 yisrael (israel) meir lau (; born 1 june 1937 in piotrkÃ³w trybunalski, poland) is an israeli and the chief rabbi of tel aviv, israel, and chairman of yad vashem. he previously served as the ashkenazi chief rabbi of israel from 1993 to 2003. ==biography==  lau was born on 1 june 1937, in the polish town of piotrkÃ³w trybunalski. his father, rabbi moshe chaim lau, was the last chief rabbi of the town; he died in the treblinka extermination camp. yisrael meir is the 38th generation in an unbroken family chain of rabbis.rieder-indursky, estee. an apple & tree in tel aviv: rabbis yisrael meir and tzvi yehuda lau perpetuate a rabbinic chain. mishpacha special supplement: a father to follow: fathers, sons, and their intertwining paths. pesach 5771 (april 2011), pp. 8â17. lau was freed from the buchenwald concentration camp in 1945, after rabbi herschel schacter detected him hiding under a heap of corpses when the camp was liberated.margalit fox 'rabbi who cried to the jews of buchenwald: âyou are freeâ, at the new york times, 27 march 2013. lau has credited a teen prisoner with protecting him in the camp (later determined by historian kenneth waltzer to be fyodor michajlitschenko).associated press (26 june 2008). academics make startling finds as they sweep through untapped nazi records. his entire family was murdered, with the exception of his older brother, [[naphtali lau-lavi
1937_births 20th-century_rabbis 21st-century_rabbis Buchenwald_concentration_camp_survivors Chief_rabbis_of_Israel Chief_rabbis_of_Tel_Aviv Israel_Prize_Rabbi_recipients Israel_Prize_for_special_contribution_to_society_and_the_State_recipients Israeli_Orthodox_rabbis Living_people LA(c)gion_d\'honneur_recipients People_from_PiotrkA3w_Trybunalski Polish_Jews Polish_emigrants_to_Israel