RELIGION

David Lau

Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel

Rabbi David Lau, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, has not shied away from controversy since he was elected to the post in 2013. Lau, the former chief rabbi of Modi’in, was the first Israeli rabbi to teach “responsa,” or Jewish legal decisions, via the internet. He is the son of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who served as the chief Ashkenazi rabbi between 1993 and 2003. Recently, Rabbi David Lau took a remarkable stance in support of “agunot,” women who are refused a Jewish divorce by their husbands. He reportedly ordered the prevention of the burial of the mother of a Jewish man who for 15 years had not given his spouse a Jewish divorce. (Photo: Gershon Elinson / Flash90)