Rabbi Lau, who survived the Holocaust at the age of 7, was a co-winner of this year's Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement, and was described by the award committee as "a central and admired figure in Israeli society and in the world. His personality serves as a model for bringing religious and secular closer together, and for bridging Israeli and Diaspora Jewry, and between various religions."

A large crowd took part in Thursday's installation ceremony in the Great Synagogue in Tel Aviv, including the Chief Rabbis of the neighboring cities of Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan, Herzliya and Holon.

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said that Rabbi Lau can be the subject not only of the Mishnaic dictum, "Make for yourself a rabbi," but also of its continuation, "and acquire for yourself a friend," in that Rabbi Lau is a "shining image in Israeli society."

Rabbi Lau spoke of the importance of Torah study and unity in the nation, and the connection between the two. He promised to do all he could to raise the banner of Torah study in the city, and to work on behalf of the city's 544 synagogues.

Rabbi Lau was born in 1937 in Poland, and was liberated from Buchenwald in 1945. He is the son of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lau - the last Chief Rabbi of Piotrokow, Poland, who died in the Treblinka death camp. His wife is the daughter of Rabbi Yitzchak Yedidya Frankel, the late Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, and his son, Rabbi David Lau, is the Chief Rabbi of the city of Modiin. He himself served as Tel Aviv's Chief Rabbi from 1985 until 1993.