President Isaac Herzog's path was paved by the generations that came before him. Herzog's father followed in his grandfather's footsteps. When his father, Rabbi Yitzhak Halevi Hertzog heard about the UN resolution determining Jerusalem to not be a part of the State of Israel but an international city in 1949, Herzog, who was already along in years, got dressed and headed out of his home on Jerusalem's Ibn Ezra Street.

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A young boy at the time, I saw him as he ascended the steps of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue in the presence of hundreds of worshippers who had gathered there and proceeded to tear up a copy of the UN resolution. This was his response at a time when he saw they were taking Israel's capital, the eternal city, away from the Jewish state.

Years later, the rabbi's son, Chaim Herzog, addressed the UN General Assembly, his hand gripping a copy of Resolution 3379 that determined "Zionism is racism" and ripped it to pieces.

The son was following in the footsteps of his father, the rabbi. The entire world saw this image of an Israeli representative tearing up a UN resolution, a resolution the world would body would later come to regret and rectify years later. These are the foundations upon which Herzog, who was named after his grandfather, one of Israel's greatest rabbis for generations, the country's first chief rabbi, was raised.

President Isaac Herzog's grandfather, who witnessed the establishment of the state and was able to issue the first orders to the IDF on adhering to mitzvot, composed a prayer for the welfare of the state and prayed for its ministers, a prayer we continue to need to this day.

It was on these prayers that Israel's new president, a former attorney with a rich history of public activity in the Knesset and the government, and who served as the head of the Jewish Agency, was raised.

I speak for the people of Israel who cheer him on and wish him great success today. May we be fortunate that Israel knows peace and prosperity in his term in office and for generations to come.

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It made no difference to the Nazis whether you were religious or secular, young or old, Ashkenazi or Sephardi, wealthy or poor. If you were Jewish, you were considered subhuman.

Unfortunately, to this day, we have not learned the lesson of the Holocaust. Rifts arise time and again and often over trivial matters. It seems like we are always looking for arguments. The Holocaust showed that we excel at standing together during difficult times but struggle to live alongside each other at peaceful times.

I sometimes contemplate, what will happen when one day there will be no more Holocaust survivors left to tell the story in the first person? There have been many dramatic events throughout Jewish history that have almost been forgotten: the Crusades, the Cossack riots, events that most Jews are not familiar with.

Nevertheless, I remain hopeful. The Holocaust will not be forgotten. If the 3,400-year-old story of the Exodus has not been forgotten by the Jewish people, there is no reason something that occurred 80 years ago should fall into oblivion.

Antisemites are not gone. They just changed, as they do in every generation. When former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech on state television denying the Holocaust, he only raised awareness of the historical event. The young generation of Iranians began to ask themselves what the Holocaust was and when it happened.

I am also hopeful because of the work of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center. Its archives, computers, books, and learning centers across the globe will make sure that the genocide will never be forgotten. The books, belongings, and personal diaries of survivors will remain with us forever.

We live in a society where Holocaust survivors live in substandard conditions, and, unfortunately, the state fails to provide them with a life of dignity. I hope the government that is formed soon will put caring for these survivors at the top of its agenda.

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There once was a wise Jew in whom Torah and greatness coexisted – Rabbi Samson Wertheimer from Vienna of the Habsburg Empire. The emperor learned of the rabbi's merits and entrusted him with his home and the kingdom and all his possessions. And all the empire knew it was so.

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The archbishop of Vienna, who was not a lover of the Jewish people, sorely resented the Jew's control of the entire empire. The Emperor busies himself with trivial matters and leaves decision-making to Rabbi Wertheimer, thought the archbishop. He decided he would slander the Jew. But the rabbi was a righteous man, honest and upright and kind to all. Yet the archbishop whispered in the emperor's ear, "That Jew is wicked."

