Jul 26, 20202 min read

Meet Chief Rabbi Meir Lau, Child of Buchenwald

Updated: Jul 28, 2020

If you have been to Yad Vashem with me as your tour guide of Israel, you may likely remember the story of the little boy who was saved by his older brother, somehow survived the Holocaust in the camps and grew up to be the Chief Rabbi of Israel. His name is Yisrael Meir Lau and he wrote a wonderful book called Out of the Depths (click the photo to purchase it on Amazon). He is also the recipient of the Israel prize as well as the French Legion of Honor. Additionally, Chief Rabbi Lau serves as chairman of the Council of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem.

Video : The video below is Rabbi Lau taking part in a conversation with the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Warren Goldstein, in a unique webinar. "In this candid and open conversation, Chief Rabbis Lau and Goldstein will discuss the unique challenges and opportunities affecting our Jewish future in today's environment."

Photos (below):

The first photo - which appears in Yad Vashem - shows the survivors of Buchenwald taking part in a service on Shavuot. You can spot Rabbi Lau as a young boy in the front row on the far left nestled among some US soldiers. The second photo shows Rabbi Lau (holding the flag) and his older brother Naftalie (behind him on the left) arriving in the Land of Israel in 1945 when it was the British Mandate of Palestine, and being brought by the British to the Atlit Detention Camp [yes, the British put them in a camp that looked virtually exactly like the ones they left, upon arrival as "illegal immigrants."]