JERUSALEM – Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau, 47, and Sefardi Rabbi Yithak Yossef were elected on Wednesday, July 24 as Chief Rabbis of Israel for a term of ten years. Both are sons of two previous holders of the same position, succeed Chief Rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel heads the whole group of Rabbinical Courts of the country and enjoys a powerful influence over the personal statute of Israeli Jews, overseeing the kosher food, monitoring matters relating to marriage, divorce, adoption and conversion. The Chief Rabbinate is also an important role in inter-religious dialogue. The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (ACOHL) sent congratulatory letters to the two new Rabbis : Sephardi Chief Rabbi and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi
