David Lau

David Baruch Lau was born in Tel Aviv. He is the son of Yisrael Meir Lau, who served as the Chief Rabbi of Israel, and of Chaya Ita, the daughter of Yitzchak Yedidya Frankel, the rabbi of Tel Aviv. Lau was a member of the Ezra youth movement in Tel Aviv. He studied at {{ill|Yeshivat HaYishuv HeHadash|he|ישיבת היישוב החדש}}, and later at Beit Matityau Yeshiva and Ponevezh Yeshiva.{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.il/he/departments/people/rab_lau|title=הגאון הרב דוד לאו שליט"א|access-date=1 January 2024|website=Chief Rabbinate of Israel|language=he-IL|trans-title=Rabbi David Lau Shlit"a}} His service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which he completed with the rank of Rav séren (reserve major), was in the Military Rabbinate as a chaplain in the Intelligence Corps.

Lau was the first rabbi of the town of Shoham. When the city of Modi'in was established, he was chosen as its Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, alongside the Sephardi Chief Rabbi {{ill|Eliyahu Alharar|he|אליהו אלחרר}}. Along with Alharar, he established Torah classes in the city, including on the subjects of kashrut, eruvim, and Jewish weddings.

Lau was one of the first rabbis in Israel to teach responsa over the internet. He has hosted programs over various media platforms on subjects such as the weekly Torah portion and halakhic questions and answers.

On 24 July 2013, Lau was elected as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. At the time, he was the youngest person (at age 47) to be elected to that position. The inauguration took place on 14 August 2013 at the official residence of the President of Israel.{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/274344#.Ug_wlNIwd5s|title=New Chief Rabbis David Lau & Yitzchak Yosef Sworn In|date=14 August 2013|work=Arutz Sheva|accessdate=14 August 2013}}

In 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, Lau declared that no one should touch or kiss mezuzot, in order to prevent further spread of the virus.{{cite news |last=Rabinowitz |first=Aaron |date=4 March 2020|title=Israeli Chief Rabbi Curbs a Jewish Tradition Over Coronavirus Fears |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israeli-chief-rabbi-curbs-a-jewish-tradition-over-coronavirus-fears-1.8629269 |work=Haaretz|access-date=12 March 2020 }}

In 2024, he stepped down as Chief Rabbi despite no successor having been appointed.{{cite news | last=Fried | first=Shilo | title=Who will become Israel's next chief rabbis? A closer look | website=ynetnews | date=2024-06-30 | url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/byuwztrl0 | access-date=2024-07-01}} On October 31, 2024, Kalman Ber was appointed to succeed Lau as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel.{{cite web |title=Kalman Ber picked as Ashkenazi chief rabbi in run-off vote |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/kalman-ber-picked-as-ashkenazi-chief-rabbi-in-run-off-vote/ |website=Times of Israel}}

Lau has published articles in journals such as Tehumin, and edited a book of his father's responsa titled Yichil Yisrael. He also edited and published a book in memory of his grandfather, Yitzchak Yedidya Frankel. In 2008, he published his book Maskil LeDavid on issues of genealogy, conversion, military law, and other matters.

Image:Rav_Lau.jpg at the CHAJ centre in The Hague, 2016]]

Lau took a semikhah (rabbinic ordination) test in 1993. Dov Lior, the administering rabbi, asserted that Lau brought papers with answers to previous tests into the examination room. Lau denied the allegations, but he was disqualified.{{cite news |last=Berman |first=Lazar |date=4 August 2013|title=Senior Rabbis: Lau Cheated on 1993 Ordination Exam |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-rabbis-lau-cheated-on-1993-ordination-exam/|work=The Times of Israel|access-date=23 August 2019 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.mako.co.il/news-israel/local/Article-ce1f6e3244a4041004.htm|title=עדות: הרב הראשי דוד לאו רימה בבחינה לרבנות|last=Segal |first=Amit |author-link=Amit Segal|date=4 August 2013 |access-date=1 January 2024 |website=Mako|language=he-IL|trans-title=Testimony: Chief Rabbi David Lau Cheated on Rabbinate Test}} He was re-tested in 1994, and passed the exam.{{cite news |author= |title=New Chief Rabbi Lau Accused of Cheating on '93 Ordination Exam |url=https://www.jta.org/2013/08/05/israel/under-fire-again-lau-accused-of-cheating-on-ordination-exam |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=5 August 2013 |access-date=23 August 2019 }}

