Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau of Tel Aviv presented the theme of Children of the Holocaust Monday night at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial observance by spanning the history of persecution of the Jews from Biblical times to the present. The former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel recalled Pharaoh's declaration that all Jewish boys should be thrown into the river, Moses the first such boy to mentioned by name, and Pharaoh's daughter as the first righteous gentile for rescuing Moses.

Rabbi Lau recalled his experiences in the Piotrków ghetto and heroic children around him in the Buchenwald concentration camp. His historical survey finished with Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier being held by Hamas. Lau said children in Israel should appreciate the home they have here.

The rabbi will be in Poland on Tuesday to lead the March of the Living.