David Lau

David Lau is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. He previously served as the Chief Rabbi of Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut, Israel and as the Chief Rabbi of Shoham.

May peace and blessing be with you.

These days you are celebrating your 70^th birthday and I am happy to be among the well-wishers.

According to Jewish tradition, the number 7 has a deep meaning. The Sabbath, the holy day of the week, is the seventh day and it represents the holiness occurring within the natural world. Number 7 also carries a deep meaning within a person’s life. It signifies the completion of a circle, just as the week consists of seven days, so too in the cycle of human life, the seventh decade marks the completion of a circle.

Whoever gets to this age is blessed with an opportunity for renewal. It is always worthwhile to clear up our minds in order to look at life from another point of view, by relying on the experience and knowledge we have gained in order to enrich ourselves.

Dear Modi!

I watch your efforts and achievements and see how your special personality has given you the wisdom to unite many, and to lead your country with pride, while preserving genuine values. I would like to mention the special ties created, mainly thanks to you, between Israel and India. The productive cooperation between two countries in many areas is bearing fruits and is a blessing to both our countries and rest of the world.

It is my sincere blessing that you will continue to lead the great nation of India, and we shall live to see the day when a cure is found for the Covid 19 pandemic that is inflicting all of us. May peace prevail all over the world, seeing the following words of the Prophet be fulfilled: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

(Isaiah chapter 2).

My most heartfelt wishes.