In his first week in office as Chief Rabbi of Israel, Lau referred to African-Americans who play basketball on Israeli teams as kushim. Although in a Biblical context, it refers to the ancient Kingdom of Kush, it is currently considered a derogatory term for Black people.{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Peter |title=Jewish Singer Mordechai Ben David Uses Racial Slur to Describe Barack Obama at Jerusalem Concert |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/barack-obama-racial-slur-kushi-goes-home-jewish-singer-mordechai-ben-david-hasidic-john-kerry-speech-settlements-a7511186.html |access-date=8 November 2021|work=The Independent |date=6 January 2017}} His comments were widely condemned as racist, and MK Amram Mitzna and Ethiopian-born MK Pnina Tamanu-Shata called upon him to apologize. Naftali Bennett, however, defended Lau.{{cite news|last=Stern Stern Hoffman|first=Gil|date=30 July 2013|title=New Chief Rabbi Widely Condemned for Racist Comments|url=https://www.jpost.com/National-News/New-chief-rabbi-widely-condemned-for-comments-on-black-people-321529|work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=1 January 2024}}

In 2018, Lau was accused of trying to appoint his brother-in-law, Mordechai Ralbag, as a replacement for a rabbinical judge who was investigating corruption involving hekdeshot (Haredi non-profit property trusts).{{cite web|url=https://news.walla.co.il/item/3181370|title=גורמים בבתי הדין הרבניים: הרב הראשי לחץ למנות את גיסו לתפקיד בכיר|last=Adamker|first=Yaki|date=16 August 2018|access-date=1 January 2024|website=Walla! News|language=he-IL|trans-title=Rabbinical Court Officials: Chief Rabbi Pushed to Nominate Brother-in-law for Top Position}} Lau and the Ralbag family denied any wrongdoing.{{cite news |last=Hasson |first=Nir |date=26 December 2018|title=Israel's Chief Rabbi Chooses Brother-in-law to Replace Fired Judge who Probed Corruption, Sources Say|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-sources-chief-rabbi-chooses-brother-in-law-to-replace-fired-judge-who-probed-graft-1.6785658 |work=Haaretz |access-date=23 August 2019 }} Later that year, during the immediate aftermath of a shooting at a Conservative synagogue, Lau gave an interview to a Haredi newspaper during which he avoided calling the attack venue a synagogue, referring to it only as "a place with profound Jewish flavor". The omission was taken as a snub by Jews from non-Orthodox congregations.{{cite news |last1=Maltz |first1=Judy |title=Israel's Chief Rabbi Refuses to Call Pittsburgh Massacre Site a Synagogue Because It's non-Orthodox|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-s-chief-rabbi-refuses-to-call-pittsburgh-massacre-site-a-synagogue-1.6601043 |access-date=31 December 2021 |work=Haaretz |date=28 October 2018}}

In August 2019, Lau instructed the chevra kadisha to delay the burial in Jerusalem of the mother of an American Haredi man, Yisrael Meir Kin, until he agreed to give his wife a get (religious writ of divorce).{{cite news |last1=Pfeffer|first1=Anshel |last2=Phillips |first2=Aleks |date=20 August 2019|title=Israeli Chief Rabbi David Lau Refuses to Bury Man's Mother Until He Agrees to Divorce his Wife |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/israeli-chief-rabbi-david-lau-refuses-to-bury-man-s-mother-until-he-agrees-to-divorce-his-wife-1.487639 |work=The Jewish Chronicle|access-date=23 August 2019}} Kin's relatives in Israel deposited $20,000 with the Supreme Rabbinical Court and signed a document pledging to do what they could to convince him. Kin accused Lau of corruption, and said that no one from Lau's office had contacted him.{{cite news |last=Rabinowitz |first=Aaron |date=23 August 2019|title=U.S. Jew Disavows Divorce Deal to Have His Mother Buried in Israel |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-u-s-jew-disavows-divorce-deal-to-have-his-mother-buried-in-israel-1.7733706 |work=Haaretz |access-date=25 August 2019 }} He said that the divorce papers had been filed ten years earlier at a religious court in Monsey, New York, and Lau, who was related to his wife, had taken sides in the case.{{cite web|url=http://www.ch10.co.il/news/530423/|title=הבעל המעגן מאשים בסרטון: הרב דוד לאו הוא קרוב של אשתי |last=Perl|first=Natan|date=22 August 2019|access-date=1 January 2024 |website=ch10.co.il|language=he-IL|trans-title=Recalcitrant Husband's Video Accusation: Rabbi David Lau is My Wife's Relative}} A relative of Lau denied that he was related,{{cite news |last1=Staff|first1=|date=22 August 2019|title=Man Denies he Agreed to Divorce Wife after Rabbinate Delayed his Mother's Burial |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/man-denies-he-agreed-to-divorce-wife-after-rabbinate-delayed-his-mothers-burial/ |work=The Times of Israel|access-date=23 August 2019 }} but Haaretz determined that they are in fact related, though distantly. Lau's office responded to Kin's statements, saying that the chief rabbi was not aware of the family relation while dealing with the case, and that they were sorry that Kin, who had denied his wife a get "for more than 15 years", was "continuing his refusal despite the agreements reached ... [Lau] will continue his unwavering war on the phenomenon of get-refusal, and "will do everything he can, including [imposing] the most severe sanctions, to end any case of get-refusal that may develop". Officials in the Ministry of Religious Services said the chief rabbi has no jurisdiction over burial matters.{{cite news |last=Sharon |first=Jeremy|date=23 August 2019 |title=Agunah Not Consulted in Failed Attempt to Obtain Divorce by Burial Delay|url=https://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/Agunah-not-consulted-in-failed-attempt-to-obtain-divorce-by-burial-delay-599441 |work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=23 August 2019 }}

In December 2021, Lau was criticised for attending the shiva of prominent Haredi author Chaim Walder, who had committed suicide amidst allegations of being involved in sexual abuse against minors and married women. Natan Slifkin wrote in a blogpost:

{{Blockquote|By honoring the family with a visit while not making any statement about Walder, this lends support to the 'persecuted tzaddik (righteous one)' narrative. In addition, by not making any statement of support for the victims, it is a further slap in the face to them.}}

Lau subsequently issued a statement encouraging sexual assault victims to come forward and report the abuse to the proper authorities.{{cite news|last1=Hanau |first1=Shira |title=Chief Rabbi Slammed For Walder Shiva Call Urges Victims to Speak Out|url=https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/article-690197|access-date=31 December 2021|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=30 December 2021}}

On 17 December 2023, in the midst of the Gaza war after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, it was reported that two Palestinian women were killed by an IDF sniper in the courtyard of a Catholic church in Gaza. Pope Francis, responding to this incident which occurred in the context of tens of thousands of other Palestinian deaths at the hands of the IDF, said "Some are saying, 'This is terrorism and war'. Yes, it is war. It is terrorism."{{Cite web|last=McCordick |first=Jack |date=17 December 2023|title='It is Terrorism': Pope Francis Denounces Killing of Two Christian Women in Gaza|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/pope-francis-israel-gaza-deaths |access-date=25 December 2023|website=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}} Noting that Francis had previously pointed out to Israeli President Isaac Herzog during a meeting in November that it is "forbidden to respond to terror with terror", Lau wrote a letter to Francis protesting his use of the word "terror" to describe Israel's actions in Gaza, saying that it was a mischaracterisation.{{cite news |title=Chief Rabbi Lau Calls on Pope to Retract Israel-Hamas Comparison |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/382452 |access-date=25 December 2023 |work=Arutz Sheva |date=24 December 2023}}

Lau is married to Tziporah Ralbag.{{cite news |title=Chief Rabbi David Lau's Wife Discharged from Hospital |url=https://hamodia.com/2022/12/12/chief-rabbi-david-laus-wife-discharged-from-hospital/ |access-date=1 January 2024 |work=Hamodia |date=12 December 2022}}

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{{s-bef|before=Yona Metzger}}

{{s-ttl|title=Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel|years=2013–2024}}

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Category:1966 births

Category:20th-century Israeli rabbis

Category:21st-century Israeli rabbis

Category:Chief rabbis of Israel

Category:Israeli Orthodox rabbis

Category:Living people

Category:Clergy from Tel Aviv

Category:Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent