Zvi Thau

In 2022, Israeli police opened a sexual assault investigation against Zvi Tau, following a woman's accusation that he had repeatedly assaulted her, the first time thirty years ago when she was a minor. Tau had in the past supported other public figures accused of sexual assault, such as Moshe Katsav and Chaim Walder.

Thau's first wife, Chana, died in 2004. She was a pioneer of Torah study for women in the Orthodox community. At the age of 71, Thau married Batya Cohen, founder and clinical director of an outpatient clinic treating modern Orthodox and Haredi sufferers of eating disorders.

In 1997, Thau opposed the introduction of an academic framework – plans to integrate a teaching institute – into Mercaz HaRav. As a result, he, together with six senior lecturers and many students, left the yeshiva and established the Har Hamor yeshiva. (The name "HaMoR" is also a Hebrew acronym for "Successor to Mercaz HaRav".) While he is not involved in Har Hamor's day-to-day management, Thau is the ultimate authority on ideological matters.

From the 1960s, Thau held a position of influence at Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav. He is considered by many to be the leading disciple of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, the dean of Mercaz HaRav.

His sister Eveline related: "In June 1943, there was a large Aktion [round-up of Jews to be deported], and we were saved thanks to our mother, who was a chemist. She managed to disguise us as measles patients and hung a sign on the door: 'Beware. Contagious disease'."

Zvi Yisrael Thau (Hebrew: צבי ישראל טאו, born 1938) is a Religious Zionist rabbi, a disciple of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, and co-founder and president of Yeshivat Har Hamor in Jerusalem.