Sisera. Her story is told twice, in the Book of Judges, 4-5.
- יעל אשת חבר הקיני, Yael, wife of Hever the Kenite 'Yael, stamp' () A biblical figure mentioned in Judges as the one who killed Sisera in the war waged with him by Deborah and Barak son of Avinoam. Yael was the wife of a member of the tribe of Kenites who were descendants of Jethro (father in law of Moses), and were close to the people of Israel, from the days of Moses.
- השופט גדעון, Judge Gideon Ben Joash, 'Gideon stamp' () Gideon the son of Joash, from the clan of Abieezer in the tribe of Manasseh, was a judge of the Hebrews. As is the pattern throughout the book of Judges, the Israelites again turned away from God after 40 years of peace brought by Deborah's victory over Canaan and were allowed to be oppressed by the neighboring Midianites and Amalekites. God chose Gideon, to free the people of Israel and to condemn their worship of idols. His story is recorded in Judges 6-8.
- השופט יפתח, Judge Jephthah Ben Gilead, 'Jephthah stamp' () Jephthah served as a judge over Israel for a period of six years. He lived in Gilead and was a member of the Tribe of Manasseh. The Book of Judges describes Jephthah as leading the Israelites in battle against Ammon and, as the result of a rash vow, sacrificing his daughter after defeating the Ammonites (Judges 10-12).
- שמשון הגיבור, Samson, 'Samson stamp1', '2, Samson & Delilah', Samson & the Lion stamp3' Samson, according to the biblical story, is the 12th judge of Israel, and last described in the Book of Judges.
- חנה הנביאה, Hannah - the Profesess, 'Hannah stamp' Wife of Elkanah of Ramatayim Tzofim, was one of the seven prophetesses mentioned in the Bible. She was the mother of the Prophet Samuel.
- שאול המלך, King Saul of Israel, 'King Saul stamp' (c.1079 BCE — c.1029/1007 BCE) First king of the United Monarchy of Israel.
- רות המואביה, Ruth of Moab, 'Ruth stamp' The Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi and Elimelech, who were Jewish. After the death of her husband, Ruth gave up her former god and former life to unite with the household of faith in serving the God of Israel, and married Naomi’s kinsman Boaz. Their son Obed was the ancestor of David and Jesus.
- דוד המלך, King David of Israel, 'King David stamp1, Chagal', 'King 2', '3, Kings', '4, Sukkot' (c.1042 BCE — c.971 BCE). Depicted as a righteous king — although not without fault — as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet, traditionally credited with the authorship of many of the Psalms.
- המלך שלמה, King Solomon of Israel, 'King Solomon stamp' (c.1034 BCE — c.933 BCE) Third king of the United Monarchy of Israel. Builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem, great in wisdom, wealth, and power, but ultimately as a king whose sins lead to the kingdom being torn in two during the reign of his son Rehoboam. In the Qur'an, he is a Prophet, known as Sulaiman.
- ישעיהו הנביא, Isaiah the Prophet, 'Isaiah stamp' (778 "BCE" — 698 "BCE") He was a prophet who lived in the 8th-century BCE Kingdom of Judah, during the reigns of kings Uzziah' (last years), Hezekiah, and Manasseh (early years). Thus Isaiah may have prophesied for as long as sixty-four years. Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed (although not the earliest) of the neviim akharonim, the latter prophets.
- ירמיהו הנביא, Jeremiah the Prophet, 'Jeremiah stamp' (586 BCE — 655 BCE) He is regarded as the second major prophet of the Hebrew Bible. Christianity also regards Jeremiah as a prophet and he is quoted in the New Testament. Islam also considers Jeremiah a prophet. Jeremiah’s job was to reveal the sins of the people and explain the reason for the impending disaster (destruction by the Babylonian army and captivity). Jeremiah is traditionally credited with authoring the Book of Jeremiah, 1 Kings, 2 Kings and the Book of Lamentations with the assistance and under the editorship of Baruch ben Neriah, his scribe and disciple.
- חולדה הנביאה, Hulda the Prophetess, 'Hulda stamp' Hulda was a prophetess mentioned briefly in the Hebrew Bible. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tokhath (also called Tikvah), son of Harhas (also called Hasrah), keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District, at the time of the Prophet Jeremiah, during the reign of King Josiah.
- יחזקאל הנביא, Ezekiel the Prophet, 'Ezekiel stamp' (622 BCE — 570 BCE) Ezekiel is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet. In Judaism and Christianity, he is also viewed as the author of the Book of Ezekiel that reveals prophecies regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Millennia Temple visions, or the Third Temple.
- יונה הנביא, Jonah the Prophet, 'Jonaha, stamp1'; '2, High Holidays', '3', '4'; (?) Hebrew prophet Jonah ben Amittai was sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh but tried to escape the divine mission. Has become a well-known popular children’s story.
- אחשורוש מלך פרס, Xerxes I (Persian: Khshayarsha), King of Persia, 'Xerxes I stamp1'; '2' (519 "BCE" — 465 "BCE") the son of Darius I and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great. Xerxes is generally identified as the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther.
- מרדכי היהודי, Mordechai, Court Jew of Xerxes I, 'Mordechai stamp' () One of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He was the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin. Cousin of Esther (future Queen of Persia) whom he brought up as his own daughter.
- אסתר המלכה, Queen Esther of Persia, 'Queen Esther stamp1'; '2' (c.505 BCE — c.425 BCE) Born Hadassah, is the eponymous heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther. According to the Bible she was a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus (traditionally identified with Xerxes I). Her story is the basis for the celebration of Purim in Jewish tradition.
- יהודה המכבי, Judas Maccabeus, 'J. Maccabeus stamp' (190 BCE — 160 BCE) Y'hudhah HamMakabi (Judah the Hammer) was a Kohen and a son of the Jewish priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167-160 BCE) and is acclaimed as one of the greatest warriors in Jewish history alongside Joshua, Gideon and David. The Jewish feast of Hanukkah ("Dedication") commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE, after Judah Maccabee removed the pagan statuary.
- שמעון בר כוכבא, Simon Bar Kokhba, 'Bar Kokhba stamp' (d. 135) was the Jewish leader of what is known as the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132, establishing an independent Jewish state of Israel which he ruled for three years as Nasi ("Ruler"). His rule was the last significant period of Israel's independence in this country, until the establishment of State of Israel in 1948. in the His state was conquered by the Romans in 135 following a two-year war. Documents discovered in the modern era give us his original name, Simon ben Kosiba, (Hebrew: שמעון בן כוסבא) he was given the surname Bar Kokhba, (Aramaic for "Son of a Star", referring to the Star Prophecy of Numbers 24:17, "there shall step forth a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite through the corners of Moab") by his contemporary, the Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva.
Visionaries and Spiritual leaders
- רבי יהושע בן חנניה, Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, 'Ben Hananiah stamp' (d. 131) Ben Hananiah was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent, and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers. Joshua ben Hananiah was one of the five who formed the inner circle of Johanan ben Zakkai's pupils. In enumerating them tradition places him at the head together with Eliezer b. Hyrcanus.
- רבי מאיר בעל הנס, Rabbi Meir Ba'al Hanes, 'Baal Hanes stamp' (139 - 163). Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation (139-163). According to the Talmud, his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is one of the few women cited in the Gemara. He is the third most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.
- רבי יוחנן הסנדלר, Rabbi Yohanan Hassandlar, 'Hassandlar stamp' (c. 100 — c. 150) Was one of the main students of Rabbi Akiva and a contemporary of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He is one of the Tannaim whose teachings are quoted in the Mishnah. His name, "Hasandlar", could either refer to the fact that he earned his living as a sandal maker, or that he was a native of Alexandria.He was a great-grandson of Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder; he also purportedly traced his ancestry back to King David. Rashi, the great medieval commentator, was a 33rd-generation descendant of Rabbi Yochanan.
- רבי שלמה יצחקי - רש"י, Rashi, 'Rashi stamp' (1040 — 1105) The outstanding Biblical commentator of the Middle Ages. His explanation is often the basis for all Jewish understanding of the scriptures and legal principles in Judaism. No one person seems to have had such a deep impact on Jewish learning in the past thousand years as this man has had. In addition to the monumentous and basic commentary on the five books of Moses, Rashi commented on most of the books of the prophets and other biblical writings, plus most of the often-studied tractates of the Babylonian Talmud.
- הרמב"ם , Maimonides موسى ابن ميمون ,Moshe ben Maimon, 'Maimonides stamp1', 'Maimonides stamp2' (ca. 1138 - 1204) The preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. He worked as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt. With the contemporary Muslim sage Averroes, he promoted and developed the philosophical tradition of Aristotle. As a result, Maimonides and Averroes would gain a prominent and controversial influence in the West. A popular medieval saying that also served as his epitaph states, From Moshe (of the Torah) to Moshe (Maimonides) there was none like Moshe.
- לוי בן גרשום - רלב"ג, Levi ben Gerson, Gersonides, 'Gersonides stamp' (1288–1344), Jewish philosopher, Talmudist, mathematician, astronomer/astrologer. Gersonides was also the earliest known mathematician to have used the technique of mathematical induction in a systematic and self-conscious fashion and anticipated Galileo’s error theory. His most important treatise, that by which he has a place in the history of philosophy, is entitled Sefer Milhamot Ha-Shem ("The Wars of the Lord"). He is also credited to have invented the Jacob's staff, an instrument to measure the angular distance between celestial objects.
- רבי יהודה לאו, המהר"ל מפראג, Yehuda Loew, The Maharal of Prague, 'MaHaRal tombstone stamp' (1512 – 1609) The Maharal of Prague was a towering giant in Torah and Kabbalah and a fearless leader of European Jewry during the sixteenth century. Within the world of Torah and Talmudic scholarship, he is known for his works on Jewish philosophy and Jewish mysticism and his work Gur Aryeh al HaTorah, a supercommentary on Rashi's Torah commentary. He is particularly known for the legend that he created The Golem of Prague, an animate being fashioned from clay, using mystical powers based on the esoteric knowledge of how God created Adam, to defend the Jews of the Prague Ghetto from antisemitic attacks.
- יצחק לוריא - האר"י הקדוש, Yitzhak Luria - HaAR"I Hkadosh, 'Ha'Ari stamp' (1534 – 1572) A foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine. Considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah. He is known for the mysticism and interpretation of his teachings in Kabbalah known as Lurianic Kabbalah.
- ברוך שפינוזה, Baruch Spinoza, 'Spinoza stamp' (1632 – 1677) Jewish Philosopher of Dutch origin. He is considered one of the great rationalists of the 17th-century philosophy, laying the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism.
- רבי ישראל הבעל שם טוב, Rabbi Yisrael HaBaal Shem Tov, 'Habesht stamp' (1698 – 1760) Jewish mystical rabbi considered to be the founder of Hasidic Judaism.
- רבי אליהו הגאון מוילנה, Eliyahu the Gaon of Vilna, 'Gaon of Vilna stamp' (1720 – 1797) Lithuania's greatest Talmudic scholar and one of Judaism's greatest spiritual and intellectual leaders of modern times. He was, because of his fame, known simply as "The Vilna Gaon, or HaGRA (HaGaon Rav Eliyahu).
- רבי נחמן מברסלב, Rabbi Nachman of Breslev, 'Breslever stamp' (1772 – 1810) Founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement. His religious philosophy revolved around closeness to God and speaking to God in normal conversation "as you would with a best friend." The concept of hitbodedut is central to his thinking.
- לודויג זמנהוף, Ludwik Zamenhof, 'Zamenhof Esperanto stamp' (1859 – 1917) The creator of Esperanto, the most successful constructed language designed for international communication.
- יוסף קלאוזנר, Joseph Klausner, 'Klausner stamp' (1874 – 1958) Jewish historian and professor of Hebrew Literature. He was the chief redactor of The Hebrew Encyclopedia.
- מרטין בובר, Martin Buber, 'Buber stamp' (1878 – 1965) Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship.
- יאנוש קורצ׳אק, Janusz Korczak, 'Korczak stamp' the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit, (1878 or 1879 – 1942) was a Polish-Jewish educator, children's author, and pediatrician known as Pan Doktor (Mr Doctor) or Stary Doktor (Old Doctor). After spending many years working as director of an orphanage in Warsaw, he refused freedom and stayed with his orphans when the organization was sent from the Ghetto to Treblinka extermination camp during the Grossaktion Warsaw of 1942.
World Leaders and world dignitaries
- Berek Joselewicz, 'Joselewicz stamp' (1764 –1809) Polish freedom fighter. He was a Jewish-Polish merchant and a colonel of the Polish Army during the Kościuszko Uprising. Joselewicz commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history.
- Sir Moses Montefiore משה מונטפיורי, 'Montefiore stamp' (1784 – 1885) The most famous British Jew of the 19th century. Banker, financier, philanthropist, Sheriff of London and determined defender of human rights. Sir Moses Montefiore's extreme largess, fearless activism on behalf of world Jewry was immeasurable.
- Baron Maurice de Hirsch, 'Hirsch stamp' (1831 – 1896) Baron Moritz von Hirsch auf Gereuth was a German-Jewish banker, businessman and philanthropist who set up charitable foundations to promote Jewish education and improve the lot of oppressed European Jewry. He was the founder of the Jewish Colonization Association (JCA or IKA) which sponsored large-scale Jewish immigration to Argentina.
- Émile Zola, 'Zola stamp' (1840 – 1902) French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in the renowned newspaper headline J'Accuse.
- Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL, 'Balfour stamp' (1848 – 1930) British Conservative politician and statesman. He authored the Perpetual Crimes Act (1887) (or Coercion Act), and was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. Later, as Foreign Secretary, he authored the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
- Alfred Dreyfus, 'Dreyfus stamp' (1859 – 1935) French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history. Known today as the Dreyfus Affair, the incident eventually ended with Dreyfus's complete exoneration.
- Orville Right (1871 – 1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867 – 1912) 'Wright stamps: 1'; '2'; '3'. The Wright Brothers were two Americans who are generally credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.
- Léon André Blum, 'Blum stamp' (1872 – 1950) French politician of Jewish decent, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times Prime Minister of France.
- Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States, 'Truman stamp' (1884 – 1972) Thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953). As vice president, he succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died less than three months after he began his fourth term. Supported the UN partition resolution to create a Jewish state and an Arab state on the territory of the British Mandate of Palestine, and recognized the established State of Israel in 1948.
- Eleanor Roosevelt, 'Eleanor Roosevelt stamp' (1884 – 1962) First Lady of the United States 1933 - 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights.
- General Orde Charles Wingate, 'Wingate stamp' (1903 – 1944) British Army officer and creator of special military units in Palestine in the 1930s and in World War II. Wingate became a supporter of Zionism, seeing it as his religious and moral duty to help the Jewish community in Palestine form a Jewish state.
- Simon Wiesenthal, 'Wisenthal stamp' (1908 – 2005) Austrian Holocaust survivor who became famous after World War II for his work as a hunter of fugitive Nazis so that they could be brought to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Co-founder of the Jewish Historical Documentation Center in Linz, and the Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna, Austria.
- Karol Wojtyla / Pope John Paul II, 'John Paul II stamp' (1920 – 2005) Acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century.
- Anne Frank, 'Anne Frank stamp' (1929 – 1945) One of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films. Died of tyfus in Bergen Belzen Concentration Camp.
- King Hassan II, الحسن الثاني, of Morocco, 'King Hassan stamp' (1929 – 1999) King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999.
- al-Ḥusain bin Ṭalāl, حسين بن طلال, al-Hāšimīy, King of Jordan, 'King Hussain stamp' (1935 – 1999) King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death in 1999.
- Justice Louis Brandeis, [ Brandeis stamp] ( – )
Righteous among the Nations - חסידי אומות העולם
An honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis.
Diplomats
- Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches, 'de Sousa Mendes et al. stamp' (1885 - 1954) Portuguese diplomat who ignored and defied the orders of his own government, and during World War II issued Portuguese visas free of charge, to over 30,000 refugees seeking to escape the Nazi terror, 12,000 of whom were Jews.
- Chiune Sugihara, 杉原 千畝, 'Sugihara et al. stamp' (1900 - 1986) Vice Consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania. During World War II, he helped several thousand Jews leave the country by issuing them transit visas to travel to Japan.
- Raoul Wallenberg, 'Wallenberg stamp' (1912 - 1947?) Swedish humanitarian who worked in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Between July and December 1944, he issued protective passports and housed Jews in buildings established as Swedish territory, saving tens of thousands of lives. Probably died while in Soviet detention. Yad Vashem Org. recognized Raoul Wallenberg as Righteous Among the Nations.
- Selâhattin Ülkümen, 'Ülkümen stamp' (1914 – 2003) Turkish diplomat and consul in Rhodes during the Second World War, who assisted many local Jews to escape the Holocaust.
- Giorgio Perlasca, 'Perlaska stamp' (1910 – 1992) Italian who posed as the Spanish consul-general to Hungary in the winter of 1944, and saved thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
- Carl Lutz, 'Lutz stamp' (1895 – 1975) Swiss Vice-Consul in Budapest, Hungary from 1942 until the end of World War II. He is credited with saving over 62,000 Jews from deportation to Nazi Extermination camps during the Holocaust.
Authors of great literature
- Shota Rustaveli შოთა რუსთაველი, 'Rustaveli stamp' (c.1172 – c.1216) Georgian poet of the 12th century, and one of the greatest contributors to Georgian literature.
- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, 'Cervantes stamp' (1547 – 1616) Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.
- Heinrich Heine, 'Heine stamp' (1797 – 1856) One of the most significant German poets of the 19th century; journalist, essayist, and literary critic.
- Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Пу́шкин], 'Pushkin stamp' (1799 – 1837) The greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.
- Hans Christian (H.C.) Andersen, Andersen stamps series: 'The little Mermaid', 'The Emperor's New Clothes', 'The Ugly Duckling' (1805 – 1875) Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories.
- Herbert George "H.G." Wells, 'Wells stamp' (1866 – 1946) English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction".
- Jules Gabriel Verne, 'Verne stamp' (1828 – 1905) French author who pioneered the science-fiction genre. He is best known for his classic novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).
- Franz Kafka, 'Kafka stamp' (1883 – 1924) German-language novelist, whose works came to be regarded as one of the major achievements of world literature, to the point that even the term "Kafkaesque" has entered the English language.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 'Saint-Exupéry stamp' (1900 – 1944) French writer and aviator. Best remembered for his novella The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) and for his books about aviation adventures, including Night Flight and Wind, Sand and Stars.
- Isaac Asimov, 'Asimov stamp' (1920 – 1992) A prolific American author, one of the three grand masters of science fiction, a professor of biochemistry who wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 9,000 letters and postcards.
Israeli & Jewish authors (mostly in Hebrew)
- אברהם מאפו, Abraham Mapu, 'Mapu stamp' (1808 – 1867) Lithuanian-Jewish novelist in Hebrew of the Haskalah ("enlightenment") movement. Considered the first Hebrew novelist. His style is fresh and poetic, almost Biblical in its simple grandeur. His novels later served as a basis for the Zionist movement.
- יהודה לייב גורדון - יל"ג Judah Leib (Ben Asher) Gordon, 'Y.L. Gordon stamp1'; 'Y.L. Gordon fdc2' (1830 – 1892) Y.L. Gordon among the most important Hebrew poets of the Jewish Enlightenment.
- שלום יעקב אברמוביץ' - מנדלי מוכר ספרים, Shalom Jacob Abramowitz - Mendele Mocher Sefarim, 'Mendele stamp1'; 'Mendele fdc2' (1835 — 1917), "Mendele the book peddler," is the pseudonym of Sholem Yankev Abramovich, a Jewish author and one of the founders of modern Yiddish and Hebrew literature. He is considered by many to be the "grandfather of Yiddish literature," a name applied by Sholem Aleichem in the dedication to his novel Stempenyu; his style in both Hebrew and Yiddish has strongly influenced several generations of later writers.
- אברהם גולדפאדן, Abraham Goldfaden, 'Goldfaden stamp' (1840 – 1908) Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yiddish and Hebrew, author of some 40 plays. Goldfaden is considered the father of the Jewish modern theatre. In 1876 he founded in Romania what is generally credited as the world's first professional Yiddish-language theater troupe. He was also responsible for the first Hebrew-language play performed in the United States.
- יצחק־לייבוש פרץ Isaac Leib Peretz, 'Peretz stamp1'; 'Peretz fdc2' (1852 – 1915), best known as I.L. Peretz, was a Yiddish language author and playwright. Generally counted with Mendele Mokher Sefarim and Sholem Aleichem as one of the three great classical Yiddish writers.
- אלכסנדר זיסקינד רבינוביץ', אז"ר, Alexander Ziskind Rabinowitz, AZAR, 'AZAR stamp' (1854 – 1945) Hebrew writer, biographer, editor and translator.
- שלום עליכם, Shalom Aleichem, 'Shalom Aleichem stamp' (1859 — 1916) was the pen name of Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, a leading Yiddish author and playwright. The musical Fiddler on the Roof, based on his stories about Tevye the Milkman, was the first commercially successful English-language stage production about Jewish life in Eastern Europe.
- מיכה יוסף בִּן גָּרְיוֹן - בֶּרְדִיצֵ'בְסְקִי Micha Josef Berdyczewski, 'Berdiczewski stamp1'; 'Berdiczewski fdc2' (1865 — 1921) Ukrainian-born writer in Hebrew, a journalist, and a scholar. He appealed for the Jews to change their way of thinking, freeing themselves from dogmas ruling the Jewish religion, tradition and history, but is also known for his work with pre-modern Jewish myths and legends. He wrote in Hebrew, Yiddish and German and has been described as "the first Hebrew writer living in Berlin to be revered in the world of German letters".
- נחמה פוחצ׳בסקי Nechama Pohatchevsky, 'Nechama stamp' (1869 — 1934) Farmer, writer, judge and Suffragette, She was a pioneer in Rishon LeZion.
- חיים נחמן ביאליק Chaim Nachman Bialik, 'Bialik stamp' (1873 – 1934) Jewish poet who wrote in Hebrew in Russia and then in Eretz Israel. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poets and came to be recognized as Israel's national poet.
- שאול טשרניחובסקי Shaul Tchernichovsky, 'Tchernichovsky stamp1'; 'Tchernichovsky fdc2' (1875 – 1943) Russian-born physician, Hebrew poet, essayist and translator. He is considered one of the great Hebrew poets, identified with nature poetry, lyrical-erotic poetry, epic poetry, and as a poet greatly influenced by the culture of ancient Greece.
- יוסף חיים ברנר , Yosef Chaim Brenner, 'Brenner stamp1'; '2'; '3, fdc' (1881 – 1921) Russian-born Hebrew-language author, one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew literature.
- יהודה בורלא, Judah Burla, 'Burla samp1'; '2, fdc' (1886 – 1969). An Israeli author. Burla was twice awarded the Bialik Prize for literature (1939 and 1954) and the Israel Prize, for literature (1961).
- דבורה בארון Dvora Baron, 'Baron stamp1'; '2'; '3, fdc' (1887-1956) One of the first women writers of Hebrew fiction, she occupies a special place in Hebrew literature. Baron was the first recipient of the Bialik Prize and was also awarded the Brenner Prize. The First Day and Other Stories is included among "The Greatest Works of Modern Jewish Literature".
- ש"י עגנון Shmuel Joseph (Shai) Agnon (Czaczkes), 'Agnon stamp1'; '2' (1888 – 1970) Writer and a central figures of modern Hebrew fiction. Nobel laureate in Literature (1966). He was also awarded twice the Bialik Prize (1934 & 1950), and twice the Israel Prize for literature (1954 & 1958).
- רחל המשוררת Rachel the Poetess, 'Rachel stamp' (1890 – 1931) Superb Lyric poet (in Hebrew). First Jewish woman poet in Palestine to receive recognition in a genre that was comprised solely of men. Poems by Rachel have been translated to English, German, Czech, Polish, Esperanto, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian, Basque and Slovak.
- אסתר ראב , Esther Raab Raab stamp (1894 – 1981) The first Land-of-Israel-born poet and writer woman. המשוררת הצברית הראשונה
- אורי צבי גרינברג, Uri Zvi Grinberg, 'Grinberg stamp' (1896 – 1981) Acclaimed Israeli poet and journalist who wrote in Yiddish and Hebrew. First Knesset member. He was awarded the Israel Prize for literature (1957).
- חיים הזז, Haim Hazaz, 'Hazaz stamp1'; '2, fdc' (1xxx – 19xx) Russian-born Israeli novelist. Awarded twice (1952 and 1970) the Bialik Prize for Literature, and in 1953, the Israel Prize for literature.
- יוכבד בת-מרים, Yocheved Bat-Miriam, 'Bat-Miriam stamp1'; '2, fdc' (1901 – 1980) Russian-born Israeli poet. Wife of author Haim Hazaz. Awards: In 1963, she was awarded the Brenner Prize for literature; in 1964, the Bialik Prize for literature; in 1972, the Israel Prize for literature.
- אברהם שלונסקי, Avraham Shlonsky, 'Shlonsky stamp1'; '2'; '3, fdc' (1900 – 1973) Was a Russian-born significant and dynamic Israeli poet and editor. He was influential in the development of modern Hebrew and its literature in Israel through his many acclaimed translations of literary classics, particularly from Russian, as well as his own original Hebrew children's classics. Known for his humor, Shlonsky earned the nickname "Lashonsky" from the wisecrackers of his generation (lashon means "tongue", i.e., "language") for his unusually clever and astute innovations in the newly evolving Hebrew language. He was awarded the Tchernichovsky Prize for translation (1946), and Bialik Prize (1959) and Israel Prize (1967) for literature.
- נתן אלתרמן Nathan Alterman, 'Alterman stamp1'; '2, fdc' (1910 – 1970) Israeli poet, playwright, journalist, and translator who – though never holding any elected office – was highly influential in Socialist Zionist politics, both before and after the establishment of the State of Israel. He was awarded twice the Tchernichovsky Prize (for translation, 1946,1967), Ruppin Prize (1947), Bialik Prize (1957), Israel Prize (1968).
- שושנה שַׁבַּבַּוֹ Shoshana Shababo 'Shababo stamp' (1910 - 1992) She was an Israeli writer, daughter of a Sephardic family originating in Safed. Shbabo's work revolves around transformations in the position of the Sephardic woman. She published two novels - "Maria" and "Love in Safed", as well as short stories and lists.
- לאה גולדברג Leah Goldberg, 'Goldberg stamp' (1911 – 1970) Hebrew-language poet, author, playwright, literary translator, and comparative literary researcher. Her writings are considered classics of Israeli literature and remain very popular among Hebrew speaking Israelis. She was awarded the Ruppin Prize (1949) and the Israel Prize for literature (1970).
- זלדה מישקובסקי Zelda Mishkovsky, 'Zelda stamp' (1914 – 1984) Zelda, was an Israeli poet. She won the Brenner Prize (1971), the Bialik prize (1977), and the Wertheim Prize (1982).
- אמיר גלבוע, Amir Gilboa, 'Gilboa stamp1', 'Gilboa fdc2' (1917 – 1970) A Ukraine-born prominent Israeli Hebrew poet. Awarded prizes for literature (poetry): Shlonski Prize (1961); Ussishkin Prize (1964); Prime Minister Prize (1969); Brenner Prize (1970); Bialik Prize (1971); Chomsky Prize (1977); Fichman Prize (1980); Israel Prize (1982).
- חיים גורי - Haim Guri, Guri stamp (1929 – 2018) Israeli poet, author, journalist and documentry film maker. Served as a commander in the Palmach pre-state military force and was among the poets of the "1948 generation".
- יהודה עמיחי Yehuda Amichai, 'Amichai stamp' (1924 – 2000) Considered by many as Israel's greatest modern poet. He was also one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew. Amichai was awarded many prizes for literature: Shlonski Prize (1957), Brenner Prize (1969), Bialik Prize (1976), Jerusalem Prize (1982), Israel Prize (1982). Agnon Prize (1986)
- אפרים קישון Ephraim Kishon, 'Kishon stamp' (1924 – 2005) Israeli author, dramatist, screenwriter, and Oscar-nominated film director. He was one of the most widely read contemporary satirists in the world. He was awarded the Nordau Prize (1953); Sokolov Prize (1958); Kinor David Prize (1984); Bialik Prize (1998); Israel Prize (2002). He won two Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film Awards, for Sallah Shabati (1964), and The Policeman (1971).
- נסים אלוני, Nissim Aloni, 'Aloni stamp' (1926 – 1998) Israeli playwright and translator. He is one of Israel’s leading dramatists. Aloni was awarded the Bialik Prize for Literature (1983), and the Israel Prize, for Literature (1992).
- יעקב שבתאי Yaakov Shabtai, 'Shabtai stamp1'; '2, fdc' (1934 – 1981) Israeli novelist, playwright, and translator. His best known work Zikhron Devarim (1977), published in English in 1985 as Past Continuous. Written as a single paragraph, it was the first novel ever to be written in truly vernacular Hebrew. In its English translation the novel was name as the greatest novel of the decade, comparing it to Proust's In Search of Lost Time. Shabtai was awarded the Bernstein Prize (1978), Kinor David Prize (1978), and Agnon Prize (1982, posthumously).
- עמוס עוז Amos Oz, Oz stamp (1938 - 2018) Israeli writer, novelist, journalist, and intellectual. He was also a professor of Hebrew literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Oz was awarded numerous prestiges prizes including the Israeli Prize (1998), Goethe Prize (2005), Heinrich Heine Prize (2008) and Bialik Prize.
- רונית מטלון Ronit Matalon, Matalon stamp (1959 – 2017) Israeli writer. Dealt mainly with the question of the identity of members of the Mizrahi community in Israel, and with the status of women in Mizrahi and Israeli society as a whole.
Notable Leaders in the Sciences and the Humanities
- Albert Einstein, 'Einstein stamp1', '2', 'Einstein stamp3' (1879 – 1955) Often regarded as the father of modern physics. Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1921. His great intelligence and originality has made the word "Einstein" synonymous with genius.
- Alexander Graham Bell, 'Bell stamp' (1847 – 1922). An eminent American scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone. Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils and aeronautics.
- Thomas Alva Edison, 'Edison stamp' (1847 – 1931) An American inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.
- Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, 'Haffkine stamp' (1860 – 1930) Russian Jewish bacteriologist, developed, at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, an anti-cholera vaccine. Recognized as the first microbiologist who developed and used vaccines against cholera and bubonic plague. He tested the vaccines on himself. Lord Joseph Lister named him "a saviour of humanity".
- Lev Davidovich Landau, 'Landau stamp' (1908 – 1968) Prominent Soviet physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. Nobel Laureate in Physics 1962.
- יואל רקח Giulio Racah, 'Racah stamp' (1909 – 1965) Italian–Israeli physicist and mathematician. Israel prize in exact Sciences, 1958.
- אהרון קציר Aharon Katchalski-Katzir, 'A. Katzir stamp' (1914 – 1972) Israeli pioneer in the study of the electrochemistry of biopolymers. Israel Prize in Life Sciences 1961.
- Heinrich Graetz, 'Graetz stamp' (1817 – 1891) Amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective.
- Shimon Dubnow (Dubnov), שמעון דובנוב, הי"ד, 'Dubnow stamp' (1860 – 1941) Jewish historian, writer and activist.
- יצחק בער Yitzhak Baer, 'Baer stamp' (1888 – 1980) German-Israeli historian and an expert in medieval Spanish Jewish history.
- Emanuel Ringelblum, הי"ד, 'Ringelblum stamp' (1900 – 1944) Polish-Jewish historian, politician and social worker. Known for the Ringelblum's Archives of the Warsaw Ghetto.
- יעקב טלמון Jacob Talmon, 'Talmon stamp' (1916 – 1980) Professor of Modern History. He has been categorised as a 'Cold War liberal'.
Artists and Musicians
- Johann Sebastian Bach, 'J.S.Bach stamp' (1685 – 1750) German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 'Mozart stamp' (1756 – 1791) Prolific and influential Austrian composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.
- Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix Mendelssohn stamp' (1809 – 1847) The grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.
- Gustav Mahler, 'Mahler stamp' (1860 – 1911) Bohemian-born Austrian Jewish composer and conductor, one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of his time.
- James Ensor, 'Ensor stamp' (1860 – 1949) Flemish-Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for almost his entire life. He was associated with the artistic group Les XX.
- Arturo Toscanini, 'Toscanini stamp' (1867 – 1957) Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century.
- Arnold Schoenberg, 'Schoenberg stamp' (1874 – 1951) was an Austrian American Jewish composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art.
- Ernest Bloch, 'Bloch stamp' (1880 – 1959) Swiss born American composer.
- Bronislaw Huberman, 'Huberman stamp' (1882 – 1947) Czech-born, one of the towering figures among violinists of his generation.
- Artur Rubinstein, 'Rubinstein stamp' (1887 – 1982) Polish-American pianist, widely considered one of the greatest classical pianists of the twentieth century. Founder of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition (in Tel Aviv, Israel).
- Darius Milhaud, 'Milhaud stamp' (1892 – 1974) French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century.
- George Gershwin, 'Gershwin stamp' (1898 – 1937) American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known.
- Leonard Bernstein, 'L. Bernstein stamp' (1918 – 1990) American Jewish conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist.
- Madmoiselle Rachel (Elizabeth-Rachel Félix, 'Rachel stamp' (1821 – 1858), was a world famous French actress of a Jewish Alsatian origin.
- Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson), '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1887 – 1961) American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer".
- Leonard "Chico" Marx, '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1887 – 1961) Eldest of the Marx Brothers. Marx used an Italian accent for his on-stage character; stereotyped ethnic characters were common with Vaudeville comedians. Five of the Marx Brothers’ thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute as among the top 100 comedy films.
- Arthur Adolph "Harpo" Marx, '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1888 – 1964) American comedian and film and television star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. With the big, poofy, curly red hair, a top hat, and a horn, the lovable mute was the favorite of the Marx Brothers.
- Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx , '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1890 – 1977) American comedian and film and television star. He is known as a master of quick wit and widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers and imitators.
- Danny Kaye, '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1913 – 1987) Celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian. His best known performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire nonsense songs.
- Simone Signoret, '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1921 – 1985) French cinema actress often hailed as one of France's greatest movie stars. She became the first French person to win an Academy Award, for her role in Room at the Top (1959). In her lifetime she also received a BAFTA, an Emmy, Golden Globe, Cannes Film Festival recognition and the Silver Bear for Best Actress.
- Peter Sellers, OBE, '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1925 – 1980) British comedian and actor best known for his roles in Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, and Being There. He is best remembered for his role of inept French police Inspector 'Jacques Clouseau' in the "Pink Panther" series of films (1964 to 1982).
- חנה רובינא Hanna Rovina, 'Rovina stamp (1893 – 1980) "First Lady of the Hebrew Theater".
- משה הלוי Moshe Halevy, M. 'Halevy stamp' (1895 – 1974) Theater director & founder of "HaOhel" theater (in Tel Aviv, now extinct).
- שרה שרה לוי-תנאי Sarah Levi-Tanai, Levi-Tanai stamp (1910 – 2005) Israeli choreographer and song writer, founder and artistic director of the Inbal Dance Theater and recipient of the Israel Prize in dance.
- יוסף מילוא, Joseph Milo, 'Milo stamp' (1916 – 1997) Israeli theatre actor and director, of thr founders of the "Kameri" theatre in Tel Aviv.
- חנה מרון , Channa Maron, 'Maron stamp' (1923 – 2014) First lady of the Israeli theatre. Israel Prize for theatre, 1973.
- שייקה אופיר , Shai K. Ophir, 'Ophir stamp' (1928 – 1987) Israeli film actor and comedian, and the country's first mime.
- ספי ריבלין , Sefi Rivlin, 'Rivlin stamp' (1947 – 2013) Israeli actor and beloved comedian
Forefathers of the State of Israel (Zionist Leaders, Freedom Fighters and Settlers in Palestine)
Visionaries, Leaders and Supporters of the World Zionist Organization, WZO, and pre-Zionism
- דונה גרציה מנדס-נשיא Donna Gracia Mendes-Nassi, 'Gracia stamp' (1510 — 1569) One of the wealthiest Jewish women of Renaissance Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Developed an escape network that saved hundreds of Conversos - forcibly converted Jews - from the terrors of the Inquisition. She was granted long-term lease on the Tiberias region in Israel and made it a major new centre of Jewish settlement, trade and learning. This venture has often been called one of the earliest attempts at a modern Zionist movement.
- בנימין זאב הרצל Theodor Binyamin Zeev Herzl, 'Herzl stamp1', '2, 23rd Zionist Congress', '3, Centenial birth', '4', '5', '6, Centenial memorial', '7', '8' (1860 — 1904) Visionary of the State of Israel; Founder of the Zionist Organization.
- Yehuda Leib Pinsker, יהודה לייב פינסקר, 'Pinsker stamp' (1821 — 1891) A physician, a Zionist pioneer and activist, and the founder and leader of the Hovevei Zion, also known as Hibbat Zion (Hebrew: חיבת ציון, Lovers of Zion) movement.
- David Wolfson, דוד וולפסון, 'Wolfson stamp' (1856 — 1914) Jewish businessman and prominent Zionist and second president of the World Zionist Organization.
- Ahad Ha'am, אחד העם, 'Ahad Ha'am stamp' (1856 — 1927) Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg , primarily known by his Hebrew name and pen name, Ahad Ha'am, was a Hebrew essayist, and one of the foremost pre-state Zionist thinkers. He is known as the founder of Cultural Zionism. With his secular vision of a Jewish "spiritual center" in Palestine he confronted Theodor Herzl. Unlike Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, Ha'am strived for "a Jewish state and not merely a state of Jews."
- Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, 'Rothchild stamp' (1845 – 1934) French member of the Rothschild banking family. A strong supporter of Zionism, his generous donations lent significant support to the movement during its early years, which helped lead to the establishment of the State of Israel.
- Max Nordau, מקס נורדאו, 'Nordau stamp' (1849 – 1923) Zionist leader, physician, author, and social critic. He was a co-founder of the World Zionist Organization together with Theodor Herzl, and president or vice president of several Zionist congresses.
- Eliezer Ben Yehuda, אליעזר בן יהודה, 'Ben Yehuda stamp' (1858 – 1922) A Litvak born lexicographer and newspaper editor. He lived in Jerusalem and was the driving spirit behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.
- Nahum Sokolow, נחום סוקולוב [NOT YET Sokolow stamp] (1859-1936) Was a Zionist leader, author, translator, and a pioneer of Hebrew journalism. Served as President of the World Zionist Congress (1932-1935), also President of the Jewish Agency for Palestine (now called the Jewish Agency for Israel) between 1931 and 1933.
- Ze'ev Jabotinsky, זאב ז'בוטינסקי, 'Jabotinsky stamp1'; '2'; '3' (1880 – 1940) Revisionist Zionist leader, author, orator, soldier, and founder of the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in Odessa. He also helped form the Jewish Legion of the British army in World War I, and was a founder and early leader of the militant Zionist underground organization, Irgun.
- Abba Hillel Silver, אבא הלל סילבר, 'Silver stamp' (1893–1963) U.S. Rabbi and Zionist leader. He was a key figure in the mobilization of American support for the founding of the State of Israel.
Para-military leaders, underground commanders, freedom fighters - ארגונים טרום-צבאיים, מפקדי המחתרות ולוחמים
- Aharon Aaronsohn, אהרון ארונסון, 'A. Aaronsohn stamp' (1876 – 1919) Jewish agronomist, botanist, and Zionist activist in Eretz Israel in the Turkish Empire. He was the discoverer of wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides), believed to be "the mother of wheat". He was the founder and head of Nili, a ring of Jewish residents of Palestine who spied for Britain during World War I.
- Manya Shochat, מניה שוחט, 'M. Shochat stamp' (1879 – 1961) Russian Jewish politician and the "mother" of the collective settlement in Palestine, the forerunner of the kibbutz movement. Of the founders of the "Bar Giora" "Hashomer" & "HaKibbutz HaChashai" paramilitary defense organizations and "Gdud HaAvoda" and Kfar Giladi.
- Eliyahu Golomb, אליהו גולומב , 'Golomb stamp' (1893 – 1945) Leader of the Jewish defense effort in Mandate Palestine and chief architect of the Haganah, the underground military organization for defense of the Yishuv between 1920 and 1948.
- David Raziel,דוד רזיאל, 'Raziel stamp' (1910 – 1941) Fighter of the Jewish underground during the British Mandate of Palestine, and one of the founders and a Commander in Chief of the Irgun (Etzel - אצ"ל).
- Yosef Glazman, יוסף גלזמן, 'Glazman stamp' (1908 - 1943) Partisans leader and a Beitar fellow. He was one of the leaders of Vilnus Ghetto Underground movement during the Holocaust.
- Zivia Lubetkin, ציביה לובטקין, 'Lubetkin stamp' (1914 – 1978) one of the leaders of the Jewish underground in Nazi-occupied Warsaw and the only woman on the High Command of the resistance group Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ŻOB). One of the founders of Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot in Israel.
- Yitzhak (Antek) Zuckerman, יצחק צוקרמן, 'Zuckerman stamp' (1915 – 1981) One of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II, and one of the founders of Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot in Israel.
- Mordechai Anielewicz, מרדכי אנילביץ, 'Anielewicz stamp' (1919 – 1943) Leader of Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Combat Organization), also known as ŻOB, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising from January to May 1943. it is assumed that he took his own life on 8 May 1943, along with his girlfriend and many of his staff, in a mass suicide at the surrounded ŻOB command post at 18 Miła Street.
- Pawel Frenkel - פאוול פרנק Flags Over the Ghetto stamp (1920 – 1943) Polish Jewish youth leader in Warsaw and one of the senior commanders of the Jewish Military Union, or the ŻZW. Although one of the most important leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Jewish resistance in the months preceding April 1943, Frenkiel is also one of the least well-known to historians and both his earlier life and his ultimate fate are a subject of some controversy.
Martyrs for the struggle of Israel independence - הרוגי מלכות בדור התקומה
- Avshalom Feinberg - אבשלום פיינברג, [none yet? 'Feinberg stamp'] (1889 – 1917) Gedera, (Palestine) born, who studied in France. A leader of Nili, a Jewish spy network in Ottoman Palestine helping the British fight the Ottoman Empire during World War I. He was apparently killed by Bedouin near the British front in Sinai, close to Rafah. His fate was unknown until after the 1967 Six-Day War when his remains were found under a palm tree that had grown from date seeds in his pocket to mark the spot where he lay.
- Sara Aaronsohn, שרה ארונסון, 'S. Aaronsohn stamp' (1890 – 1917) NILI commander מראשי ניל"י, a ring of Jewish spies working for the British in World War I, and a sister of notable botanist Aaron Aaronsohn. In October 1917, the Ottomans arrested numerous people in Zichron Yaakov, including Sarah. After four days of torture, she managed to shoot and kill herself with a pistol concealed on the premises to avoid further torture and to protect her colleagues. She is sometimes referred to as the "heroine of Nili."
- Naaman Belkind, נעמן בלקינד, 'Belkind stamp' (1888 – 1917) Born in Gedera, in Ottoman Palestine. He was a member of Nili, a Jewish paramilitary and a spying organization for the British in Ottoman Palestine. He was eventually caught and sentenced to death in Damascus together with Yosef Lishansky.
- Yosef Lishansky, יוסף לישנסקי, 'Lishansky stamp' (1890 – 1917) Russian born Jewish paramilitary and a spy for the British in Ottoman Palestine. Upon his arrival in Palestine, Lishansky sought to join HaShomer but, denied membership, he founded a rival organization, HaMagen. Several years later, he joined the Jewish espionage organization, Nili. Lishansky was wanted by the Ottomans for his activities and was betrayed by HaShomer when he sought refuge with them. He escaped capture several times, but was eventually caught and sentenced to death in Damascus.
- Joseph Trumpeldor, יוסף טרומפלדור, 'Trumpeldor stamp1'; 'Trumpeldor stamp2' (1880 – 1920) Early Zionist activist. He helped organize the Zion Mule Corps (WWI) and bring Jewish immigrants to Eretz Israel. Trumpeldor died defending the settlement of Tel Hai in 1920 and subsequently became a Zionist national hero. His last words were famously "Never mind, it is good to die for our country."
- Avraham "Yair" Stern, אברהם "יאיר" שטרן, 'Stern stamp' (1907 – 1942) Jewish urban revolutionary who founded and led the Zionist organization later known as Lehi (also called the "Stern Gang" by the British colonial authorities), an underground paramilitary organization who fought the British authority in the British Mandate of Palestine till 1948.
- Enzo Sereni, אנצו סירני, הי"ד, 'Sereni stamp' (1905 – 1944) Italian Zionist, co-founder of kibbutz Givat Brenner, scholar, advocate of Jewish-Arab co-existence and a resistance fighter. Sent by the Jewish Agency and Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) on military missions in Nazi-occupied Italy in World War II, captured by the Germans and executed in Dachau concentration camp.
- Haviva Reick, חביבה רייק, הי"ד, 'Reik stamp' (1914 – 1944) One of 32 Palestinian Jewish parachutists sent by the Jewish Agency and Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) on military missions in Nazi-occupied Europe. Was captured and murdered by the Nazis and their Slovak collaborators.
- Hanna Szenes, חנה סנש הי"ד, 'Szens stamp' (1921 – 1944) Hungarian Jew, one of 32 Palestinian Jewish parachutists sent by the Jewish Agency and Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) on military missions in Nazi-occupied Europe. Was arrested at the Hungarian border, imprisoned and tortured, but she refused to reveal details of her mission and was eventually tried, and executed by firing squad. She is regarded as a national heroine in Israel, and her poetry is widely known.
- Moshe Marzuk, משה מרזוק, 'Marzuk stamp' (1926 – 1955) Egyptian Karaite Jew, hanged by Egypt in 1955 for his involvement in a series of bombings in Cairo codenamed Operation Suzannah, also named later the "Unfortunate Affair" or the The Bad Business (Hebrew: HaEsek Bish), a failed Israeli covert operation, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954.
- Shmuel Azar, שמואל עזר, 'Azar stamp' (1929 – 1955) One of the "Cairo convicts" "נדוני קהיר" who were tried, convicted and hanged in Egypt as Israeli spies following the "Unfortunate Affair" or The Bad Business (Hebrew: HaEsek Bish), a failed Israeli covert operation, code named Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954.
- Eli Cohen, אלי כהן. 'E. Cohen stamp' (1924 – 1965) An Israeli intelligence officer and spy. He is best known for his work in Syria, where he developed close relationships with the political and military hierarchy and became the Chief Adviser to the Minister of Defense. He was eventually exposed and executed in Syria in 1965. The intelligence he gathered is claimed to have been an important factor in Israel's success in the Six Day War.
Martyrs, "עולי הגרדום": Twelve "Etzel, אצ"ל" and "Lehi, לח"י" members of the Jewish underground organizations, executed by the British Mandate of Palestine authorities (1938 – 1947).
- Shlomo Ben Yosef, שלמה בן יוסף, 'Ben Yosef stamp' (1913 – 1938) Born in Poland as Shalom Tabachnik was a noted (and controversial) member of the Revisionist Zionist underground Irgun. He is most noted for his participation in an April 21, 1938 attack on a bus carrying Arab civilians, intended as a retaliation for an earlier attack by Arabs against Jews, and emblematic as a rejection of the establishment policy of Havlagah, or restraint. For having been the first Jew executed by the British authorities during the mandate period, Ben-Yosef is revered in the highest terms by right-wing Zionist groups such as Betar, Irgun, Jewish Defense League and the Kach movement.
- Eliyahu Hakim, אליהו חכים, 'Hakim stamp' (1925 – 1945) Beirut born, Lehi (לח"י) paramilitary underground member in British Mandate Palestine. Known for taking part in the 1944 Cairo assassination of Lord Moyne, the British Minister Resident in the Middle East. Captured, tried, hanged and buried in Cairo, Egypt. In 1975 his remains were moved to Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery, Jerusalem, Israel.
- אליהו בית-צורי, 'Beit Tzuri stamp' (1922 – 1945) Tel Aviv born, Lehi (לח"י) paramilitary underground member in British Mandate Palestine. Known for taking part in the 1944 Cairo assassination of Lord Moyne, the British Minister Resident in the Middle East. Captured, tried, hanged and buried in Cairo, Egypt. In 1975 his remains were moved to Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery, Jerusalem, Israel.
- Dov Gruner דב גרונר, 'Gruner stamp' (1912 – 1947) Hungarian-born Zionist activist and a member of the pre-state Jewish underground, Irgun. Fought the Nazis as a soldier in the Jewish Brigade and after the war took part in the Irgun underground activities against the British mandate. On April 19, 1947, Gruner was executed by the British Mandatory authorities in Palestine on charges of "firing on policemen and setting explosive charges with the intent of killing personnel on His Majesty's service."
- Mordechai Alkachi מרדכי אלקחי, 'Alkachi stamp' (1925 – 1947) Born in Petach Tikva (Israel). An "Etzel" member, was captured in the "Night of the Beatings" and was hanged by the British authorities on April 14, 1947.
- Eliezer Kashani אליעזר קשאני, 'Kashani stamp' (1923 – 1947) Born in Petach Tikva (Israel). An "Etzel" member, was captured in the "Night of the Beatings" and was hanged by the British authorities on April 14, 1947.
- Yehiel Drezner, יחיאל דב דרזנר, 'Drezner stamp' (1922 – 1947) (Aka Dov Rosenbaum) Born in Poland, to a famous Rabbinical family (his mother family). At the age of 11 his family immigrated to British mandate Palestine and settled in Jerusalem. He moved to Netanya and then to Tel Aviv, working as a diamond cutter. An "Etzel" member from 1944, was captured "Night of the Beatings" and was hanged by the British authorities on April 14, 1947.
- Moshe Barazani, משה ברזאני, 'Barazani stamp' (1928 – 1947) Born in Baghdad to a Jewish family from Northern Iraq that moved to Jerusalem when he was an infant. He joined Lehi ("Freedom Fighters of Israel," aka the "Stern Gang") at an early age and took part in sabotage operations. He was arrested during a curfew, charged with conspiracy to murder British Brigardier A. P. Davis and sentenced to death by hanging by a British military court on April 21, 1947. However before the execution, he and his comrade Meir Feinstein committed suicide in their cells in the central prison in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem with improvised grenades which had been smuggled inside oranges.
- Meir Feinstein, מאיר פיינשטיין, 'Feinstein stamp' (1927 – 1947) Born in the Old City of Jerusalem. He was an Irgun (Etzel - אצ"ל) operative who lost an arm on Oct. 30, 1946 while planting an Improvised Explosive Device in the railway station in Jerusalem, and was subsequently captured and sentenced to death by the British authorities in Palestine. However before the execution, he and his comrade Moshe Barazani committed suicide in their cells in the central prison in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem with improvised grenades which had been smuggled inside oranges.
- Avshalom Haviv, אבשלום חביב, 'Haviv stamp' (1926 – 1947) pre-Jewish state Irgun underground member. Haviv's final mission was to take up a blocking position during the operation that scattered mines in support of the Acre Prison break on May 4 1947. He was captured during the engagement along with Irgun fighters Meir Nakar, Yaakov Weiss, Amnon Michaelov, and Nachman Zitterbaum when the group ran out of ammunition. He was tried by the British Mandate courts and sentenced to death by hanging at Acre Prison. On July 30, the Irgun carried out their threat to retaliate and hang two British sergeants they had kidnapped earlier. This operation shocked Britain, despite the explicit threat beforehand, and brought to an end hanging of Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine. Meir Nakar, Yaakov Weiss and Avshalom Haviv were the last to ascend the British gallows.
- Yaakov (Imre) Weiss, יעקב וייס, 'Weiss stamp' (1924 – 1947) Czech-born Zionist activist pre-Jewish state Irgun (Etzel - אצ"ל) underground member. Weiss' final mission was to take up a blocking position during the operation that scattered mines in support of the Acre Prison break on May 4 1947. He was captured during the engagement along with Irgun fighters Meir Nakar, Avshalom Haviv, Amnon Michaelov, and Nachman Zitterbaum when the group ran out of ammunition. He was tried by the British Mandate courts and sentenced to death by hanging at Acre Prison. On July 30, the Irgun carried out their threat to retaliate and hang two British sergeants they had kidnapped earlier. This operation shocked Britain, despite the explicit threat beforehand, and brought to an end hanging of Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine. Meir Nakar, Yaakov Weiss and Avshalom Haviv were the last to ascend the British gallows.
- Meir Nakar, מאיר נקר, 'Nakar stamp' (1926 – 1947) Jerusalem-born Zionist activist pre-Jewish state Irgun (Etzel - אצ"ל) underground member. Nakar's' final mission was to take up a blocking position during the operation that scattered mines in support of the Acre Prison break on May 4 1947. He was captured during the engagement along with Irgun fighters Yaakov Weiss, Avshalom Haviv, Amnon Michaelov, and Nachman Zitterbaum when the group ran out of ammunition. He was tried by the British Mandate courts and sentenced to death by hanging at Acre Prison. On July 30, the Irgun carried out their threat to retaliate and hang two British sergeants they had kidnapped earlier. This operation shocked Britain, despite the explicit threat beforehand, and brought to an end hanging of Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine. Meir Nakar, Yaakov Weiss and Avshalom Haviv were the last to ascend the British gallows.
Acquisition of land, "Keren Kayemet", "Keren Hayesod, רכישת קרקעות, קק"ל וקרן היסוד" and 'Early settlers and farmers in Eretz Israel (Turkish Empire & British Mandate of Palestine) מקימי היישובים החדשים בארץ ישראל'
- Charles Netter, קרל (יעקב) נטר, Netter stamp (1826 – 1882) Zionist leader, and a founding member of the Alliance Israélite Universelle. In 1870, Netter founded Mikveh Israel, the first modern Jewish agricultural settlement and agricultural school in the Land of Israel.
- Aharon Chelouche, אהרון שלוש, 'Chelouce stamp' (1840 – 1920) Of the leaders of the Sephardic community in Jaffa, founder of Neve Tzedek, a jeweler, money changer and real estate dealer who encouraged Jewish settlement outside the city walls of Jaffa. He was head the Chelouch family who played a central role in establishing Jewish neighborhoods in Jaffa and in Tel Aviv.
- Batia Makov, בתיה מקוב, 'Makov stamp' (1841 – 1912) She was the forefront of the unique strong women of the First Aliyah, the first Feminist woman in Israel. In 1890 she sold her businesses in Europe and purchased a 240-hectare parcel of land in the newly founded town of Rehovot. She left her husband, who strongly opposed the idea, and immigrated to Eretz Israel with five of her young children. She was selected to host Theodor Herzl in her home when he came to visit Rehovot in 1898.
- Zerach Barnet, זֶרַח בַּרְנֶט 'Barnet stamp' (1843 – 1935) Trader and Zionist activist, among the first settlers of Petah Tikva (mother of the colonies) and the initiator and founder of Neve Shalom neighborhood (later in Tel Aviv) in 1890. In 1884 Barnet was a delegate in the Katowice Conference (ועידת קטוביץ).
- Shimon Rokeach, שמעון רוקח, 'S. Rokeach stamp' (1863 – 1922) Founder of Neve Tzedek, the first neighborhoods Tel Aviv outside Jaffa. Businessman, Journalist of "Htzvi" and public activist in Eretz Israel.
- Menachem Ussishkin, מנחם אוסישקין, 'Ussishkin stamp' (1863 – 1941) Zionist leader and head of the Jewish National Fund (1923-41). He was behind major land acquisitions in the Hefer, Jezreel and Beit She'an valleys. Under his influence the Zionist movement actively supported the establishment of agricultural settlements, and educational and cultural institutions in Eretz Israel.
- Yehushua Hankin, יהושע חנקין, 'Hankin stamp' (1864 – 1945) Zionist activist who was responsible for most of the major land purchases of the World Zionist Organization in the Ottoman and in the British Mandate of Palestine.
- Arthur Ruppin, ארתור רופין, 'Ruppin stamp' (1876 – 1943) Zionist thinker and leader. One of the founders of the city of Tel Aviv, and a pioneering sociologist credited as being "The Father Of Jewish Sociology". Ruppin became the chief Zionist land agent. He acquired land on the Carmel, in Afula, in the Jezreel Valley, and in Jerusalem. He was instrumental in shaping the nature of Jewish settlement in Palestine and in changing the paradigm of settlement from those of plantation owners and poor laborers to the collective and cooperative kibbutzim and moshavim that became the backbone of the state-in-the-making.
- Aharon David Gordon - אהרון דוד גורדון, 'Gordon stamp'. (1856 – 1922) Zionist ideologue and the spiritual force behind practical Zionism and Labor Zionism. He founded Hapoel Hatzair, a movement that set the tone for the Zionist movement for many years to come.
- Michael Halpern, מיכאל הלפרן, 'Halpern stamp' (1860 – 1919) Educator and Zionist activist, revolutionary socialist, pioneer of the First Aliya, visionary of the "Herbrew State" in Eretz Israel, union leader, one of the founders of "Poaley Zion" political party, fighter and "shomer" (watchman)ת initiator of industry and settlements, inspiration of the founders of "Hashomer" organization.
- Akiva Weiss - עקיבא וייס, 'Weiss stamp' (d. 1947) A founding-father of the Ahuzat Bait neighborhood, later becoming Tel Aviv.
Rabbis supporting Zionism - רבנים תומכי התנועות הציוניות
- Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer - רבי צבי הירש קלישר, Kalisher stamp. (1795-1874) Polish Rabbi and Zionist thinker.
- Rabbi Yehudah Alkalai - רבי יהודה אלקלעי, Alkalai stamp (1798 – 1878) Sephardic rabbi in Zemun (Serbia) and one of the pioneers of modern Zionism.
- Jacob S[aul Eliachar ,יעקב שאול אלישר, Eliachar stamp (1817 – 1906) Chachambashi of Jerusalem and "Rishon leZion" (Chief Sephardi Rabbi) of Palestine.
- Rabbi Shmuel Mohliver - רבי שמואל מוהליבר, Mohliver, stamp (1824–1898) Rabbi, pioneer of Religious Zionism and one of the founders of the Hovevei Zion movement.
- Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook, רבי אברהם יצחק הכהן קוק, Kook stamp1; Kook stamp2 (1865 – 1935) First Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar.
- Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reynes, רבי יצחק יעקב ריינס, [ Reynes stamp] ( – )
- Rav Shimon Hacham, חכם שמעון חכם, Shimon Hacham stamp (1843 – 1910) Bukharian rabbi residing in Jerusalem who promoted literacy by translating Hebrew religious books into Bukhori.
- Harav Moshe Avigdor Amiel, הרב משה אביגדור עמיאל, Amiel stamp (1882 – 1946) Dayan and philosopher, a leader of the "Mizrahi" movement and Religious Zionism and Chief Rabbi of Antwerp and Tel Aviv.
Leaders of the Jewish Community in Etretz Israel - ממנהיגי היישוב העברי בארץ ישראל
- Ber Borochov - דב בער בורוכוב ( – )
- Yona Bogale "The Ehiopian Herzl" - יונה בוגלה, הרצל האתיופי ( – )
- Aryeh Leib Frumkin - אריה לייב פרומקין
- Henrietta Szold, הנרייטה סאלד, 'Szold stamp' (1860 – 1945) Founder of Hadassah and Youth Aliyah.
- Ze'ev Jabotinsky, זאב ז'בוטינסקי, Jabotinsy stamp1'; '2' (1880 – 1940) Revisionist Zionist leader, author, orator, soldier, and founder of the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in Odessa. He also helped form the Jewish Legion of the British army in World War I, and was a founder and early leader of the militant Zionist underground organization, Irgun.
- Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi, רחל ינאית בן-צבי, Yanait stamp (1886 – 1979) Israeli author and educator, and a leading Labor Zionist. Wife of the second President of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.
- Berl Katznelson, ברל (בארי) כצנלסון, 'Katznelson stamp' (1887 – 1944) One the intellectual founders of Labor Zionism, instrumental to the establishment of the modern State of Israel, and the editor of Davar, the first daily newspaper of the workers' movement.
- Nahum Goldman - נחום גולדמן , Altneuschul Synagogue stamp (model in the Nachum Goldman Museum of Diaspora (1895 – 1982) A leading Zionist and the founder and longtime president of the World Jewish Congress from 1948 to 1977.
- Binyamin Ze'ev (Wolfgang) von Weisl בנימין זאב פון וייזל, 'von Weisl stamp' (1896 – 1974) One of the founders of the Revisionist movement and a leader in the Zionist struggle for establishing a Jewish state. A writer and a journalist, a physician and medical researcher, a military man and an original military strategist, an Austrian noble and a world expert in Islam.
State Political Leaders
Presidents of Israel
- ד"ר חיים ויצמן, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, 'Weizmann stamp1', 'Balfour Declaration stamp2', 'Isarel 30 yrs. stamp3' (1874 – 1952) Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel (1949 to 1952).
- יצחק בן צבי, Yitzhak Ben Tzvi, 'Ben-Tzvi stamp' (1884 – 1963) Historian, Labor Zionist leader, and the second President of Israel (1952 to 1963).
- זלמן שז"ר, Zalman Shazar, 'Shazar stamp' (1889 – 1974) Israeli Labor Zionist Leader, author and poet and the third President of Israel (1963 to 1973).
- אפרים קציר, Ephraim Katzir (Katchalski), 'Ephraim Katzir stamp' (1916 – 2009) Israeli biophysicist and former Labor Party politician, and the fourth President of Israel (1973 to 1978).
- יצחק נבון, Yitzhak Navon, 'Yitzhak Navon stamp' (1921 – 2015) Israeli politician, diplomat, and author. He was the first Israeli president to be born in Jerusalem to a Sephardi family of rabbis who moved to Jerusalem in 1670. He served as political secretary of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, served as Knesset member of the Labor Party, and fifth President of Israel (1978 to 1983)
- חיים הרצוג, Chaim Herzog, 'Chaim Herzog stamp' (1918 – 1997) following a distinguished military career in both the British Army and the Israel Defense Forces (Maj. Gen. / Intelligence Branch), and political and legal career, served as sixth President of Israel (1983–1993).
- עזר ויצמן, Ezer Weizman, 'Ezer Weizmann stamp' (1924 – 2005) Israeli air force founder and its commander (Maj. Gen.), industrialist and politician, and the seventh President of Israel (1993 to 2000).
- Shimon Peres שמעון פרס Peres stamp (1923 – 2016) Statesman, Nobel Prize Laureate, Former Prime Minister, and Ninth President of the State of Israel.
Prime Ministers of Israel - on YouTube.
- דוד בן-גוריון, David Ben Gurion, 'Ben Gurion stamps:1a''1b', '2, Israel 30 yrs', '3, Ben Gurion Centenary', '4, Ben Gurion Institute' (1886 – 1973) Zionist and Labor leader, a founder of the state, First Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of Israel (1948-1954; 1955-1963).
- משה שרת, Moshe Sharett, 'Sharett stamp' (1894 – 1965) Zionist and Labor leader, a founder of the state, the 2nd Prime Minister of Israel (1954-1955).
- לוי אשכול, Levi Eshkol, 'Eshkol stamp' (1895 – 1969) Zionist and Labor leader, a founder of the state, the 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (1963-1969).
- גולדה מאיר, Golda Meir, 'G. Meir stamp' (1898 – 1978) Zionist and Labor leader, a founder of the state, the 4th Prime Minister of Israel (1969-1974).
- יצחק רבין, Yitzhak Rabin, 'Rabin stamp1', 'Rabin Center stamp2' (1922 – 1995) Distinguished military leader of the IDF in the Six Day War (1967) politician and the 5th Prime Minister of Israel (1974–1977; 1992-1995). Assassinated Nov. 4, 1995.
- מנחם בגין, Menachem Begin, 'Begin stamp1', 'Begin Center stamp2' (1913 – 1992) Leader of the Irgun underground organization opposing and fighting the British Mandate; Head of the Knesset Opposition for almost 30 years before becoming the 6th prime minister of Israel (1977-1983).
- יצחק שמיר, Yitzhak Shamir , 'Shamir stamp' (1915 – 2012) Leader of the Lehi Underground movement during the British Mandate of Palestine, a senior commander in the Mosad, Kneset member, Opposition Leader, Speaker of the Kneset, Minister in governments of Israel and the 7th Prime Minister of Israel (1983 – 1984; 1986 – 1992).
- אריאל (אריק) שרון, Ariel (Arik) Sharon, 'Sharon stamp' (1928 – 2014) Israeli statesman and general, who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel (2001 – 2006). During his military career, he was considered the greatest field commander in Israel's history, and one of the country's greatest ever military strategists. After his assault of the Sinai in the Six-Day War and his encirclement of the Egyptian Third Army in the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli public nicknamed him "The King of Israel" and "The Lion of God".
Rabbis and Clergymen
- Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, רבי שלום שבזי, 'Shabazi stamp' (1619 – 1720) One of the greatest Jewish poets who lived in 17th century Yemen and now considered the 'Poet of Yemen'.
- Rabbi Chaim be Atar, רבי חיים בן-עטר, 'Ben Atar stamp' (1696 – 1743) Talmudist and kabbalist; was one of the most prominent rabbis in Morocco.
- Sar Shalom Sharab,i הרב שלום שרעבי, 'Sharabi stamp' (1720 – 1777) a Yemenite Rabbi, Halachist, Chazzan and Kabbalist. In later life, he became the Rosh Yeshiva of Bet El Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem.
- RabbiChaim Yosef David Azulai, Hida, רבי חיים יוסף דוד אזולאי - החיד"א, 'Hida stamp' (1724 – 1806) Jerusalem born rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publication of Jewish religious writings.
- Rabbi Or Shraga, המקובל רבי אור שרגא, 'Shraga stamp' (d. 1794) Mula Or Shraga was a Mekubal, Tzadik and a Holy man (to Jews and Muslims alike) in 17th Century Persia (Iran).
- Rabbi Shmuel Salant, רבי שמואל סלאנט, 'Salant stamp' (1816 – 1906) Served as the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem for almost 44 years. He was a renowned Talmudist and Torah scholar.
- Jacob Saul Eliachar, יעקב שאול אלישר, 'Eliachar stamp' (1817 – 1909) Chachambashi of Jerusalem and "Rishon leZion" (Chief Sephardi Rabbi) of Palestine.*
- Rabbi Dr. Azriel Hildesheimer - רבי ד״ר עזריאל הילדסהיימר 'Hildesheimer stamp' (1820-1899) German rabbi and leader of Orthodox Judaism. Regarded as a pioneering modernizer of Orthodox Judaism in Germany and as a founder of Modern Orthodox Judaism.
- Chacham Ben Ish Hai, חכם בן איש חי, 'Ben ish Hai stamp' (1834 – 1909) Leading hakham (Sephardic Rabbi), authority on Jewish law (Halakha) and Master Kabbalist of Baghdad.
- Rav Jacob Meir, הרב יעקב מאיר, 'J. Meir stamp' (1856 – 1939) First Sephardic Chief Rabbi appointed under the British Mandate of Palestine. A talmudic scholar, fluent in Hebrew as well as five other languages, he enjoyed a reputation as one of Jerusalem's most respected rabbis.
- Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon, הרב יהודה לייב מימון , 'Maimon stamp' (1875 – 1962) Israeli rabbi, politician and leader of the religious Zionism movement, member of Knesset and Minister of Religious Affairs.
- Ben Zion Meir Hai Uziel, בן ציון מאיר חי עוזיאל, הראשון לציון, 'Uziel stamp' (1880 – 1953) Sephardi chief rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine from 1939 to 1948, and of Israel from 1948 to 1953.
- Rabbi Aryeh Levin, הרב אריה לוין, Levin stamp (1885 – 1969) Reb Aryeh, was an Orthodox rabbi dubbed the "'Father of Prisoners'" for his visits to members of the Jewish underground imprisoned in the Central Prison of Jerusalem in the Russian Compound during the British Mandate. Also known as the "Tzadik ("saint") of Jerusalem" for his work on behalf of the poor and the sick.
- Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, הרב יצחק הלוי הרצוג 'Rabbi Herzog stamp' (1889 – 1959), also known as Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of the Irish Free State (1921-1936), and Chief Rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine (1937-1948) and Chief Rabbi of Israel (1948-1959).
- Baba Sali, באבא סאלי, 'Baba Sali stamp' (1890 – 1984) Leading Moroccan Sephardic rabbi and kabbalist who was renowned for his alleged ability to work miracles through his prayers.
- Sheikh Ameen Tarif, أمين طريف , אמין טריף, 'Tarif stamp' (1898 – 1993) Druze Community Leader.
- Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, הרב יצחק כדורי, 'Kaduri stamp' (1898/1902 – 2006) Renowned Mizrahi Haredi rabbi and kabbalist who devoted his life to Torah study and prayer. He taught and practiced the "kavanot of the Rashash". His blessings and amulets were also widely sought to cure people of illnesses and infertility. In his life, he published no religious articles or books. In the late years of his life he was known as Doyen of the Kabbalists.
- Rav Shalom Messes, הרב שלום משאש, 'Messes stamp' (1909 – 2003) Leading Moroccan Rabbi; Chief Rabbi of Casablanca, Chief Rabbi of Morocco; Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.
- Maran Ovadia Yosef, מרן עובדיה יוסף, 'Yosef stamp' (1920 – 2013) Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983. A Talmudic scholar, an authority on Jewish religious law (halakha), and the longtime spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-orthodox Shas party.
Notable Israelis
- Meir Bar Ilan, מאיר בר אילן, 'Bar Ilan stamp' (1880 – 1949) Orthodox rabbi and leader of Religious Zionism, the Mizrachi movement in USA and British Mandate of Palestine. He inspired the founding of Bar Ilan University in Israel which is named for him.
- Moshe Smoira, משה זמורה, 'Smoira stamp' (1888 – 1961) Israeli jurist and the first President of the Supreme Court of Israel.
- Leon Yehuda Rekanati, ליאון יהודה רקנטי, 'Rekanati stamp' (1890 – 1945) Israeli Banker, founder and first chair of Discount Bank, Israel.
- Recha Freier, רחה פרייר, 'Freier stamp' (1892 – 1984) She founded the Youth Aliyah עליית הנוער organization in 1932. The organization saved the lives of 22,000 Jewish children by helping them to leave Nazi Germany for Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel.
- Rivka Guber, רבקה גובר - אם הבנים, 'Guber stamp' (1902 – 1981) Israeli social worker and pioneer, and a recipient of the Israel Prize. Named "Em Habanim" ("Mother of the Boys") after her two sons were killed in the War of Independence".
- Ada Sereni, עדה סירני, 'Sereni stamp' (1905 – 1992) Ada was one of the founders of Givat Brenner, one of the heads of the Mossad L'Aliyah Bet in Italy and the Israel Prize laureate for a special contribution to society and the State. Enzo Sereni's wife.
- General Rabbi Shlomo Goren, האלוף הרב שלמה גורן, 'Goren stamp' (1917 – 1994) Orthodox Religious Zionist rabbi in Israel who founded and served as the first head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces (rank of General), as Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv in 1968, and subsequently as the third Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983.
- יעקב הרצוג, Yaakov Herzog, 'Yaakov Herzog stamp' (1921 – 1972) Distinguished Israeli diplomat and historian.
- Simcha Holtzberg, שמחה הולצברג, Holtzberg stamp (1924 – 1994) an Israeli activist and Holocaust survivor, became known in Israel as "Father of the Wounded Soldiers".
Hebrew songs: Performers, Composers & Lyric writers - שירים עבריים: מבצעים, מלחינים וכותבי תמלילים
Israeli Music stamp sheet - גליון בולים: מוסיקה ישראלית
- Bracha Zefira, ברכה צפירה, 'Bracha Zefira stamp' (1910 – 1990) She was the first super star among Israel’s female singers of Yemenite descent, captivating listeners with her rich voice and unique tone. Her renditions of Bialik poems, set to Middle Eastern melodies, and of the traditional Yemenite, Sephardic and Persian songs she knew brought about a turning point in Israeli music and constituted a breakthrough for Middle Eastern singers and Middle Eastern music.
- Moshe Vilenski, משה וילנסקי, 'Moshe Vilenski stamp' (1910 – 1997) Israeli composer, lyricist, and pianist. He is considered a "pioneer of Israeli song", and one of Israel's leading composers, and won the Israel Prize, the state's highest honor.
- Sasha Argov, סשה ארגוב, 'Sasha Argov stamp' born Alexander Abramovich (1914 – 1995) was a prominent and leading Israeli composer and won the Israel Prize, the state's highest honor..
- Shoshana Damari, שושנה דמארי, 'Shoshana Damari stamp' (1923 – 2006) Yemenite-Israeli singer known as the "Queen of Hebrew Music." She won the Israel Prize, the state's highest honor.
- Arik Lavie, אריק לביא, 'Arik Lavie stamp' (1927 – 2004) Israeli actor and Pop-Rock-Folk singer.
- Naomi Shemer, נעמי שמר, 'Naomi Shemer stamp' (1930 – 2004) Leading Israeli songwriter hailed as the "first lady of Israeli song and poetry." Recipient of Israel Prize in 1983; Honorary doctorates from the Hebrew University and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
- Yossi Banai, יוסי בנאי, 'Yossi Banai stamp' (1932 – 2006) Israeli performer, singer, actor, and dramatist. He won the Israel Prize, the state's highest honor. Considered by many to have been the "greatest Israeli artist of the late generations".
- Arik Einstein, אריק אינשטיין, 'Arik Einstein stamp' (1939 – 2013) Israeli singer, songwriter and actor; a pioneer of Israeli rock music.
- Ehud Manor, אהוד מנור, 'Ehud Manor stamp' (1941 – 2005) Israeli songwriter, translator, and radio and TV personality. In 1998, Manor was awarded the Israel Prize for Hebrew song.
- Meir Ariel, מאיר אריאל, 'Meir Ariel stamp' (1942 – 1999) Israeli singer-songwriter. He was known as a "man of words" for his poetic use of the Hebrew language in his lyrics. His influences included Hebrew poets such as Natan Alterman, S. Y. Agnon and Hayim Nahman Bialik, and American singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan.
- Yair Rosenblum, יאיר רוזנבלום, 'Yair Rosenblum stamp' (1944 – 1996) Israeli composer.
- Uzi Hitman, עוזי חיטמן, 'Uzi Hitman stamp' (1952 – 2004) Israeli singer, songwriter, composer and television personality.
- Zohar Argov, זוהר ארגוב, 'Zohar Argov stamp' (1955 – 1987) Was a popular Israeli singer and a distinctive voice in the Mizrahi music scene. Argov is widely known in Israel as "The king of Mizrahi music".
- Ofra Haza, עפרה חזה, 'Ofra Haza stamp' (1957 – 2000) Israeli singer of Yemenite Jewish origin, an actress and international recording artist. Her voice has been described as mezzo-soprano, of near-flawless tonal quality, capable of lending itself to a variety of musical styles with apparent ease
Israeli Politicians - פוליטיקאים ישראליים
- Meir Dizengoff, מאיר דיזנגוף, 'Meir Dizengoff stamp' (1861– 1936) Zionist politician and the first mayor of Tel Aviv.
- Yitzhak Grünbaum, יצחק גרינבאום, 'Yitzhak Grünbaum stamp' (1879 – 1970) Noted leader of the Zionist movement among Polish Jewry between the two world wars and of the Yishuv in Mandatory Palestine, and the first Interior Minister of Israel.
- Yosef Shprinzak, יוסף שפרינצק, 'Yosef Shprinzak stamp' (1885 – 1959) Leading Zionist activist, an Israeli socialist politician, and the first Speaker of the Knesset (1949-1959).
- Ben Zion Dinur, בן ציון דינור, 'Ben Zion Dinur stamp' (1884 – 1973) Zionist activist, educator, historian and Israeli politician. Minister of Education.
- Israel Rocach, ישראל רוקח, 'Israel Rocach stamp' (1886 – 1959) Mayor of Tel-Aviv and Minister of the Interior.
- Pinchas (Felix) Rosen (Rosenblueth), פנחס רוזן, 'Pinchas Rosen stamp' (1887 – 1978) Israeli politician and statesman, and the country's first Minister of Justice. He was also leader of the Independent Liberals during the 1960s.
- Peretz Bernstein, פרץ ברנשטיין, 'Peretz Bernstein stamp' (1890 – 1971) Zionist activist and Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli declaration of independence.
- Ada Maimon (Fishman), (עדה מימון (פישמן, 'Ada Maimon stamp', (1893 – 1973) One of the “spiritual mothers” and historians of Jewish feminism in Israel. Teacher by profession and a member of Ha-Po’el ha-Za’ir. She was also one of the founders of Mo’ezet Ha-Po’alot, the General Council of Women Workers in Israel, and its secretary-general from its founding in 1921 to 1926. With the establishment of the state, she served as a Mapai party member of the first and second Knessets
- Moshe Sneh, משה סנה, 'Moshe Sneh stamp (1909 – 1972) Israeli politician and military figure, was head of the Hagana national staff between 1941 and 1946. One of the founders of Mapam, he later joined the Israeli Communist Party (Maki), and was one of the leaders of a more pro-Israeli split in 1965.
- Teddy Kollek, טדי קולק, 'Kollek stamp' (May 27, 1911 – January 2, 2007) Mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times. During his tenure, Jerusalem developed into a modern city, especially after its reunification in 1967. He was once called "the greatest builder of Jerusalem since Herod."
- Yaakov Meridor, יעקב מרידור, 'Yaakov Meridor stamp' (1913 – 1955) Revisionist Zionist activist, Irgun commander and Israeli politician.
- Abba Eban, אבא אבן, 'Abba Eban stamp' (1915 – 2002) Israeli diplomat and politician. Minister of: Education, Foreign Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister.
- Emille Habibi, אמיל חביבי, إميل حبيبي, 'Emille Habibi stamp' (1922 – 1966) Israeli-Palestinian writer of Arabic expression and a communist politician, Knesset member.
Israeli Journalists - עתונאים ישראליים
- Israel Eldad - ישראל אלדד, 'Israel Eldad stamp' (1910 – 1966) Noted Israeli independence fighter (Stern "gang"), Revisionist Zionist philosopher and Journalist
- Abba Ahimeir - אב"א אחימאיר, 'Abba Ahimeir stamp' (1897 – 1962) Jewish journalist, historian and political activist. One of the ideologues of Revisionist Zionism, founder of the Revisionist Maximalist faction of the Zionist Revisionist Movement (ZRM) and of the clandestine Brit HaBirionim.
- Moshe Beilinson - משה בילינסון, 'Moshe Beilinson stamp' (1890 – 1936) One of the most well known political writers in Eretz Yisrael - socialist.
- Yehoshua Radler-Feldman - יהושע רדלר-פלדמן, (יהושע התלמי) - רבי בנימין, 'Rabbi Binyamin stamp' (1880 – 1957) Writer and political journalist; first editor of the religious Zionist Movement's newspaper "Hazofe".
Senior IDF commanders and battle heroes - מפקדי צה"ל בכירים ולוחמים נועזים
- Yaakov Dori, יעקב דורי, 'Yaakov Dori stamp' (1889 – 1973) First Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1948-9) and President of the Technion.
- Yitzhak Sadeh, יצחק שדה, 'Yitzhak Sadeh stamp' (1890 – 1952), Commander in the Haganah and commander of the Palmach, one of the founders and a General in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel.
- Moshe Dayan, משה דיין, 'Moshe Dayan stamp' (1915 – 1981) Israeli military leader and politician. Fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958), he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel. He went on to become Defense Minister and later Foreign Minister of Israel.
- Yigal Alon, יגאל אלון, 'Yigal Alon stamp' (1918 – 1980) Commander of the Palmach, Israeli politician, serving as one of the leaders of Mapai and the Alignment, acting Prime Minister of Israel, member of Knesset and government minister from the tenth through the seventeenth Knessets.
- Rechavam "Gandhi" Zeevi, רחבעם "גנדי" זאבי, 'Rechavam Zeevi stamp' (1926 – 2001) Israeli general, politician, and historian who founded the right-wing nationalist Moledet party, mainly advocating population transfer.
- Meir Har-Zion מאיר הר ציון, 'Meir Har-Zion stamp' (1934– 2014) An Israeli military commando. As a key member of Unit 101, he was highly praised by Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan who described him as "the finest of our commando soldiers, the best soldier ever to emerge in the IDF". Ariel Sharon described him as "the elite of the elite." His three-year military career (1954–56) was cut short by injuries sustained in battle, but he joined in again during the 1967 and 1973 wars. The character of Ari Ben-Canaan in Leon Uris's novel Exodus is generally believed to have been based on Har-Zion.
- Ilan Ramon, אילן רמון, 'Ilan Ramon stamp' (1954 – 2003) Fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, and later the first Israeli astronaut, killed in the fatal mission of Columbia space craft in 2003.
Israeli Sports Persons - ספורטאים ישראליים
Israeli Football Legends - אגדות הכדורגל הישראלי
- Jerry Beit Halevi, ג'רי בית הלוי, 'Jerry Beit Halevi stamp' (1912 – 1997) Israeli football player and manager.
- Natan Panz, נתן פנץ, 'Natan Panz stamp' (1917 – 1948) Of the greatest football players in British Mandatory Palestine. Played in Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Tel Aviv. Killed in action in the battle over Jaffa in the War of Independence.
- Eli Fuchs, אלי פוקס, 'Eli Fuchs stamp' (1924 – 1992) Israeli international football player and manager of Maccabi Haifa. Aside from managing in Israel, he has managed clubs in South Africa and Cyprus. He died at 1992 as an Arkia employee.
- Shmuel Ben Dror, שמואל בן-דרור, 'Shmuel Ben Dror stamp' (1924 – 2009) Israeli association football player. He played defense for and was the first captain of the Israeli national soccer team. He scored Israel's first goal, in 1948, in a match against the United States. He also played for Maccabi Petah Tikva. He also served on the board of directors of the Israel Football Association.
- Ya'akov Hodorov, יעקב חודורוב, 'Ya'akov Hodorov stamp' (1927 – 2006) Israeli football goalkeeper in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He was considered by many to be Israel's best goalkeeper in history, and among the best goalkeepers of his generation. He was awarded the Israel Prize in 2006.
- Menachem Ashkenazi, מנחם אשכנזי, 'Menachem Ashkenazi stamp' (1934 – 2000) Israeli international football referee. He was the first Asian referee who officiated in a World Cup.
- Nahum Stelmach, נחום סטלמך, 'Nahum Stelmach stamp' (1936 – 1999) Israeli footballer (also named "Golden Head") and manager.
- Ya'akov Grundman, יעקב גרונדמן, 'Ya'akov Grundman stamp' (1939 – 2004) Polish-born Israeli professional football player and manager.
- Avi Cohen, אבי כהן, 'Avi Cohen stamp' (1956 – 2010) Israeli professional footballer and manager. Best known for his spell playing for Liverpool in England. He was the chairman of the Israel Professional Footballers Association for over five years until his death in a motorcycle crash. After his death Maccabi Tel Aviv has retired the number 5 that he wore.
- Avi Ran, אבי רן, 'Avi Ran stamp' (1963 – 1987) Goalkeeper at the Israeli football club Maccabi Haifa and of the Israeli national soccer team. Widely considered one of the greatest football players in Israel, he had a promising future which was cut short by a fatal accident.
Project photo: King David of Israel by Marc Chagall. Israeli stamp, 1969
Biblical Heroes
- אדם הראשון, Adam & חוה, Eve, 'Adam & Eve stamp1'; 'Adam & Eve stamp2' (c.4004 BCE — 3070 BCE) According to the Genesis creation narrative, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by the God of the ancient Hebrews. Adam and Eve ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, causing their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
- נח, Noah, 'Noah stamp1', '2', '3' (c.2948 BCE — c.1998 BCE) Noah was the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The story of Noah and the ark is told in the book of Genesis (6–9), which is followed by the story of the Curse of Ham. Outside Genesis his name is mentioned in Ezekiel, Isaiah and Chronicles. He was the subject of much elaboration in later Abrahamic traditions, including the Qur'an.
- אברהם אבינו / Abraham / إبراهيم , 'Abraham stamp1'; 'Abraham stamp2'; 'Abraham stamp3'; 'Abraham stamp4' (c.2050 BCE — c.1870 BCE) Abraham features in the Book of Genesis as the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites and Edomite peoples. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims and the founder of monotheism.
- שרה אמנו, Sarah, سارة , 'Sarah stamp' (c.2040 BCE — c.1913 BCE) Sarah was the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. Her name was originally Sarai. God changed her name to Sarah as part of a covenant after Hagar bore Abraham his first son, Ishmael. According to the Bible, she was also half-sister, the daughter of Abraham's father Terah. The Talmud identifies Sarai with Iscah, daughter of Abraham's deceased brother Haran, so that Sarah turns out to be the niece of Abraham and the sister of Lot and Milcah. Sarah died directly after the sacrifice at Mt. Moriah.
- יצחק אבינו / Isaac, 'Isaac stamp1'; 'Isaac stamp2'; 'Isaac stamp3'; 'Isaac stamp4' (c.1950 BCE — c.1770 BCE) The only son of Abraham by Sarah and was the father of Jacob and Esau. One of the three patriarchs of the Israelites. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah was beyond childbearing years (Genesis). Honored in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
- רבקה אמנו, Rebecca, 'Rebecca stamp' (c.1926 BCE — c.1793 BCE) She was the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. She was also the sister of Laban, who would later become the father of Rachel and Leah, two of the wives of Rebecca's son Jacob. Rebecca and Isaac were one of the three couples buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs, the other two being Abraham and Sarah, and Jacob and Leah.
- יעקב אבינו, Jacob, 'Jacob stamp1'; 'Jacob stamp2'; 'Jacob stamp3' (c.1892 BCE — c.1744 BCE) Jacob, also later known as Israel ( יִשְׂרָאֵל, Yisraʾel), was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.
- לאה אמנו, Leah, 'Leah stamp' (c.1829 BCE — c.1745 BCE) The first of the two concurrent wives of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob and mother of six of sons whose descendants became the Twelve Tribes of Israel, along with at least one daughter, Dinah. She is the daughter of Laban and the older sister of Rachel, whom Jacob originally wanted to marry. Leah is Jacob's first cousin, and she was the eldest niece of Rebecca.
- רחל אמנו, Rachel, 'Rachel stamp' (c.1837 BCE — c.1772 BCE) Rachel is a prophet and the favorite wife of Jacob, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She was the daughter of Laban and the younger sister of Leah, Jacob's first wife. Jacob was her first cousin, and she was the youngest niece of Rebecca.
- יוסף, Joseph, 'Joseph stamp, Sukkot' (c.1562 BCE — 1452 BCE) Joseph or Yosef was the eleventh of Jacob's twelve sons in the Book of Genesis and Rachel's firstborn.
- אהרון הכהן הגדול, Aaron the High Priest, 'Aaron, stamp, Sukkot' (c.1397 BCE — c.1274 BCE) "Aaron the High Priest", was the older brother of Miriam & Moses and prophet of God.
- מרים הנביאה, Miriam sister of Moses, 'Miriam, stamp' (c.1396 BCE — c.1280 BCE) Elder sister of Moses.
- משה רבנו, Moses, 'Moses, stamp1, Red Sea'; 'Moses stamp2, Sukkot'; 'Moses, high holidays stamp series: 3', '4', '5', '6'; 'Moses stamp7, in the bulrushes' (c.1393 BCE — c.1273 BCE) "Moses the teacher" was a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. He is the most important prophet in Judaism, and is also considered an important prophet in Christianity and Islam, as well as a number of other faiths.
- יהושע בן-נון, Joshua son of Nun, 'Bin Nun stamp1', '2', '3', '4'; (c.1500 BCE — c.1390 BCE) A minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel (Num 13-14) and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua. According to the books Exodus, Numbers and Joshua, he became the leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses; his name was Hoshea the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him Joshua, (Numbers 13:16) the name by which he is commonly known
- דבורה הנביאה, Deborah The Prophetess, 'Deborah stamp' () Deborah was a prophetess of God and the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel. Being the only female judge in the vast history of Israel, Deborah led a successful counterattack against the forces of Jabin, king of Canaan and his military commander Sisera. Her story is told twice, in the Book of Judges, 4-5.
- יעל אשת חבר הקיני, Yael, wife of Hever the Kenite 'Yael, stamp' () A biblical figure mentioned in Judges as the one who killed Sisera in the war waged with him by Deborah and Barak son of Avinoam. Yael was the wife of a member of the tribe of Kenites who were descendants of Jethro (father in law of Moses), and were close to the people of Israel, from the days of Moses.
- השופט גדעון, Judge Gideon Ben Joash, 'Gideon stamp' () Gideon the son of Joash, from the clan of Abieezer in the tribe of Manasseh, was a judge of the Hebrews. As is the pattern throughout the book of Judges, the Israelites again turned away from God after 40 years of peace brought by Deborah's victory over Canaan and were allowed to be oppressed by the neighboring Midianites and Amalekites. God chose Gideon, to free the people of Israel and to condemn their worship of idols. His story is recorded in Judges 6-8.
- השופט יפתח, Judge Jephthah Ben Gilead, 'Jephthah stamp' () Jephthah served as a judge over Israel for a period of six years. He lived in Gilead and was a member of the Tribe of Manasseh. The Book of Judges describes Jephthah as leading the Israelites in battle against Ammon and, as the result of a rash vow, sacrificing his daughter after defeating the Ammonites (Judges 10-12).
- שמשון הגיבור, Samson, 'Samson stamp1', 'Samson & Delilah stamp2', Samson & the Lion stamp3' Samson, according to the biblical story, is the 12th judge of Israel, and last described in the Book of Judges.
- חנה הנביאה, Hannah - the Profesess, 'Hannah stamp' Wife of Elkanah of Ramatayim Tzofim, was one of the seven prophetesses mentioned in the Bible. She was the mother of the Prophet Samuel.
- שאול המלך, King Saul of Israel, 'King Saul stamp' (c.1079 BCE — c.1029/1007 BCE) First king of the United Monarchy of Israel.
- רות המואביה, Ruth of Moab, 'Ruth stamp' The Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi and Elimelech, who were Jewish. After the death of her husband, Ruth gave up her former god and former life to unite with the household of faith in serving the God of Israel, and married Naomi’s kinsman Boaz. Their son Obed was the ancestor of David and Jesus.
- דוד המלך, King David of Israel, 'King David stamp1, Chagal', 'King David stamp2', 'King David stamp3, Kings', 'King David stamp4, Sukkot' (c.1042 BCE — c.971 BCE). Depicted as a righteous king — although not without fault — as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet, traditionally credited with the authorship of many of the Psalms.
- המלך שלמה, King Solomon of Israel, 'King Solomon stamp' (c.1034 BCE — c.933 BCE) Third king of the United Monarchy of Israel. Builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem, great in wisdom, wealth, and power, but ultimately as a king whose sins lead to the kingdom being torn in two during the reign of his son Rehoboam. In the Qur'an, he is a Prophet, known as Sulaiman.
- ישעיהו הנביא, Isaiah the Prophet, 'Isaiah stamp' (778 "BCE" — 698 "BCE") He was a prophet who lived in the 8th-century BCE Kingdom of Judah, during the reigns of kings Uzziah' (last years), Hezekiah, and Manasseh (early years). Thus Isaiah may have prophesied for as long as sixty-four years. Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed (although not the earliest) of the neviim akharonim, the latter prophets.
- ירמיהו הנביא, Jeremiah the Prophet, 'Jeremiah stamp' (586 BCE — 655 BCE) He is regarded as the second major prophet of the Hebrew Bible. Christianity also regards Jeremiah as a prophet and he is quoted in the New Testament. Islam also considers Jeremiah a prophet. Jeremiah’s job was to reveal the sins of the people and explain the reason for the impending disaster (destruction by the Babylonian army and captivity). Jeremiah is traditionally credited with authoring the Book of Jeremiah, 1 Kings, 2 Kings and the Book of Lamentations with the assistance and under the editorship of Baruch ben Neriah, his scribe and disciple.
- חולדה הנביאה, Hulda the Prophetess, 'Hulda stamp' Hulda was a prophetess mentioned briefly in the Hebrew Bible. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tokhath (also called Tikvah), son of Harhas (also called Hasrah), keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District, at the time of the Prophet Jeremiah, during the reign of King Josiah.
- יחזקאל הנביא, Ezekiel the Prophet, 'Ezekiel stamp' (622 BCE — 570 BCE) Ezekiel is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet. In Judaism and Christianity, he is also viewed as the author of the Book of Ezekiel that reveals prophecies regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Millennia Temple visions, or the Third Temple.
- יונה הנביא, Jonah the Prophet, 'Jonaha, stamp1'; 'Jonaha, High Holidays 1963 stamp series: 2', '3', '4'; (?) Hebrew prophet Jonah ben Amittai was sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh but tried to escape the divine mission. Has become a well-known popular children’s story.
- אחשורוש מלך פרס, Xerxes I (Persian: Khshayarsha), King of Persia, 'Xerxes I stamp1'; 'Xerxes I stamp2' (519 "BCE" — 465 "BCE") the son of Darius I and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great. Xerxes is generally identified as the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther.
- מרדכי היהודי, Mordechai, Court Jew of Xerxes I, 'Mordechai stamp' () One of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He was the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin. Cousin of Esther (future Queen of Persia) whom he brought up as his own daughter.
- אסתר המלכה, Queen Esther of Persia, 'Queen Esther stamp1'; 'Queen Esther stamp2' (c.505 BCE — c.425 BCE) Born Hadassah, is the eponymous heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther. According to the Bible she was a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus (traditionally identified with Xerxes I). Her story is the basis for the celebration of Purim in Jewish tradition.
- יהודה המכבי, Judas Maccabeus, 'J. Maccabeus stamp' (190 BCE — 160 BCE) Y'hudhah HamMakabi (Judah the Hammer) was a Kohen and a son of the Jewish priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167-160 BCE) and is acclaimed as one of the greatest warriors in Jewish history alongside Joshua, Gideon and David. The Jewish feast of Hanukkah ("Dedication") commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship at the temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE, after Judah Maccabee removed the pagan statuary.
- שמעון בר כוכבא, Simon Bar Kokhba, 'Bar Kokhba stamp' (d. 135) was the Jewish leader of what is known as the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132, establishing an independent Jewish state of Israel which he ruled for three years as Nasi ("Ruler"). His rule was the last significant period of Israel's independence in this country, until the establishment of State of Israel in 1948. in the His state was conquered by the Romans in 135 following a two-year war. Documents discovered in the modern era give us his original name, Simon ben Kosiba, (Hebrew: שמעון בן כוסבא) he was given the surname Bar Kokhba, (Aramaic for "Son of a Star", referring to the Star Prophecy of Numbers 24:17, "there shall step forth a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite through the corners of Moab") by his contemporary, the Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva.
Visionaries and Spiritual leaders
- רבי יהושע בן חנניה, Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah, 'Ben Hananiah stamp' (d. 131) Ben Hananiah was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent, and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers. Joshua ben Hananiah was one of the five who formed the inner circle of Johanan ben Zakkai's pupils. In enumerating them tradition places him at the head together with Eliezer b. Hyrcanus.
- רבי מאיר בעל הנס, Rabbi Meir Ba'al Hanes, 'Baal Hanes stamp' (139 - 163). Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation (139-163). According to the Talmud, his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is one of the few women cited in the Gemara. He is the third most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.
- רבי יוחנן הסנדלר, Rabbi Yohanan Hassandlar, 'Hassandlar stamp' (c. 100 — c. 150) Was one of the main students of Rabbi Akiva and a contemporary of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He is one of the Tannaim whose teachings are quoted in the Mishnah. His name, "Hasandlar", could either refer to the fact that he earned his living as a sandal maker, or that he was a native of Alexandria.He was a great-grandson of Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder; he also purportedly traced his ancestry back to King David. Rashi, the great medieval commentator, was a 33rd-generation descendant of Rabbi Yochanan.
- רבי שלמה יצחקי - רש"י, Rashi, 'Rashi stamp' (1040 — 1105) The outstanding Biblical commentator of the Middle Ages. His explanation is often the basis for all Jewish understanding of the scriptures and legal principles in Judaism. No one person seems to have had such a deep impact on Jewish learning in the past thousand years as this man has had. In addition to the monumentous and basic commentary on the five books of Moses, Rashi commented on most of the books of the prophets and other biblical writings, plus most of the often-studied tractates of the Babylonian Talmud.
- הרמב"ם , Maimonides موسى ابن ميمون ,Moshe ben Maimon, 'Maimonides stamp1', 'Maimonides stamp2' (ca. 1138 - 1204) The preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. He worked as a rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt. With the contemporary Muslim sage Averroes, he promoted and developed the philosophical tradition of Aristotle. As a result, Maimonides and Averroes would gain a prominent and controversial influence in the West. A popular medieval saying that also served as his epitaph states, From Moshe (of the Torah) to Moshe (Maimonides) there was none like Moshe.
- לוי בן גרשום - רלב"ג, Levi ben Gerson, Gersonides, 'Gersonides stamp' (1288–1344), Jewish philosopher, Talmudist, mathematician, astronomer/astrologer. Gersonides was also the earliest known mathematician to have used the technique of mathematical induction in a systematic and self-conscious fashion and anticipated Galileo’s error theory. His most important treatise, that by which he has a place in the history of philosophy, is entitled Sefer Milhamot Ha-Shem ("The Wars of the Lord"). He is also credited to have invented the Jacob's staff, an instrument to measure the angular distance between celestial objects.
- רבי יהודה לאו, המהר"ל מפראג, Yehuda Loew, The Maharal of Prague, 'MaHaRal tombstone stamp' (1512 – 1609) The Maharal of Prague was a towering giant in Torah and Kabbalah and a fearless leader of European Jewry during the sixteenth century. Within the world of Torah and Talmudic scholarship, he is known for his works on Jewish philosophy and Jewish mysticism and his work Gur Aryeh al HaTorah, a supercommentary on Rashi's Torah commentary. He is particularly known for the legend that he created The Golem of Prague, an animate being fashioned from clay, using mystical powers based on the esoteric knowledge of how God created Adam, to defend the Jews of the Prague Ghetto from antisemitic attacks.
- יצחק לוריא - האר"י הקדוש, Yitzhak Luria - HaAR"I Hkadosh, 'Ha'Ari stamp' (1534 – 1572) A foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine. Considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah. He is known for the mysticism and interpretation of his teachings in Kabbalah known as Lurianic Kabbalah.
- ברוך שפינוזה, Baruch Spinoza, 'Spinoza stamp' (1632 – 1677) Jewish Philosopher of Dutch origin. He is considered one of the great rationalists of the 17th-century philosophy, laying the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism.
- רבי ישראל הבעל שם טוב, Rabbi Yisrael HaBaal Shem Tov, 'Habesht stamp' (1698 – 1760) Jewish mystical rabbi considered to be the founder of Hasidic Judaism.
- רבי אליהו הגאון מוילנה, Eliyahu the Gaon of Vilna, 'Gaon of Vilna stamp' (1720 – 1797) Lithuania's greatest Talmudic scholar and one of Judaism's greatest spiritual and intellectual leaders of modern times. He was, because of his fame, known simply as "The Vilna Gaon, or HaGRA (HaGaon Rav Eliyahu).
- רבי נחמן מברסלב, Rabbi Nachman of Breslev, 'Breslever stamp' (1772 – 1810) Founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement. His religious philosophy revolved around closeness to God and speaking to God in normal conversation "as you would with a best friend." The concept of hitbodedut is central to his thinking.
- לודויג זמנהוף, Ludwik Zamenhof, 'Zamenhof Esperanto stamp' (1859 – 1917) The creator of Esperanto, the most successful constructed language designed for international communication.
- יוסף קלאוזנר, Joseph Klausner, 'Klausner stamp' (1874 – 1958) Jewish historian and professor of Hebrew Literature. He was the chief redactor of The Hebrew Encyclopedia.
- מרטין בובר, Martin Buber, 'Buber stamp' (1878 – 1965) Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship.
- יאנוש קורצ׳אק, Janusz Korczak, 'Korczak stamp' the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit, (1878 or 1879 – 1942) was a Polish-Jewish educator, children's author, and pediatrician known as Pan Doktor (Mr Doctor) or Stary Doktor (Old Doctor). After spending many years working as director of an orphanage in Warsaw, he refused freedom and stayed with his orphans when the organization was sent from the Ghetto to Treblinka extermination camp during the Grossaktion Warsaw of 1942.
World Leaders and world dignitaries
- Berek Joselewicz, 'Joselewicz stamp' (1764 –1809) Polish freedom fighter. He was a Jewish-Polish merchant and a colonel of the Polish Army during the Kościuszko Uprising. Joselewicz commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history.
- Sir Moses Montefiore משה מונטפיורי, 'Montefiore stamp' (1784 – 1885) The most famous British Jew of the 19th century. Banker, financier, philanthropist, Sheriff of London and determined defender of human rights. Sir Moses Montefiore's extreme largess, fearless activism on behalf of world Jewry was immeasurable.
- Baron Maurice de Hirsch, 'Hirsch stamp' (1831 – 1896) Baron Moritz von Hirsch auf Gereuth was a German-Jewish banker, businessman and philanthropist who set up charitable foundations to promote Jewish education and improve the lot of oppressed European Jewry. He was the founder of the Jewish Colonization Association (JCA or IKA) which sponsored large-scale Jewish immigration to Argentina.
- Émile Zola, 'Zola stamp' (1840 – 1902) French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in the renowned newspaper headline J'Accuse.
- Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL, 'Balfour stamp' (1848 – 1930) British Conservative politician and statesman. He authored the Perpetual Crimes Act (1887) (or Coercion Act), and was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. Later, as Foreign Secretary, he authored the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which supported the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
- Alfred Dreyfus, 'Dreyfus stamp' (1859 – 1935) French artillery officer of Jewish background whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most tense political dramas in modern French and European history. Known today as the Dreyfus Affair, the incident eventually ended with Dreyfus's complete exoneration.
- Orville Right (1871 – 1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867 – 1912) 'Wright stamps: 1'; '2'; '3'. The Wright Brothers were two Americans who are generally credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.
- Léon André Blum, 'Blum stamp' (1872 – 1950) French politician of Jewish decent, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times Prime Minister of France.
- Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States, 'Truman stamp' (1884 – 1972) Thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953). As vice president, he succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died less than three months after he began his fourth term. Supported the UN partition resolution to create a Jewish state and an Arab state on the territory of the British Mandate of Palestine, and recognized the established State of Israel in 1948.
- Eleanor Roosevelt, 'Eleanor Roosevelt stamp' (1884 – 1962) First Lady of the United States 1933 - 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights.
- General Orde Charles Wingate, 'Wingate stamp' (1903 – 1944) British Army officer and creator of special military units in Palestine in the 1930s and in World War II. Wingate became a supporter of Zionism, seeing it as his religious and moral duty to help the Jewish community in Palestine form a Jewish state.
- Simon Wiesenthal, 'Wisenthal stamp' (1908 – 2005) Austrian Holocaust survivor who became famous after World War II for his work as a hunter of fugitive Nazis so that they could be brought to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Co-founder of the Jewish Historical Documentation Center in Linz, and the Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna, Austria.
- Karol Wojtyla / Pope John Paul II, 'John Paul II stamp' (1920 – 2005) Acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century.
- Anne Frank, 'Anne Frank stamp' (1929 – 1945) One of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films. Died of tyfus in Bergen Belzen Concentration Camp.
- King Hassan II, الحسن الثاني, of Morocco, 'King Hassan stamp' (1929 – 1999) King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999.
- al-Ḥusain bin Ṭalāl, حسين بن طلال, al-Hāšimīy, King of Jordan, 'King Hussain stamp' (1935 – 1999) King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death in 1999.
- Justice Louis Brandeis, [ Brandeis stamp] ( – )
Righteous among the Nations - חסידי אומות העולם
An honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis.
Diplomats
- Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches, 'de Sousa Mendes et al. stamp' (1885 - 1954) Portuguese diplomat who ignored and defied the orders of his own government, and during World War II issued Portuguese visas free of charge, to over 30,000 refugees seeking to escape the Nazi terror, 12,000 of whom were Jews.
- Chiune Sugihara, 杉原 千畝, 'Sugihara et al. stamp' (1900 - 1986) Vice Consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania. During World War II, he helped several thousand Jews leave the country by issuing them transit visas to travel to Japan.
- Raoul Wallenberg, 'Wallenberg stamp' (1912 - 1947?) Swedish humanitarian who worked in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. Between July and December 1944, he issued protective passports and housed Jews in buildings established as Swedish territory, saving tens of thousands of lives. Probably died while in Soviet detention. Yad Vashem Org. recognized Raoul Wallenberg as Righteous Among the Nations.
- Selâhattin Ülkümen, 'Ülkümen stamp' (1914 – 2003) Turkish diplomat and consul in Rhodes during the Second World War, who assisted many local Jews to escape the Holocaust.
- Giorgio Perlasca, 'Perlaska stamp' (1910 – 1992) Italian who posed as the Spanish consul-general to Hungary in the winter of 1944, and saved thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
- Carl Lutz, 'Lutz stamp' (1895 – 1975) Swiss Vice-Consul in Budapest, Hungary from 1942 until the end of World War II. He is credited with saving over 62,000 Jews from deportation to Nazi Extermination camps during the Holocaust.
Authors of great literature
- Shota Rustaveli შოთა რუსთაველი, 'Rustaveli stamp' (c.1172 – c.1216) Georgian poet of the 12th century, and one of the greatest contributors to Georgian literature.
- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, 'Cervantes stamp' (1547 – 1616) Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern European novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.
- Heinrich Heine, 'Heine stamp' (1797 – 1856) One of the most significant German poets of the 19th century; journalist, essayist, and literary critic.
- Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Пу́шкин], 'Pushkin stamp' (1799 – 1837) The greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.
- Hans Christian (H.C.) Andersen, Andersen stamps series: 'The little Mermaid', 'The Emperor's New Clothes', 'The Ugly Duckling' (1805 – 1875) Danish author, fairy tale writer, and poet noted for his children's stories.
- Herbert George "H.G." Wells, 'Wells stamp' (1866 – 1946) English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction".
- Jules Gabriel Verne, 'Verne stamp' (1828 – 1905) French author who pioneered the science-fiction genre. He is best known for his classic novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).
- Franz Kafka, 'Kafka stamp' (1883 – 1924) German-language novelist, whose works came to be regarded as one of the major achievements of world literature, to the point that even the term "Kafkaesque" has entered the English language.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 'Saint-Exupéry stamp' (1900 – 1944) French writer and aviator. Best remembered for his novella The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) and for his books about aviation adventures, including Night Flight and Wind, Sand and Stars.
- Isaac Asimov, 'Asimov stamp' (1920 – 1992) A prolific American author, one of the three grand masters of science fiction, a professor of biochemistry who wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 9,000 letters and postcards.
Israeli & Jewish authors (mostly in Hebrew)
- אברהם מאפו, Abraham Mapu, 'Mapu stamp' (1808 – 1867) Lithuanian-Jewish novelist in Hebrew of the Haskalah ("enlightenment") movement. Considered the first Hebrew novelist. His style is fresh and poetic, almost Biblical in its simple grandeur. His novels later served as a basis for the Zionist movement.
- יהודה לייב גורדון - יל"ג Judah Leib (Ben Asher) Gordon, 'Y.L. Gordon stamp1'; 'Y.L. Gordon fdc2' (1830 – 1892) Y.L. Gordon among the most important Hebrew poets of the Jewish Enlightenment.
- שלום יעקב אברמוביץ' - מנדלי מוכר ספרים, Shalom Jacob Abramowitz - Mendele Mocher Sefarim, 'Mendele stamp1'; 'Mendele fdc2' (1835 — 1917), "Mendele the book peddler," is the pseudonym of Sholem Yankev Abramovich, a Jewish author and one of the founders of modern Yiddish and Hebrew literature. He is considered by many to be the "grandfather of Yiddish literature," a name applied by Sholem Aleichem in the dedication to his novel Stempenyu; his style in both Hebrew and Yiddish has strongly influenced several generations of later writers.
- אברהם גולדפאדן, Abraham Goldfaden, 'Goldfaden stamp' (1840 – 1908) Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yiddish and Hebrew, author of some 40 plays. Goldfaden is considered the father of the Jewish modern theatre. In 1876 he founded in Romania what is generally credited as the world's first professional Yiddish-language theater troupe. He was also responsible for the first Hebrew-language play performed in the United States.
- יצחק־לייבוש פרץ Isaac Leib Peretz, 'Peretz stamp1'; 'Peretz fdc2' (1852 – 1915), best known as I.L. Peretz, was a Yiddish language author and playwright. Generally counted with Mendele Mokher Sefarim and Sholem Aleichem as one of the three great classical Yiddish writers.
- אלכסנדר זיסקינד רבינוביץ', אז"ר, Alexander Ziskind Rabinowitz, AZAR, 'AZAR stamp' (1854 – 1945) Hebrew writer, biographer, editor and translator.
- שלום עליכם, Shalom Aleichem, 'Shalom Aleichem stamp' (1859 — 1916) was the pen name of Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, a leading Yiddish author and playwright. The musical Fiddler on the Roof, based on his stories about Tevye the Milkman, was the first commercially successful English-language stage production about Jewish life in Eastern Europe.
- מיכה יוסף בִּן גָּרְיוֹן - בֶּרְדִיצֵ'בְסְקִי Micha Josef Berdyczewski, 'Berdiczewski stamp1'; 'Berdiczewski fdc2' (1865 — 1921) Ukrainian-born writer in Hebrew, a journalist, and a scholar. He appealed for the Jews to change their way of thinking, freeing themselves from dogmas ruling the Jewish religion, tradition and history, but is also known for his work with pre-modern Jewish myths and legends. He wrote in Hebrew, Yiddish and German and has been described as "the first Hebrew writer living in Berlin to be revered in the world of German letters".
- נחמה פוחצ׳בסקי Nechama Pohatchevsky, 'Nechama stamp' (1869 — 1934) Farmer, writer, judge and Suffragette, She was a pioneer in Rishon LeZion.
- חיים נחמן ביאליק Chaim Nachman Bialik, 'Bialik stamp' (1873 – 1934) Jewish poet who wrote in Hebrew in Russia and then in Eretz Israel. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poets and came to be recognized as Israel's national poet.
- שאול טשרניחובסקי Shaul Tchernichovsky, 'Tchernichovsky stamp1'; 'Tchernichovsky fdc2' (1875 – 1943) Russian-born physician, Hebrew poet, essayist and translator. He is considered one of the great Hebrew poets, identified with nature poetry, lyrical-erotic poetry, epic poetry, and as a poet greatly influenced by the culture of ancient Greece.
- יוסף חיים ברנר , Yosef Chaim Brenner, 'Brenner stamp1'; 'Brenner stamp2'; 'Brenner fdc3' (1881 – 1921) Russian-born Hebrew-language author, one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew literature.
- יהודה בורלא, Judah Burla, 'Burla samp1'; 'Burla fdc2' (1886 – 1969). An Israeli author. Burla was twice awarded the Bialik Prize for literature (1939 and 1954) and the Israel Prize, for literature (1961).
- דבורה בארון Dvora Baron, 'Baron stamp1'; 'Baron stamp2'; 'Baron fdc3' (1887-1956) One of the first women writers of Hebrew fiction, she occupies a special place in Hebrew literature. Baron was the first recipient of the Bialik Prize and was also awarded the Brenner Prize. The First Day and Other Stories is included among "The Greatest Works of Modern Jewish Literature".
- ש"י עגנון Shmuel Joseph (Shai) Agnon (Czaczkes), 'Agnon stamp1'; 'Agnon stamp2' (1888 – 1970) Writer and a central figures of modern Hebrew fiction. Nobel laureate in Literature (1966). He was also awarded twice the Bialik Prize (1934 & 1950), and twice the Israel Prize for literature (1954 & 1958).
- רחל המשוררת Rachel the Poetess, 'Rachel stamp' (1890 – 1931) Superb Lyric poet (in Hebrew). First Jewish woman poet in Palestine to receive recognition in a genre that was comprised solely of men. Poems by Rachel have been translated to English, German, Czech, Polish, Esperanto, Italian, Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian, Basque and Slovak.
- אסתר ראב , Esther Raab Raab stamp (1894 – 1981) The first Land-of-Israel-born poet and writer woman. המשוררת הצברית הראשונה
- אורי צבי גרינברג, Uri Zvi Grinberg, 'Grinberg stamp' (1896 – 1981) Acclaimed Israeli poet and journalist who wrote in Yiddish and Hebrew. First Knesset member. He was awarded the Israel Prize for literature (1957).
- חיים הזז, Haim Hazaz, 'Hazaz stamp1'; 'Hazaz fdc2' (1xxx – 19xx) Russian-born Israeli novelist. Awarded twice (1952 and 1970) the Bialik Prize for Literature, and in 1953, the Israel Prize for literature.
- יוכבד בת-מרים, Yocheved Bat-Miriam, 'Bat-Miriam stamp1'; 'Bat-Miriam fdc2' (1901 – 1980) Russian-born Israeli poet. Wife of author Haim Hazaz. Awards: In 1963, she was awarded the Brenner Prize for literature; in 1964, the Bialik Prize for literature; in 1972, the Israel Prize for literature.
- אברהם שלונסקי, Avraham Shlonsky, 'Shlonsky stamp1'; 'Shlonsky stamp2'; 'Shlonsky fdc3' (1900 – 1973) Was a Russian-born significant and dynamic Israeli poet and editor. He was influential in the development of modern Hebrew and its literature in Israel through his many acclaimed translations of literary classics, particularly from Russian, as well as his own original Hebrew children's classics. Known for his humor, Shlonsky earned the nickname "Lashonsky" from the wisecrackers of his generation (lashon means "tongue", i.e., "language") for his unusually clever and astute innovations in the newly evolving Hebrew language. He was awarded the Tchernichovsky Prize for translation (1946), and Bialik Prize (1959) and Israel Prize (1967) for literature.
- נתן אלתרמן Nathan Alterman, 'Alterman stamp1'; 'Alterman fdc2' (1910 – 1970) Israeli poet, playwright, journalist, and translator who – though never holding any elected office – was highly influential in Socialist Zionist politics, both before and after the establishment of the State of Israel. He was awarded twice the Tchernichovsky Prize (for translation, 1946,1967), Ruppin Prize (1947), Bialik Prize (1957), Israel Prize (1968).
- לאה גולדברג Leah Goldberg, 'Goldberg stamp' (1911 – 1970) Hebrew-language poet, author, playwright, literary translator, and comparative literary researcher. Her writings are considered classics of Israeli literature and remain very popular among Hebrew speaking Israelis. She was awarded the Ruppin Prize (1949) and the Israel Prize for literature (1970).
- זלדה מישקובסקי Zelda Mishkovsky, 'Zelda stamp' (1914 – 1984) Zelda, was an Israeli poet. She won the Brenner Prize (1971), the Bialik prize (1977), and the Wertheim Prize (1982).
- אמיר גלבוע, Amir Gilboa, 'Gilboa stamp1', 'Gilboa fdc2' (1917 – 1970) A Ukraine-born prominent Israeli Hebrew poet. Awarded prizes for literature (poetry): Shlonski Prize (1961); Ussishkin Prize (1964); Prime Minister Prize (1969); Brenner Prize (1970); Bialik Prize (1971); Chomsky Prize (1977); Fichman Prize (1980); Israel Prize (1982).
- יהודה עמיחי Yehuda Amichai, 'Amichai stamp' (1924 – 2000) Considered by many as Israel's greatest modern poet. He was also one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew. Amichai was awarded many prizes for literature: Shlonski Prize (1957), Brenner Prize (1969), Bialik Prize (1976), Jerusalem Prize (1982), Israel Prize (1982). Agnon Prize (1986)
- אפרים קישון Ephraim Kishon, 'Kishon stamp' (1924 – 2005) Israeli author, dramatist, screenwriter, and Oscar-nominated film director. He was one of the most widely read contemporary satirists in the world. He was awarded the Nordau Prize (1953); Sokolov Prize (1958); Kinor David Prize (1984); Bialik Prize (1998); Israel Prize (2002). He won two Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film Awards, for Sallah Shabati (1964), and The Policeman (1971).
- נסים אלוני, Nissim Aloni, 'Aloni stamp' (1926 – 1998) Israeli playwright and translator. He is one of Israel’s leading dramatists. Aloni was awarded the Bialik Prize for Literature (1983), and the Israel Prize, for Literature (1992).
- יעקב שבתאי Yaakov Shabtai, 'Shabtai stamp1'; 'Shabtai fdc2' (1934 – 1981) Israeli novelist, playwright, and translator. His best known work Zikhron Devarim (1977), published in English in 1985 as Past Continuous. Written as a single paragraph, it was the first novel ever to be written in truly vernacular Hebrew. In its English translation the novel was name as the greatest novel of the decade, comparing it to Proust's In Search of Lost Time. Shabtai was awarded the Bernstein Prize (1978), Kinor David Prize (1978), and Agnon Prize (1982, posthumously).
Notable Leaders in the Sciences and the Humanities
- Albert Einstein, 'Einstein stamp1', 'Einstein stamp2', 'Einstein stamp3' (1879 – 1955) Often regarded as the father of modern physics. Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1921. His great intelligence and originality has made the word "Einstein" synonymous with genius.
- Alexander Graham Bell, 'Bell stamp' (1847 – 1922). An eminent American scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone. Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils and aeronautics.
- Thomas Alva Edison, 'Edison stamp' (1847 – 1931) An American inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.
- Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, 'Haffkine stamp' (1860 – 1930) Russian Jewish bacteriologist, developed, at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, an anti-cholera vaccine. Recognized as the first microbiologist who developed and used vaccines against cholera and bubonic plague. He tested the vaccines on himself. Lord Joseph Lister named him "a saviour of humanity".
- Lev Davidovich Landau, 'Landau stamp' (1908 – 1968) Prominent Soviet physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. Nobel Laureate in Physics 1962.
- יואל רקח Giulio Racah, 'Racah stamp' (1909 – 1965) Italian–Israeli physicist and mathematician. Israel prize in exact Sciences, 1958.
- אהרון קציר Aharon Katchalski-Katzir, 'A. Katzir stamp' (1914 – 1972) Israeli pioneer in the study of the electrochemistry of biopolymers. Israel Prize in Life Sciences 1961.
- Heinrich Graetz, 'Graetz stamp' (1817 – 1891) Amongst the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective.
- Shimon Dubnow (Dubnov), שמעון דובנוב, הי"ד, 'Dubnow stamp' (1860 – 1941) Jewish historian, writer and activist.
- יצחק בער Yitzhak Baer, 'Baer stamp' (1888 – 1980) German-Israeli historian and an expert in medieval Spanish Jewish history.
- Emanuel Ringelblum, הי"ד, 'Ringelblum stamp' (1900 – 1944) Polish-Jewish historian, politician and social worker. Known for the Ringelblum's Archives of the Warsaw Ghetto.
- יעקב טלמון Jacob Talmon, 'Talmon stamp' (1916 – 1980) Professor of Modern History. He has been categorised as a 'Cold War liberal'.
Artists and Musicians
- Johann Sebastian Bach, 'J.S.Bach stamp' (1685 – 1750) German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity.
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 'Mozart stamp' (1756 – 1791) Prolific and influential Austrian composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.
- Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Felix Mendelssohn stamp' (1809 – 1847) The grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.
- Gustav Mahler, 'Mahler stamp' (1860 – 1911) Bohemian-born Austrian Jewish composer and conductor, one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of his time.
- James Ensor, 'Ensor stamp' (1860 – 1949) Flemish-Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for almost his entire life. He was associated with the artistic group Les XX.
- Arturo Toscanini, 'Toscanini stamp' (1867 – 1957) Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century.
- Arnold Schoenberg, 'Schoenberg stamp' (1874 – 1951) was an Austrian American Jewish composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art.
- Ernest Bloch, 'Bloch stamp' (1880 – 1959) Swiss born American composer.
- Bronislaw Huberman, 'Huberman stamp' (1882 – 1947) Czech-born, one of the towering figures among violinists of his generation.
- Artur Rubinstein, 'Rubinstein stamp' (1887 – 1982) Polish-American pianist, widely considered one of the greatest classical pianists of the twentieth century. Founder of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition (in Tel Aviv, Israel).
- Darius Milhaud, 'Milhaud stamp' (1892 – 1974) French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century.
- George Gershwin, 'Gershwin stamp' (1898 – 1937) American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known.
- Leonard Bernstein, 'L. Bernstein stamp' (1918 – 1990) American Jewish conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist.
- Madmoiselle Rachel (Elizabeth-Rachel Félix, 'Rachel stamp' (1821 – 1858), was a world famous French actress of a Jewish Alsatian origin.
- Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson), '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1887 – 1961) American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer".
- Leonard "Chico" Marx, '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1887 – 1961) Eldest of the Marx Brothers. Marx used an Italian accent for his on-stage character; stereotyped ethnic characters were common with Vaudeville comedians. Five of the Marx Brothers’ thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute as among the top 100 comedy films.
- Arthur Adolph "Harpo" Marx, '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1888 – 1964) American comedian and film and television star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. With the big, poofy, curly red hair, a top hat, and a horn, the lovable mute was the favorite of the Marx Brothers.
- Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx , '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1890 – 1977) American comedian and film and television star. He is known as a master of quick wit and widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers and imitators.
- Danny Kaye, '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1913 – 1987) Celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian. His best known performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire nonsense songs.
- Simone Signoret, '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1921 – 1985) French cinema actress often hailed as one of France's greatest movie stars. She became the first French person to win an Academy Award, for her role in Room at the Top (1959). In her lifetime she also received a BAFTA, an Emmy, Golden Globe, Cannes Film Festival recognition and the Silver Bear for Best Actress.
- Peter Sellers, OBE, '100 yr. Cinema stamp' (1925 – 1980) British comedian and actor best known for his roles in Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, and Being There. He is best remembered for his role of inept French police Inspector 'Jacques Clouseau' in the "Pink Panther" series of films (1964 to 1982).
- חנה רובינא Hanna Rovina, 'Rovina stamp (1893 – 1980) "First Lady of the Hebrew Theater".
- משה הלוי Moshe Halevy, M. 'Halevy stamp' (1895 – 1974) Theater director & founder of "HaOhel" theater (in Tel Aviv, now extinct).
- שרה שרה לוי-תנאי Sarah Levi-Tanai, Levi-Tanai stamp (1910 – 2005) Israeli choreographer and song writer, founder and artistic director of the Inbal Dance Theater and recipient of the Israel Prize in dance.
- יוסף מילוא, Joseph Milo, 'Milo stamp' (1916 – 1997) Israeli theatre actor and director, of thr founders of the "Kameri" theatre in Tel Aviv.
- חנה מרון , Channa Maron, 'Maron stamp' (1923 – 2014) First lady of the Israeli theatre. Israel Prize for theatre, 1973.
- שייקה אופיר , Shai K. Ophir, 'Ophir stamp' (1928 – 1987) Israeli film actor and comedian, and the country's first mime.
- ספי ריבלין , Sefi Rivlin, 'Rivlin stamp' (1947 – 2013) Israeli actor and beloved comedian
Forefathers of the State of Israel (Zionist Leaders, Freedom Fighters and Settlers in Palestine)
Visionaries, Leaders and Supporters of the World Zionist Organization, WZO, and pre-Zionism
- דונה גרציה מנדס-נשיא Donna Gracia Mendes-Nassi, 'Gracia stamp' (1510 — 1569) One of the wealthiest Jewish women of Renaissance Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Developed an escape network that saved hundreds of Conversos - forcibly converted Jews - from the terrors of the Inquisition. She was granted long-term lease on the Tiberias region in Israel and made it a major new centre of Jewish settlement, trade and learning. This venture has often been called one of the earliest attempts at a modern Zionist movement.
- בנימין זאב הרצל Theodor Binyamin Zeev Herzl, 'Herzl stamp1', '23rd Zionist Congress, Herzl stamp2', 'Herzl Centenial birth stamp3', 'Herzl stamp4', 'Herzl stamp5', 'Centenial memorial, Herzl stamp6', 'Herzl, stamp7', 'Herzl, stamp8' (1860 — 1904) Visionary of the State of Israel; Founder of the Zionist Organization.
- Yehuda Leib Pinsker, יהודה לייב פינסקר, 'Pinsker stamp' (1821 — 1891) A physician, a Zionist pioneer and activist, and the founder and leader of the Hovevei Zion, also known as Hibbat Zion (Hebrew: חיבת ציון, Lovers of Zion) movement.
- David Wolfson, דוד וולפסון, 'Wolfson stamp' (1856 — 1914) Jewish businessman and prominent Zionist and second president of the World Zionist Organization.
- Ahad Ha'am, אחד העם, 'Ahad Ha'am stamp' (1856 — 1927) Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg , primarily known by his Hebrew name and pen name, Ahad Ha'am, was a Hebrew essayist, and one of the foremost pre-state Zionist thinkers. He is known as the founder of Cultural Zionism. With his secular vision of a Jewish "spiritual center" in Palestine he confronted Theodor Herzl. Unlike Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, Ha'am strived for "a Jewish state and not merely a state of Jews."
- Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, 'Rothchild stamp' (1845 – 1934) French member of the Rothschild banking family. A strong supporter of Zionism, his generous donations lent significant support to the movement during its early years, which helped lead to the establishment of the State of Israel.
- Max Nordau, מקס נורדאו, 'Nordau stamp' (1849 – 1923) Zionist leader, physician, author, and social critic. He was a co-founder of the World Zionist Organization together with Theodor Herzl, and president or vice president of several Zionist congresses.
- Eliezer Ben Yehuda, אליעזר בן יהודה, 'Ben Yehuda stamp' (1858 – 1922) A Litvak born lexicographer and newspaper editor. He lived in Jerusalem and was the driving spirit behind the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era.
- Ze'ev Jabotinsky, זאב ז'בוטינסקי, 'Jabotinsky stamp1'; 'Jabotinsky stamp2'; 'Jabotinsky stamp3' (1880 – 1940) Revisionist Zionist leader, author, orator, soldier, and founder of the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in Odessa. He also helped form the Jewish Legion of the British army in World War I, and was a founder and early leader of the militant Zionist underground organization, Irgun.
- Abba Hillel Silver, אבא הלל סילבר, 'Silver stamp' (1893–1963) U.S. Rabbi and Zionist leader. He was a key figure in the mobilization of American support for the founding of the State of Israel.
Para-military leaders, underground commanders, freedom fighters - ארגונים טרום-צבאיים, מפקדי המחתרות ולוחמים
- Aharon Aaronsohn, אהרון ארונסון, 'A. Aaronsohn stamp' (1876 – 1919) Jewish agronomist, botanist, and Zionist activist in Eretz Israel in the Turkish Empire. He was the discoverer of wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides), believed to be "the mother of wheat". He was the founder and head of Nili, a ring of Jewish residents of Palestine who spied for Britain during World War I.
- Manya Shochat, מניה שוחט, 'M. Shochat stamp' (1879 – 1961) Russian Jewish politician and the "mother" of the collective settlement in Palestine, the forerunner of the kibbutz movement. Of the founders of the "Bar Giora" "Hashomer" & "HaKibbutz HaChashai" paramilitary defense organizations and "Gdud HaAvoda" and Kfar Giladi.
- Eliyahu Golomb, אליהו גולומב , 'Golomb stamp' (1893 – 1945) Leader of the Jewish defense effort in Mandate Palestine and chief architect of the Haganah, the underground military organization for defense of the Yishuv between 1920 and 1948.
- David Raziel,דוד רזיאל, 'Raziel stamp' (1910 – 1941) Fighter of the Jewish underground during the British Mandate of Palestine, and one of the founders and a Commander in Chief of the Irgun (Etzel - אצ"ל).
- Yosef Glazman, יוסף גלזמן, 'Glazman stamp' (1908 - 1943) Partisans leader and a Beitar fellow. He was one of the leaders of Vilnus Ghetto Underground movement during the Holocaust.
- Zivia Lubetkin, ציביה לובטקין, 'Lubetkin stamp' (1914 – 1978) one of the leaders of the Jewish underground in Nazi-occupied Warsaw and the only woman on the High Command of the resistance group Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ŻOB). One of the founders of Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot in Israel.
- Yitzhak (Antek) Zuckerman, יצחק צוקרמן, 'Zuckerman stamp' (1915 – 1981) One of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II, and one of the founders of Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot in Israel.
- Mordechai Anielewicz, מרדכי אנילביץ, 'Anielewicz stamp' (1919 – 1943) Leader of Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Combat Organization), also known as ŻOB, during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising from January to May 1943. it is assumed that he took his own life on 8 May 1943, along with his girlfriend and many of his staff, in a mass suicide at the surrounded ŻOB command post at 18 Miła Street.
- Pawel Frenkel - פאוול פרנק Flags Over the Ghetto stamp (1920 – 1943) Polish Jewish youth leader in Warsaw and one of the senior commanders of the Jewish Military Union, or the ŻZW. Although one of the most important leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Jewish resistance in the months preceding April 1943, Frenkiel is also one of the least well-known to historians and both his earlier life and his ultimate fate are a subject of some controversy.
Martyrs for the struggle of Israel independence - הרוגי מלכות בדור התקומה
- Avshalom Feinberg - אבשלום פיינברג, [none yet? 'Feinberg stamp'] (1889 – 1917) Gedera, (Palestine) born, who studied in France. A leader of Nili, a Jewish spy network in Ottoman Palestine helping the British fight the Ottoman Empire during World War I. He was apparently killed by Bedouin near the British front in Sinai, close to Rafah. His fate was unknown until after the 1967 Six-Day War when his remains were found under a palm tree that had grown from date seeds in his pocket to mark the spot where he lay.
- Sara Aaronsohn, שרה ארונסון, 'S. Aaronsohn stamp' (1890 – 1917) NILI commander מראשי ניל"י, a ring of Jewish spies working for the British in World War I, and a sister of notable botanist Aaron Aaronsohn. In October 1917, the Ottomans arrested numerous people in Zichron Yaakov, including Sarah. After four days of torture, she managed to shoot and kill herself with a pistol concealed on the premises to avoid further torture and to protect her colleagues. She is sometimes referred to as the "heroine of Nili."
- Naaman Belkind, נעמן בלקינד, 'Belkind stamp' (1888 – 1917) Born in Gedera, in Ottoman Palestine. He was a member of Nili, a Jewish paramilitary and a spying organization for the British in Ottoman Palestine. He was eventually caught and sentenced to death in Damascus togrther with Yosef Lishansky.
- Yosef Lishansky, יוסף לישנסקי, 'Lishansky stamp' (1890 – 1917) Russian born Jewish paramilitary and a spy for the British in Ottoman Palestine. Upon his arrival in Palestine, Lishansky sought to join HaShomer but, denied membership, he founded a rival organization, HaMagen. Several years later, he joined the Jewish espionage organization, Nili. Lishansky was wanted by the Ottomans for his activities and was betrayed by HaShomer when he sought refuge with them. He escaped capture several times, but was eventually caught and sentenced to death in Damascus.
- Joseph Trumpeldor, יוסף טרומפלדור, 'Trumpeldor stamp1'; 'Trumpeldor stamp2' (1880 – 1920) Early Zionist activist. He helped organize the Zion Mule Corps (WWI) and bring Jewish immigrants to Eretz Israel. Trumpeldor died defending the settlement of Tel Hai in 1920 and subsequently became a Zionist national hero. His last words were famously "Never mind, it is good to die for our country."
- Avraham "Yair" Stern, אברהם "יאיר" שטרן, 'Stern stamp' (1907 – 1942) Jewish urban revolutionary who founded and led the Zionist organization later known as Lehi (also called the "Stern Gang" by the British colonial authorities), an underground paramilitary organization who fought the British authority in the British Mandate of Palestine till 1948.
- Enzo Sereni, אנצו סירני, הי"ד, 'Sereni stamp' (1905 – 1944) Italian Zionist, co-founder of kibbutz Givat Brenner, scholar, advocate of Jewish-Arab co-existence and a resistance fighter. Sent by the Jewish Agency and Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) on military missions in Nazi-occupied Italy in World War II, captured by the Germans and executed in Dachau concentration camp.
- Haviva Reick, חביבה רייק, הי"ד, 'Reik stamp' (1914 – 1944) One of 32 Palestinian Jewish parachutists sent by the Jewish Agency and Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) on military missions in Nazi-occupied Europe. Was captured and murdered by the Nazis and their Slovak collaborators.
- Hanna Szenes, חנה סנש הי"ד, 'Szens stamp' (1921 – 1944) Hungarian Jew, one of 32 Palestinian Jewish parachutists sent by the Jewish Agency and Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE) on military missions in Nazi-occupied Europe. Was arrested at the Hungarian border, imprisoned and tortured, but she refused to reveal details of her mission and was eventually tried, and executed by firing squad. She is regarded as a national heroine in Israel, and her poetry is widely known.
- Moshe Marzuk, משה מרזוק, 'Marzuk stamp' (1926 – 1955) Egyptian Karaite Jew, hanged by Egypt in 1955 for his involvement in a series of bombings in Cairo codenamed Operation Suzannah, also named later the "Unfortunate Affair" or the The Bad Business (Hebrew: HaEsek Bish), a failed Israeli covert operation, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954.
- Shmuel Azar, שמואל עזר, 'Azar stamp' (1929 – 1955) One of the "Cairo convicts" "נדוני קהיר" who were tried, convicted and hanged in Egypt as Israeli spies following the "Unfortunate Affair" or The Bad Business (Hebrew: HaEsek Bish), a failed Israeli covert operation, code named Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954.
- Eli Cohen, אלי כהן. 'E. Cohen stamp' (1924 – 1965) An Israeli intelligence officer and spy. He is best known for his work in Syria, where he developed close relationships with the political and military hierarchy and became the Chief Adviser to the Minister of Defense. He was eventually exposed and executed in Syria in 1965. The intelligence he gathered is claimed to have been an important factor in Israel's success in the Six Day War.
Martyrs, "עולי הגרדום": Twelve "Etzel, אצ"ל" and "Lehi, לח"י" members of the Jewish underground organizations, executed by the British Mandate of Palestine authorities (1938 – 1947).
- Shlomo Ben Yosef, שלמה בן יוסף, 'Ben Yosef stamp' (1913 – 1938) Born in Poland as Shalom Tabachnik was a noted (and controversial) member of the Revisionist Zionist underground Irgun. He is most noted for his participation in an April 21, 1938 attack on a bus carrying Arab civilians, intended as a retaliation for an earlier attack by Arabs against Jews, and emblematic as a rejection of the establishment policy of Havlagah, or restraint. For having been the first Jew executed by the British authorities during the mandate period, Ben-Yosef is revered in the highest terms by right-wing Zionist groups such as Betar, Irgun, Jewish Defense League and the Kach movement.
- Eliyahu Hakim, אליהו חכים, 'Hakim stamp' (1925 – 1945) Beirut born, Lehi (לח"י) paramilitary underground member in British Mandate Palestine. Known for taking part in the 1944 Cairo assassination of Lord Moyne, the British Minister Resident in the Middle East. Captured, tried, hanged and buried in Cairo, Egypt. In 1975 his remains were moved to Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery, Jerusalem, Israel.
- אליהו בית-צורי, 'Beit Tzuri stamp' (1922 – 1945) Tel Aviv born, Lehi (לח"י) paramilitary underground member in British Mandate Palestine. Known for taking part in the 1944 Cairo assassination of Lord Moyne, the British Minister Resident in the Middle East. Captured, tried, hanged and buried in Cairo, Egypt. In 1975 his remains were moved to Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery, Jerusalem, Israel.
- Dov Gruner דב גרונר, 'Gruner stamp' (1912 – 1947) Hungarian-born Zionist activist and a member of the pre-state Jewish underground, Irgun. Fought the Nazis as a soldier in the Jewish Brigade and after the war took part in the Irgun underground activities against the British mandate. On April 19, 1947, Gruner was executed by the British Mandatory authorities in Palestine on charges of "firing on policemen and setting explosive charges with the intent of killing personnel on His Majesty's service."
- Mordechai Alkachi מרדכי אלקחי, 'Alkachi stamp' (1925 – 1947) Born in Petach Tikva (Israel). An "Etzel" member, was captured in the "Night of the Beatings" and was hanged by the British authorities on April 14, 1947.
- Eliezer Kashani אליעזר קשאני, 'Kashani stamp' (1923 – 1947) Born in Petach Tikva (Israel). An "Etzel" member, was captured in the "Night of the Beatings" and was hanged by the British authorities on April 14, 1947.
- Yehiel Drezner, יחיאל דב דרזנר, 'Drezner stamp' (1922 – 1947) (Aka Dov Rosenbaum) Born in Poland, to a famous Rabbinical family (his mother family). At the age of 11 his family immigrated to British mandate Palestine and settled in Jerusalem. He moved to Netanya and then to Tel Aviv, working as a diamond cutter. An "Etzel" member from 1944, was captured "Night of the Beatings" and was hanged by the British authorities on April 14, 1947.
- Moshe Barazani, משה ברזאני, 'Barazani stamp' (1928 – 1947) Born in Baghdad to a Jewish family from Northern Iraq that moved to Jerusalem when he was an infant. He joined Lehi ("Freedom Fighters of Israel," aka the "Stern Gang") at an early age and took part in sabotage operations. He was arrested during a curfew, charged with conspiracy to murder British Brigardier A. P. Davis and sentenced to death by hanging by a British military court on April 21, 1947. However before the execution, he and his comrade Meir Feinstein committed suicide in their cells in the central prison in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem with improvised grenades which had been smuggled inside oranges.
- Meir Feinstein, מאיר פיינשטיין, 'Feinstein stamp' (1927 – 1947) Born in the Old City of Jerusalem. He was an Irgun (Etzel - אצ"ל) operative who lost an arm on Oct. 30, 1946 while planting an Improvised Explosive Device in the railway station in Jerusalem, and was subsequently captured and sentenced to death by the British authorities in Palestine. However before the execution, he and his comrade Moshe Barazani committed suicide in their cells in the central prison in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem with improvised grenades which had been smuggled inside oranges.
- Avshalom Haviv, אבשלום חביב, 'Haviv stamp' (1926 – 1947) pre-Jewish state Irgun underground member. Haviv's final mission was to take up a blocking position during the operation that scattered mines in support of the Acre Prison break on May 4 1947. He was captured during the engagement along with Irgun fighters Meir Nakar, Yaakov Weiss, Amnon Michaelov, and Nachman Zitterbaum when the group ran out of ammunition. He was tried by the British Mandate courts and sentenced to death by hanging at Acre Prison. On July 30, the Irgun carried out their threat to retaliate and hang two British sergeants they had kidnapped earlier. This operation shocked Britain, despite the explicit threat beforehand, and brought to an end hanging of Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine. Meir Nakar, Yaakov Weiss and Avshalom Haviv were the last to ascend the British gallows.
- Yaakov (Imre) Weiss, יעקב וייס, 'Weiss stamp' (1924 – 1947) Czech-born Zionist activist pre-Jewish state Irgun (Etzel - אצ"ל) underground member. Weiss' final mission was to take up a blocking position during the operation that scattered mines in support of the Acre Prison break on May 4 1947. He was captured during the engagement along with Irgun fighters Meir Nakar, Avshalom Haviv, Amnon Michaelov, and Nachman Zitterbaum when the group ran out of ammunition. He was tried by the British Mandate courts and sentenced to death by hanging at Acre Prison. On July 30, the Irgun carried out their threat to retaliate and hang two British sergeants they had kidnapped earlier. This operation shocked Britain, despite the explicit threat beforehand, and brought to an end hanging of Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine. Meir Nakar, Yaakov Weiss and Avshalom Haviv were the last to ascend the British gallows.
- Meir Nakar, מאיר נקר, 'Nakar stamp' (1926 – 1947) Jerusalem-born Zionist activist pre-Jewish state Irgun (Etzel - אצ"ל) underground member. Nakar's' final mission was to take up a blocking position during the operation that scattered mines in support of the Acre Prison break on May 4 1947. He was captured during the engagement along with Irgun fighters Yaakov Weiss, Avshalom Haviv, Amnon Michaelov, and Nachman Zitterbaum when the group ran out of ammunition. He was tried by the British Mandate courts and sentenced to death by hanging at Acre Prison. On July 30, the Irgun carried out their threat to retaliate and hang two British sergeants they had kidnapped earlier. This operation shocked Britain, despite the explicit threat beforehand, and brought to an end hanging of Jews in the British Mandate of Palestine. Meir Nakar, Yaakov Weiss and Avshalom Haviv were the last to ascend the British gallows.
Acquisition of land, "Keren Kayemet", "Keren Hayesod, רכישת קרקעות, קק"ל וקרן היסוד" and 'Early settlers and farmers in Eretz Israel (Turkish Empire & British Mandate of Palestine) מקימי היישובים החדשים בארץ ישראל'
- Charles Netter, קרל (יעקב) נטר, Netter stamp (1826 – 1882) Zionist leader, and a founding member of the Alliance Israélite Universelle. In 1870, Netter founded Mikveh Israel, the first modern Jewish agricultural settlement and agricultural school in the Land of Israel.
- Aharon Chelouche, אהרון שלוש, 'Chelouce stamp' (1840 – 1920) Of the leaders of the Sephardic community in Jaffa, founder of Neve Tzedek, a jeweler, money changer and real estate dealer who encouraged Jewish settlement outside the city walls of Jaffa. He was head the Chelouch family who played a central role in establishing Jewish neighborhoods in Jaffa and in Tel Aviv.
- Batia Makov, בתיה מקוב, 'Makov stamp' (1841 – 1912) She was the forefront of the unique strong women of the First Aliyah, the first Feminist woman in Israel. In 1890 she sold her businesses in Europe and purchased a 240-hectare parcel of land in the newly founded town of Rehovot. She left her husband, who strongly opposed the idea, and immigrated to Eretz Israel with five of her young children. She was selected to host Theodor Herzl in her home when he came to visit Rehovot in 1898.
- Zerach Barnet, זֶרַח בַּרְנֶט 'Barnet stamp' (1843 – 1935) Trader and Zionist activist, among the first settlers of Petah Tikva (mother of the colonies) and the initiator and founder of Neve Shalom neighborhood (later in Tel Aviv) in 1890. In 1884 Barnet was a delegate in the Katowice Conference (ועידת קטוביץ).
- Shimon Rokeach, שמעון רוקח, 'S. Rokeach stamp' (1863 – 1922) Founder of Neve Tzedek, the first neighborhoods Tel Aviv outside Jaffa. Businessman, Journalist of "Htzvi" and public activist in Eretz Israel.
- Menachem Ussishkin, מנחם אוסישקין, 'Ussishkin stamp' (1863 – 1941) Zionist leader and head of the Jewish National Fund (1923-41). He was behind major land acquisitions in the Hefer, Jezreel and Beit She'an valleys. Under his influence the Zionist movement actively supported the establishment of agricultural settlements, and educational and cultural institutions in Eretz Israel.
- Yehushua Hankin, יהושע חנקין, 'Hankin stamp' (1864 – 1945) Zionist activist who was responsible for most of the major land purchases of the World Zionist Organization in the Ottoman and in the British Mandate of Palestine.
- Arthur Ruppin, ארתור רופין, 'Ruppin stamp' (1876 – 1943) Zionist thinker and leader. One of the founders of the city of Tel Aviv, and a pioneering sociologist credited as being "The Father Of Jewish Sociology". Ruppin became the chief Zionist land agent. He acquired land on the Carmel, in Afula, in the Jezreel Valley, and in Jerusalem. He was instrumental in shaping the nature of Jewish settlement in Palestine and in changing the paradigm of settlement from those of plantation owners and poor laborers to the collective and cooperative kibbutzim and moshavim that became the backbone of the state-in-the-making.
- Aharon David Gordon - אהרון דוד גורדון, 'Gordon stamp'. (1856 – 1922) Zionist ideologue and the spiritual force behind practical Zionism and Labor Zionism. He founded Hapoel Hatzair, a movement that set the tone for the Zionist movement for many years to come.
- Michael Halpern, מיכאל הלפרן, 'Halpern stamp' (1860 – 1919) Educator and Zionist activist, revolutionary socialist, pioneer of the First Aliya, visionary of the "Herbrew State" in Eretz Israel, union leader, one of the founders of "Poaley Zion" political party, fighter and "shomer" (watchman)ת initiator of industry and settlements, inspiration of the founders of "Hashomer" organization.
- Akiva Weiss - עקיבא וייס, 'Weiss stamp' (d. 1947) A founding-father of the Ahuzat Bait neighborhood, later becoming Tel Aviv.
Rabbis supporting Zionism - רבנים תומכי התנועות הציוניות
- Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer - רבי צבי הירש קלישר, Kalisher stamp. (1795-1874) Polish Rabbi and Zionist thinker.
- Rabbi Yehudah Alkalai - רבי יהודה אלקלעי, Alkalai stamp (1798 – 1878) Sephardic rabbi in Zemun (Serbia) and one of the pioneers of modern Zionism.
- Jacob Saul Eliachar ,יעקב שאול אלישר, Eliachar stamp (1817 – 1906) Chachambashi of Jerusalem and "Rishon leZion" (Chief Sephardi Rabbi) of Palestine.
- Rabbi Shmuel Mohliver - רבי שמואל מוהליבר, Mohliver, stamp (1824–1898) Rabbi, pioneer of Religious Zionism and one of the founders of the Hovevei Zion movement.
- Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook, רבי אברהם יצחק הכהן קוק, Kook stamp1; Kook stamp2 (1865 – 1935) First Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar.
- Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reynes, רבי יצחק יעקב ריינס, [ Reynes stamp] ( – )
- Rav Shimon Hacham, חכם שמעון חכם, Shimon Hacham stamp (1843 – 1910) Bukharian rabbi residing in Jerusalem who promoted literacy by translating Hebrew religious books into Bukhori.
- Harav Moshe Avigdor Amiel, הרב משה אביגדור עמיאל, Amiel stamp (1882 – 1946) Dayan and philosopher, a leader of the "Mizrahi" movement and Religious Zionism and Chief Rabbi of Antwerp and Tel Aviv.
Leaders of the Jewish Community in Etretz Israel - ממנהיגי היישוב העברי בארץ ישראל
- Ber Borochov - דב בער בורוכוב ( – )
- Yona Bogale "The Ehiopian Herzl" - יונה בוגלה, הרצל האתיופי ( – )
- Aryeh Leib Frumkin - אריה לייב פרומקין
- Henrietta Szold, הנרייטה סאלד, 'Szold stamp' (1860 – 1945) Founder of Hadassah and Youth Aliyah.
- Ze'ev Jabotinsky, זאב ז'בוטינסקי, Jabotinsy stamp1'; 'Jabotinsy stamp2' (1880 – 1940) Revisionist Zionist leader, author, orator, soldier, and founder of the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in Odessa. He also helped form the Jewish Legion of the British army in World War I, and was a founder and early leader of the militant Zionist underground organization, Irgun.
- Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi, רחל ינאית בן-צבי, Yanait stamp (1886 – 1979) Israeli author and educator, and a leading Labor Zionist. Wife of the second President of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.
- Berl Katznelson, ברל (בארי) כצנלסון, 'Katznelson stamp' (1887 – 1944) One the intellectual founders of Labor Zionism, instrumental to the establishment of the modern State of Israel, and the editor of Davar, the first daily newspaper of the workers' movement.
- Nahum Goldman - נחום גולדמן , Altneuschul Synagogue stamp (model in the Nachum Goldman Museum of Diaspora (1895 – 1982) A leading Zionist and the founder and longtime president of the World Jewish Congress from 1948 to 1977.
- Binyamin Ze'ev (Wolfgang) von Weisl בנימין זאב פון וייזל, 'von Weisl stamp' (1896 – 1974) One of the founders of the Revisionist movement and a leader in the Zionist struggle for establishing a Jewish state. A writer and a journalist, a physician and medical researcher, a military man and an original military strategist, an Austrian noble and a world expert in Islam.
State Political Leaders
Presidents of Israel
- ד"ר חיים ויצמן, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, 'Weizmann memorial stamp1', 'Balfour Declaration stamp2', 'Isarel 30 yrs. stamp3' (1874 – 1952) Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel (1949 to 1952).
- יצחק בן צבי, Yitzhak Ben Tzvi, 'Ben-Tzvi stamp' (1884 – 1963) Historian, Labor Zionist leader, and the second President of Israel (1952 to 1963).
- זלמן שז"ר, Zalman Shazar, 'Shazar stamp' (1889 – 1974) Israeli Labor Zionist Leader, author and poet and the third President of Israel (1963 to 1973).
- אפרים קציר, Ephraim Katzir (Katchalski), 'Ephraim Katzir stamp' (1916 – 2009) Israeli biophysicist and former Labor Party politician, and the fourth President of Israel (1973 to 1978).
- יצחק נבון, Yitzhak Navon, 'Yitzhak Navon stamp' (1921 – 2015) Israeli politician, diplomat, and author. He was the first Israeli president to be born in Jerusalem to a Sephardi family of rabbis who moved to Jerusalem in 1670. He served as political secretary of Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, served as Knesset member of the Labor Party, and fifth President of Israel (1978 to 1983)
- חיים הרצוג, Chaim Herzog, 'Chaim Herzog stamp' (1918 – 1997) following a distinguished military career in both the British Army and the Israel Defense Forces (Maj. Gen. / Intelligence Branch), and political and legal career, served as sixth President of Israel (1983–1993).
- עזר ויצמן, Ezer Weizman, 'Ezer Weizmann stamp' (1924 – 2005) Israeli air force founder and its commander (Maj. Gen.), industrialist and politician, and the seventh President of Israel (1993 to 2000).
- Shimon Peres שמעון פרס Peres stamp (1923 – 2016) Statesman, Nobel Prize Laureate, Former Prime Minister, and Ninth President of the State of Israel.
Prime Ministers of Israel - on YouTube.
- דוד בן-גוריון, David Ben Gurion, 'Ben Gurion stamps:1a''1b', 'Israel 30 yrs. stamp2', 'Ben Gurion Centenary stamp3', 'Ben Gurion Institute stamp4' (1886 – 1973) Zionist and Labor leader, a founder of the state, First Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of Israel (1948-1954; 1955-1963).
- משה שרת, Moshe Sharett, 'Sharett stamp' (1894 – 1965) Zionist and Labor leader, a founder of the state, the 2nd Prime Minister of Israel (1954-1955).
- לוי אשכול, Levi Eshkol, 'Eshkol stamp' (1895 – 1969) Zionist and Labor leader, a founder of the state, the 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (1963-1969).
- גולדה מאיר, Golda Meir, 'G. Meir stamp' (1898 – 1978) Zionist and Labor leader, a founder of the state, the 4th Prime Minister of Israel (1969-1974).
- יצחק רבין, Yitzhak Rabin, 'Rabin stamp1', 'Rabin Center stamp2' (1922 – 1995) Distinguished military leader of the IDF in the Six Day War (1967) politician and the 5th Prime Minister of Israel (1974–1977; 1992-1995). Assassinated Nov. 4, 1995.
- מנחם בגין, Menachem Begin, 'Begin stamp1', 'Begin Center stamp2' (1913 – 1992) Leader of the Irgun underground organization opposing and fighting the British Mandate; Head of the Knesset Opposition for almost 30 years before becoming the 6th prime minister of Israel (1977-1983).
- יצחק שמיר, Yitzhak Shamir , 'Shamir stamp' (1915 – 2012) Leader of the Lehi Underground movement during the British Mandate of Palestine, a senior commander in the Mosad, Kneset member, Opposition Leader, Speaker of the Kneset, Minister in governments of Israel and the 7th Prime Minister of Israel (1983 – 1984; 1986 – 1992).
- אריאל (אריק) שרון, Ariel (Arik) Sharon, 'Sharon stamp' (1928 – 2014) Israeli statesman and general, who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel (2001 – 2006). During his military career, he was considered the greatest field commander in Israel's history, and one of the country's greatest ever military strategists. After his assault of the Sinai in the Six-Day War and his encirclement of the Egyptian Third Army in the Yom Kippur War, the Israeli public nicknamed him "The King of Israel" and "The Lion of God".
Rabbis and Clergymen
- Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, רבי שלום שבזי, 'Shabazi stamp' (1619 – 1720) One of the greatest Jewish poets who lived in 17th century Yemen and now considered the 'Poet of Yemen'.
- Rabbi Chaim be Atar, רבי חיים בן-עטר, 'Ben Atar stamp' (1696 – 1743) Talmudist and kabbalist; was one of the most prominent rabbis in Morocco.
- Sar Shalom Sharab,i הרב שלום שרעבי, 'Sharabi stamp' (1720 – 1777) a Yemenite Rabbi, Halachist, Chazzan and Kabbalist. In later life, he became the Rosh Yeshiva of Bet El Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem.
- RabbiChaim Yosef David Azulai, Hida, רבי חיים יוסף דוד אזולאי - החיד"א, 'Hida stamp' (1724 – 1806) Jerusalem born rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publication of Jewish religious writings.
- Rabbi Or Shraga, המקובל רבי אור שרגא, 'Shraga stamp' (d. 1794) Mula Or Shraga was a Mekubal, Tzadik and a Holy man (to Jews and Muslims alike) in 17th Century Persia (Iran).
- Rabbi Shmuel Salant, רבי שמואל סלאנט, 'Salant stamp' (1816 – 1906) Served as the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem for almost 44 years. He was a renowned Talmudist and Torah scholar.
- Jacob Saul Eliachar, יעקב שאול אלישר, 'Eliachar stamp' (1817 – 1909) Chachambashi of Jerusalem and "Rishon leZion" (Chief Sephardi Rabbi) of Palestine.*
- Chacham Ben Ish Hai, חכם בן איש חי, 'Ben ish Hai stamp' (1834 – 1909) Leading hakham (Sephardic Rabbi), authority on Jewish law (Halakha) and Master Kabbalist of Baghdad.
- Rav Jacob Meir, הרב יעקב מאיר, 'J. Meir stamp' (1856 – 1939) First Sephardic Chief Rabbi appointed under the British Mandate of Palestine. A talmudic scholar, fluent in Hebrew as well as five other languages, he enjoyed a reputation as one of Jerusalem's most respected rabbis.
- Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon, הרב יהודה לייב מימון , 'Maimon stamp' (1875 – 1962) Israeli rabbi, politician and leader of the religious Zionism movement, member of Knesset and Minister of Religious Affairs.
- Ben Zion Meir Hai Uziel, בן ציון מאיר חי עוזיאל, הראשון לציון, 'Uziel stamp' (1880 – 1953) Sephardi chief rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine from 1939 to 1948, and of Israel from 1948 to 1953.
- Rabbi Aryeh Levin, הרב אריה לוין, Levin stamp (1885 – 1969) Reb Aryeh, was an Orthodox rabbi dubbed the "'Father of Prisoners'" for his visits to members of the Jewish underground imprisoned in the Central Prison of Jerusalem in the Russian Compound during the British Mandate. Also known as the "Tzadik ("saint") of Jerusalem" for his work on behalf of the poor and the sick.
- Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, הרב יצחק הלוי הרצוג 'Rabbi Herzog stamp' (1889 – 1959), also known as Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of the Irish Free State (1921-1936), and Chief Rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine (1937-1948) and Chief Rabbi of Israel (1948-1959).
- Baba Sali, באבא סאלי, 'Baba Sali stamp' (1890 – 1984) Leading Moroccan Sephardic rabbi and kabbalist who was renowned for his alleged ability to work miracles through his prayers.
- Sheikh Ameen Tarif, أمين طريف , אמין טריף, 'Tarif stamp' (1898 – 1993) Druze Community Leader.
- Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, הרב יצחק כדורי, 'Kaduri stamp' (1898/1902 – 2006) Renowned Mizrahi Haredi rabbi and kabbalist who devoted his life to Torah study and prayer. He taught and practiced the "kavanot of the Rashash". His blessings and amulets were also widely sought to cure people of illnesses and infertility. In his life, he published no religious articles or books. In the late years of his life he was known as Doyen of the Kabbalists.
- Rav Shalom Messes, הרב שלום משאש, 'Messes stamp' (1909 – 2003) Leading Moroccan Rabbi; Chief Rabbi of Casablanca, Chief Rabbi of Morocco; Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.
- Maran Ovadia Yosef, מרן עובדיה יוסף, 'Yosef stamp' (1920 – 2013) Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983. A Talmudic scholar, an authority on Jewish religious law (halakha), and the longtime spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-orthodox Shas party.
Notable Israelis
- Meir Bar Ilan, מאיר בר אילן, 'Bar Ilan stamp' (1880 – 1949) Orthodox rabbi and leader of Religious Zionism, the Mizrachi movement in USA and British Mandate of Palestine. He inspired the founding of Bar Ilan University in Israel which is named for him.
- Moshe Smoira, משה זמורה, 'Smoira stamp' (1888 – 1961) Israeli jurist and the first President of the Supreme Court of Israel.
- Leon Yehuda Rekanati, ליאון יהודה רקנטי, 'Rekanati stamp' (1890 – 1945) Israeli Banker, founder and first chair of Discount Bank, Israel.
- Recha Freier, רחה פרייר, 'Freier stamp' (1892 – 1984) She founded the Youth Aliyah עליית הנוער organization in 1932. The organization saved the lives of 22,000 Jewish children by helping them to leave Nazi Germany for Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel.
- Rivka Guber, רבקה גובר - אם הבנים, 'Guber stamp' (1902 – 1981) Israeli social worker and pioneer, and a recipient of the Israel Prize. Named "Em Habanim" ("Mother of the Boys") after her two sons were killed in the War of Independence".
- Ada Sereni, עדה סירני, 'Sereni stamp' (1905 – 1992) Ada was one of the founders of Givat Brenner, one of the heads of the Mossad L'Aliyah Bet in Italy and the Israel Prize laureate for a special contribution to society and the State. Enzo Sereni's wife.
- General Rabbi Shlomo Goren, האלוף הרב שלמה גורן, 'Goren stamp' (1917 – 1994) Orthodox Religious Zionist rabbi in Israel who founded and served as the first head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces (rank of General), as Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv in 1968, and subsequently as the third Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983.
- יעקב הרצוג, Yaakov Herzog, 'Yaakov Herzog stamp' (1921 – 1972) Distinguished Israeli diplomat and historian.
- Simcha Holtzberg, שמחה הולצברג, Holtzberg stamp (1924 – 1994) an Israeli activist and Holocaust survivor, became known in Israel as "Father of the Wounded Soldiers".
Hebrew songs: Performers, Composers & Lyric writers - שירים עבריים: מבצעים, מלחינים וכותבי תמלילים
Israeli Music stamp sheet - גליון בולים: מוסיקה ישראלית
- Bracha Zefira, ברכה צפירה, 'Bracha Zefira stamp' (1910 – 1990) She was the first super star among Israel’s female singers of Yemenite descent, captivating listeners with her rich voice and unique tone. Her renditions of Bialik poems, set to Middle Eastern melodies, and of the traditional Yemenite, Sephardic and Persian songs she knew brought about a turning point in Israeli music and constituted a breakthrough for Middle Eastern singers and Middle Eastern music.
- Moshe Vilenski, משה וילנסקי, 'Moshe Vilenski stamp' (1910 – 1997) Israeli composer, lyricist, and pianist. He is considered a "pioneer of Israeli song", and one of Israel's leading composers, and won the Israel Prize, the state's highest honor.
- Sasha Argov, סשה ארגוב, 'Sasha Argov stamp' born Alexander Abramovich (1914 – 1995) was a prominent and leading Israeli composer and won the Israel Prize, the state's highest honor..
- Shoshana Damari, שושנה דמארי, 'Shoshana Damari stamp' (1923 – 2006) Yemenite-Israeli singer known as the "Queen of Hebrew Music." She won the Israel Prize, the state's highest honor.
- Arik Lavie, אריק לביא, 'Arik Lavie stamp' (1927 – 2004) Israeli actor and Pop-Rock-Folk singer.
- Naomi Shemer, נעמי שמר, 'Naomi Shemer stamp' (1930 – 2004) Leading Israeli songwriter hailed as the "first lady of Israeli song and poetry." Recipient of Israel Prize in 1983; Honorary doctorates from the Hebrew University and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
- Yossi Banai, יוסי בנאי, 'Yossi Banai stamp' (1932 – 2006) Israeli performer, singer, actor, and dramatist. He won the Israel Prize, the state's highest honor. Considered by many to have been the "greatest Israeli artist of the late generations".
- Arik Einstein, אריק אינשטיין, 'Arik Einstein stamp' (1939 – 2013) Israeli singer, songwriter and actor; a pioneer of Israeli rock music.
- Ehud Manor, אהוד מנור, 'Ehud Manor stamp' (1941 – 2005) Israeli songwriter, translator, and radio and TV personality. In 1998, Manor was awarded the Israel Prize for Hebrew song.
- Meir Ariel, מאיר אריאל, 'Meir Ariel stamp' (1942 – 1999) Israeli singer-songwriter. He was known as a "man of words" for his poetic use of the Hebrew language in his lyrics. His influences included Hebrew poets such as Natan Alterman, S. Y. Agnon and Hayim Nahman Bialik, and American singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan.
- Yair Rosenblum, יאיר רוזנבלום, 'Yair Rosenblum stamp' (1944 – 1996) Israeli composer.
- Uzi Hitman, עוזי חיטמן, 'Uzi Hitman stamp' (1952 – 2004) Israeli singer, songwriter, composer and television personality.
- Zohar Argov, זוהר ארגוב, 'Zohar Argov stamp' (1955 – 1987) Was a popular Israeli singer and a distinctive voice in the Mizrahi music scene. Argov is widely known in Israel as "The king of Mizrahi music".
- Ofra Haza, עפרה חזה, 'Ofra Haza stamp' (1957 – 2000) Israeli singer of Yemenite Jewish origin, an actress and international recording artist. Her voice has been described as mezzo-soprano, of near-flawless tonal quality, capable of lending itself to a variety of musical styles with apparent ease
Israeli Politicians - פוליטיקאים ישראליים
- Meir Dizengoff, מאיר דיזנגוף, 'Meir Dizengoff stamp' (1861– 1936) Zionist politician and the first mayor of Tel Aviv.
- Yitzhak Grünbaum, יצחק גרינבאום, 'Yitzhak Grünbaum stamp' (1879 – 1970) Noted leader of the Zionist movement among Polish Jewry between the two world wars and of the Yishuv in Mandatory Palestine, and the first Interior Minister of Israel.
- Yosef Shprinzak, יוסף שפרינצק, 'Yosef Shprinzak stamp' (1885 – 1959) Leading Zionist activist, an Israeli socialist politician, and the first Speaker of the Knesset (1949-1959).
- Ben Zion Dinur, בן ציון דינור, 'Ben Zion Dinur stamp' (1884 – 1973) Zionist activist, educator, historian and Israeli politician. Minister of Education.
- Israel Rocach, ישראל רוקח, 'Israel Rocach stamp' (1886 – 1959) Mayor of Tel-Aviv and Minister of the Interior.
- Pinchas (Felix) Rosen (Rosenblueth), פנחס רוזן, 'Pinchas Rosen stamp' (1887 – 1978) Israeli politician and statesman, and the country's first Minister of Justice. He was also leader of the Independent Liberals during the 1960s.
- Peretz Bernstein, פרץ ברנשטיין, 'Peretz Bernstein stamp' (1890 – 1971) Zionist activist and Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli declaration of independence.
- Moshe Sneh, משה סנה, 'Moshe Sneh stamp (1909 – 1972) Israeli politician and military figure, was head of the Hagana national staff between 1941 and 1946. One of the founders of Mapam, he later joined the Israeli Communist Party (Maki), and was one of the leaders of a more pro-Israeli split in 1965.
- Teddy Kollek, טדי קולק, 'Kollek stamp' (May 27, 1911 – January 2, 2007) Mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times. During his tenure, Jerusalem developed into a modern city, especially after its reunification in 1967. He was once called "the greatest builder of Jerusalem since Herod."
- Yaakov Meridor, יעקב מרידור, 'Yaakov Meridor stamp' (1913 – 1955) Revisionist Zionist activist, Irgun commander and Israeli politician.
- Abba Eban, אבא אבן, 'Abba Eban stamp' (1915 – 2002) Israeli diplomat and politician. Minister of: Education, Foreign Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister.
- Emille Habibi, אמיל חביבי, إميل حبيبي, 'Emille Habibi stamp' (1922 – 1966) Israeli-Palestinian writer of Arabic expression and a communist politician, Knesset member.
Israeli Journalists - עתונאים ישראליים
- Israel Eldad - ישראל אלדד, 'Israel Eldad stamp' (1910 – 1966) Noted Israeli independence fighter (Stern "gang"), Revisionist Zionist philosopher and Journalist
- Abba Ahimeir - אב"א אחימאיר, 'Abba Ahimeir stamp' (1897 – 1962) Jewish journalist, historian and political activist. One of the ideologues of Revisionist Zionism, founder of the Revisionist Maximalist faction of the Zionist Revisionist Movement (ZRM) and of the clandestine Brit HaBirionim.
- Moshe Beilinson - משה בילינסון, 'Moshe Beilinson stamp' (1890 – 1936) One of the most well known political writers in Eretz Yisrael - socialist.
- Yehoshua Radler-Feldman - יהושע רדלר-פלדמן, (יהושע התלמי) - רבי בנימין, 'Rabbi Binyamin stamp' (1880 – 1957) Writer and political journalist; first editor of the religious Zionist Movement's newspaper "Hazofe".
Senior IDF commanders - מפקדי צה"ל בכירים
- Yaakov Dori, יעקב דורי, 'Yaakov Dori stamp' (1889 – 1973) First Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1948-9) and President of the Technion.
- Yitzhak Sadeh, יצחק שדה, 'Yitzhak Sadeh stamp' (1890 – 1952), Commander in the Haganah and commander of the Palmach, one of the founders and a General in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel.
- Moshe Dayan, משה דיין, 'Moshe Dayan stamp' (1915 – 1981) Israeli military leader and politician. Fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958), he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel. He went on to become Defense Minister and later Foreign Minister of Israel.
- Yigal Alon, יגאל אלון, 'Yigal Alon stamp' (1918 – 1980) Commander of the Palmach, Israeli politician, serving as one of the leaders of Mapai and the Alignment, acting Prime Minister of Israel, member of Knesset and government minister from the tenth through the seventeenth Knessets.
- Rechavam "Gandhi" Zeevi, רחבעם "גנדי" זאבי, 'Rechavam Zeevi stamp' (1926 – 2001) Israeli general, politician, and historian who founded the right-wing nationalist Moledet party, mainly advocating population transfer.
- Ilan Ramon, אילן רמון, 'Ilan Ramon stamp' (1954 – 2003) Fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, and later the first Israeli astronaut, killed in the fatal mission of Columbia space craft in 2003.
Israeli Sports Persons - ספורטאים ישראליים
Israeli Football Legends - אגדות הכדורגל הישראלי
- Jerry Beit Halevi, ג'רי בית הלוי, 'Jerry Beit Halevi stamp' (1912 – 1997) Israeli football player and manager.
- Natan Panz, נתן פנץ, 'Natan Panz stamp' (1917 – 1948) Of the greatest football players in British Mandatory Palestine. Played in Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Tel Aviv. Killed in action in the battle over Jaffa in the War of Independence.
- Eli Fuchs, אלי פוקס, 'Eli Fuchs stamp' (1924 – 1992) Israeli international football player and manager of Maccabi Haifa. Aside from managing in Israel, he has managed clubs in South Africa and Cyprus. He died at 1992 as an Arkia employee.
- Shmuel Ben Dror, שמואל בן-דרור, 'Shmuel Ben Dror stamp' (1924 – 2009) Israeli association football player. He played defense for and was the first captain of the Israeli national soccer team. He scored Israel's first goal, in 1948, in a match against the United States. He also played for Maccabi Petah Tikva. He also served on the board of directors of the Israel Football Association.
- Ya'akov Hodorov, יעקב חודורוב, 'Ya'akov Hodorov stamp' (1927 – 2006) Israeli football goalkeeper in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He was considered by many to be Israel's best goalkeeper in history, and among the best goalkeepers of his generation. He was awarded the Israel Prize in 2006.
- Menachem Ashkenazi, מנחם אשכנזי, 'Menachem Ashkenazi stamp' (1934 – 2000) Israeli international football referee. He was the first Asian referee who officiated in a World Cup.
- Nahum Stelmach, נחום סטלמך, 'Nahum Stelmach stamp' (1936 – 1999) Israeli footballer (also named "Golden Head") and manager.
- Ya'akov Grundman, יעקב גרונדמן, 'Ya'akov Grundman stamp' (1939 – 2004) Polish-born Israeli professional football player and manager.
- Avi Cohen, אבי כהן, 'Avi Cohen stamp' (1956 – 2010) Israeli professional footballer and manager. Best known for his spell playing for Liverpool in England. He was the chairman of the Israel Professional Footballers Association for over five years until his death in a motorcycle crash. After his death Maccabi Tel Aviv has retired the number 5 that he wore.
- Avi Ran, אבי רן, 'Avi Ran stamp' (1963 – 1987) Goalkeeper at the Israeli football club Maccabi Haifa and of the Israeli national soccer team. Widely considered one of the greatest football players in Israel, he had a promising future which was cut short by a fatal accident.