Finally, the emperor relented and said to the bishop: "How should I test him? Should I listen to gossip and slander and throw out such a loyal man? Do this – ask him for a statement of his assets." The bishop summoned Rabbi Wertheimer, who realized something was afoot. The rabbi asked: "When does His Majesty wish to receive the statement?" "You have one month," said the bishop. "I can bring it tomorrow morning," said the rabbi. The next day he brought a thick ledger. "This is my statement of assets," he said.

The emperor rejoiced. He called the bishop and said: "You suspected him? Here is the rabbi's statement of assets." The bishop studied the ledger for a few minutes and said: "I told you he's a liar, a thief, a swindler. You gave him a castle in Salzburg with an attached wing. Who knows what else he's hiding?" The emperor said: "I'll ask him." The rabbi was summoned and the emperor said to him: "How can you say this is your statement of assets? Where is the Salzburg castle?" The rabbi answered: "Salzburg? Is that mine? You entrusted it to me and I see it as a deposit. These are the sums that cannot be taken away from me, and these are the sums I gave to charity, as is right. 'Righteousness will go before him, and make his footsteps a way.' The right I did goes with me everywhere."

That is how this week's Torah portion begins: "The Lord said to Moses: Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me an offering; from every man whose heart makes him willing you shall receive the offering for me." The offering you give to the temple, or for the sake of holiness and kindness, is one that you take, rather than give. It stays with you forever.

They say of Sheldon Adelson that he was the richest Jew in the world, or the second richest. In my humble opinion, he was the richest Jew in many generations, because everything that he gave was his. That which is his, cannot be taken away from him. He gave wholeheartedly.

He gave with grace, kindness, and mercy. There is today no organization or institution important to the Jewish people, above all "Birthright," that his heart did not hold dear and enjoy, for that was his way of giving.

That which he gave, he took with him one month ago. His work spread out from Las Vegas to Macao and all the places in between, but his heart was here, in Jerusalem. Here he started his family with Miri. Here we attended his son's bar mitzvah.

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Here his heart lay. Though as a child he may have been far from such matters, though his family and education did not lead him in this direction, he found his way to an eternal bond with the people of Israel, the state of Israel, with Judaism in general. He came here, which is why this place suits him so well. From his resting place one can see Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Old City. How fitting it is that a Jew from Boston, Massachusetts, who embraced the world, should be laid to eternal rest here. As is written, "And eternity is Jerusalem."

Yisrael Meir Lau served as the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, and Chairman of Yad Vashem. He was the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1993 to 2003.

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Much has been said over the past week about Sheldon Adelson – the generous donor, the great philanthropist. I seek to share my thought about the man he was.

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Nearly 30 years ago, we met in Jerusalem, while I was officiating the marriage ceremony for Sheldon Gary Adelson, whose real name is Shalom Gedalia, and his bride was Dr. Miri Ochshorn.

Our last meeting was also held in Jerusalem, under completely different circumstances: it was at the world convention for International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January 2020, exactly one year ago, at Yad Vashem in the Israeli capital.

I will never forget the first time we met in New York, at the Hilton Hotel, as part of a fundraiser for Yad Vashem. I was the keynote speaker, and Sheldon and Miri were the guests of honor. Sheldon, who was usually a man of few words, stood up and spoke with all his heart.

"You must be wondering what's my interest in Yad Vashem, what's my connection to the story of the Holocaust," he said.

"I'll be honest with you – I haven't lived through the Holocaust, my family did not go through the Holocaust and we had no connection to the Holocaust. I am here because my wife Miri's parents are Holocaust survivors, and I am here thanks to them."

I saw his consideration, how he embraced this aspect of his family and I was greatly impressed.

At the same time, I also learned from conversations with him about his first connection to Israel, even before the establishment of the state. He learned the love of the homeland from his father, who dreamed all his life of coming to Israel, despite the poverty and the great hardship he experienced.

The father's dream made its mark on the son's personality, namely Shalom Gedalia, known as Sheldon Gary. As the father did not fulfill his dream, the son – who was already a man of considerable means – stepped into his father's shoes and took his first steps in what later became the center of his being: the State of Israel.

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