Moshe Lehrer Tzadok (sometimes spelled Moshe Zadok; ; July 1, 1913 - March 15, 1964) was

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

fighter and later an IDF major general, first head of the

Manpower Directorate The Israeli Personnel Directorate (, ''Agaf Koakh Adam'', abbreviated to AKA), formerly called the Manpower Directorate and the Human Resources Directorate, is the Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively ...

during the

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionism, Zionist forces conquered territory and established ...

, and head of the Israeli

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

and Southern Command during the early 1950s. After retiring from the IDF, Tzadok became the head of the Division of Interior and Construction of the

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

Biography

Tzadok was born on July 1, 1913, to Mendel and Nechama Lehrer in a small

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Żelechów Żelechów (Yiddish language, Yiddish זשעלעכאָוו) is a town in eastern Poland in Masovian Voivodeship in Garwolin County. It is the seat of Gmina Żelechów. Żelechów is from Warsaw and far from Lublin. More than 4000 people live in ...

near Radom, Poland. After completing his junior year, Tzadok continued his education in a vocational school sponsored by ORT in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, the capital of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Tzadok became a

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

from the age of 14 when he joined the

Zionist youth movement A Zionist youth movement () is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideology, ideological development, including a belief in Zionism, Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel. Yout ...

in his hometown. In 1933 Tzadok immigrated to Israel. Soon after arriving in Israel he joined the

. In 1936 he graduated from the Juara training base in Ramat Menashe, in northern Israel. During the early 1940s Tzadok became a prominent member of the Haganah. Prior to the Haganah's capture of Haifa, he served as the

Fire chief A fire chief or fire commissioner is a top executive rank or commanding officer in a fire department. Nomenclature Various official English-language titles for a fire chief include ''fire chief'', ''chief fire officer'' and ''fire commissioner ...

of the Haifa Fire Department which facilitated covert Haganah operations in the city. Additionally, he thought Haganah courses. Tzadok became the first head of the

in May 1947, shortly after its foundation. Tzadok continued to serve in that capacity with the rank of

Aluf ( or "first/leader of a group" in Biblical Hebrew) is a senior military rank in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for officers who in other countries would have the rank of general, air marshal, or admiral. In addition to the ''aluf'' rank, fo ...

after the formation of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

on June 27, 1948. In the summer of 1949 he married Hadassah Petrushka. The couple had no children. In 1950 Moshe was appointed Inspector General of the IDF and in March of that year he became the commander of the Eighth Command which was established to organize military reserve in the

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

area. On October 17, 1951, he was appointed head of the Southern Command, a position he held until February 1, 1954. He was then appointed head of the

Israeli Northern Command The Northern Command (, ''Pikud Tzafon'', often abbreviated to Patzan) is a regional command in the Israel Defense Forces. The command, whose main headquarters is in Safed, is responsible for all the units located between Hermon and Netanya. T ...

until April 20, 1956, when he was released from his service in the army after 23 years of military service. His position was taken over by

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...

Later years and death

In 1957, at the age of 44 after passing the

Bagrut Te'udat Bagrut (, ''lit.'' "graduation certificate", Arabic: شهادة بجروت) is a certificate that attests that a student has successfully passed Israel's high school matriculation examination. Bagrut is a prerequisite for higher education ...

he started learning at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

. He graduated in 1960 and in 1961 he was appointed head of the Division of Interior and Construction of the

. Moshe Zadok died of an illness in 1964, at the age of 50. He was buried in

Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery Kiryat Shaul Cemetery () is a 320-dunam (32 hectares) Jewish burial ground in Northern Tel Aviv near the neighborhood of Kiryat Shaul. On the east side of the cemetery is a large military cemetery. Founded in 1943, it includes more than 80,000 gr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tzadok, Moshe 1913 births 1964 deaths Israeli generals Haganah members Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery Fire chiefs Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War