In his six-day visit to Los Angeles last week, Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau made some unlikely stops.
At the pluralistic New Community Jewish High School (NCJHS) in West Hills, Lau spoke to 200 students and faculty members, opening the assembly by reminding students of the intrafamilial conflicts throughout the Bible, implying that despite the ideological and even theological differences between him and the students, “I came to say, ‘Hello, my brother.’ I came to sit with you.”
Following brief remarks, Lau responded for nearly an hour to a bevy of questions and concerns on students’ minds — ranging from the conflict between Charedim and some activist Jewish women regarding restrictions on how women pray at the Kotel, to questions about the Israeli rabbinate’s Orthodox conversion standards and definition of who is a Jew. The students touched on most of the hot-button issues and uncomfortable topics that are often points of contention between Israel’s Orthodox establishment and non-Orthodox communities in the United States.
As a Charedi, many of Lau’s views were clearly to the right of his young audience, yet he made sure to keep the mood as light as possible, joking with students — sometimes in English hard to understand — and never adopting an overly serious tone, even when students challenged him on controversial topics.
On the question of who Lau considers to be Jewish, posed by a female student who had converted to Judaism, the rabbi responded, “To be Jewish is according to two points: You are from a Jewish family — a Jewish mother — or through conversion.” The student, sounding somewhat irritated with Lau’s answer until he added that conversion is an acceptable way of becoming Jewish, did not push Lau to clarify that he feels conversions must be done according to established Orthodox standards.
To another student, who asked his opinion of Women of the Wall, a group fighting to allow Jewish women to sing, read from the Torah and wear traditionally male religious garments at the Western Wall, Lau responded, a bit cryptically, “Pray as you wish, but give respect.” When the student, Hannah, pushed the rabbi, asking why women cannot wear prayer shawls at the wall, he said that when the group brings cameras and journalists to gain publicity, it’s disrespectful, but when they aren’t trying to send a political message, he has no objections.
“If they came with tallit, without voice, without to make a political [point],” Lau said, “I’m sure that no one says any word.”
Lau’s view on Charedi Jews in Israel who eschew compulsory military service in order to study in yeshivas — a particularly divisive topic in Israel — is that Jews who excel at learning Torah should not have to sacrifice their religious studies, just as an Israeli who excels at basketball can forgo military service in order to pursue that path. Lau himself served in the Israel Defense Forces and is a reserve major in the Intelligence Corps.
Nevertheless, elaborating on a theme he repeated in an interview with the Journal the following day, Lau said resorting to passing laws — in this case, forcing Charedim to participate in military and civil society — should be a last resort.
As he told the Journal, “20,000 students in yeshiva from 15 million Jewish people in the world — it’s not a very big number.”
“If you want to make a change, you can’t make it with power, you can’t make it with law,” he told the high-school students. “Ten years ago, you [couldn’t] see one of them [Charedim] go to the universities. Today you can see thousands.”
In line with the visits of past leading Orthodox figures, Lau also participated in open community events and dialogues at local Orthodox synagogues and with Orthodox rabbis, at the Modern Orthodox Congregation Beth Jacob and with two Chabad rabbis, David Eliezrie and Moshe Bryski.
According to Eliezrie, the founder of North County Chabad Center in Orange County and Chabad’s national liaison to The Jewish Federations of North America, Lau’s trip to L.A. marked the first time he recalls that a visiting Israeli Chief Rabbi insisted on meeting with non-Orthodox groups, straying outside the bubble of the city’s Orthodox neighborhoods, schools and synagogues. At the same time, though, Lau, speaking everywhere in a black suit and black hat, had a very clear and traditional Orthodox message for his audiences, whether he was speaking at Beth Jacob, with non-Orthodox high-school students or with the leadership of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles in a private meeting.
As Lau said during a car ride en route to a meeting with Chabad of California, “I believe that my way is the only [way] to keep [the] tradition.”
“The Chief Rabbinate is like the mezuzah of Jerusalem of Israel, because of that I feel responsible for all Jews in the world,” Lau said. “And because of that I think that I need to speak with people in Los Angeles, with rabbonim in Los Angeles, with leaders in Los Angeles.”
Lau, 48, is the son of former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who is now the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv. Previously the Chief Rabbi of the city of Modi’in, David Lau was elected in June 2013 as Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi by an assembly of 150 religious and civil public figures. His challenger, religious Zionist Rabbi David Stav, lost despite securing the support of four out of five parties in the governing coalition. Stav ran on a reformist platform, seeking to wrest control of the Chief Rabbinate away from Charedim so that it would better represent the religious views of the majority of Israelis.
Lau, despite holding views adhered to by a minority of Israelis, has long had a warm relationship with Israel’s non-Orthodox and non-Charedi population, appearing regularly on “Ask the Rabbi” on Israel’s Channel 1, appearing on Radio Kol Chai and running a website where anyone can submit questions on Jewish law.
Since his election, Lau has used the pulpit to reach secular Israelis and non-Orthodox Jewish communities across the world, sharing his Orthodox vision for how to ensure “the future of Jewish life,” a concern he said came up in meetings across Los Angeles, including at Federation.
“I give respect to all leaders of the Jewish people, but I believe that my way, my tradition of keeping Jewish life, is correct, is true,” he said. “And I’m happy at the opportunity to explain it.”
On Jan. 11 at a Beverly Hills home, Lau attended the kick-off event for the Israeli-American Council's (IAC) annual Celebrate Israel Festival. IAC's fast expansion and growing influence has made the group a routine agenda item for visiting Israeli dignitaries (including, last year, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu). Before Lau's remarks inside a large backyard tent, he sat on a couch in the living room of IAC board member Naty Saidoff and spoke with some of IAC’s leadership sitting around him.
“He was very happy to find out that non-religious and non-Orthodox Israeli Americans that live in the Diaspora are very concerned and investing money and time in ensuring the continuity of the Jewish people, Jewish values [and] connection to Israel,” IAC Chairman Shawn Evenhaim said in a telephone interview the following day. Evenhaim identified himself as a non-religious Jew.
“I think for him to outreach to the IAC and go to New Community Jewish High School, it shows a lot about who this guy is and what his mission will be in this position; different probably than anyone else who has fielded that position before.”
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Correction (Friday, Jan. 16, 9:00 a.m.): The Jan. 11 event that Rabbi David Lau attended in Beverly Hills was not an “IAC breakfast”, as previously stated, but the group's kick-off event for its annual Celebrate Israel Festival. It was attended by prominent Jews across the community, not just IAC members.
(Friday, Jan. 16, 4 p.m.): Corrected the name of New Community Jewish High School
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