Items
Tag is exactly
rabbi
-
2020Jewish Melbourne: TBI Wednesday Coffee and Conversation
Throughout the year, Temple Beth Israel hosted a weekly "Coffee and Conversation" on Wednesday afternoons, via zoom, with one of their rabbis. -
2020-09-20Jewish Melbourne: Mt Scopus Rosh HaShana 5781 Greeting from Rabbi Kennard
"Rabbi Kennard passed on his Rosh HaShana greetings to staff, students and the whole #ScopusFamily at the conclusion of the virtual Student Leadership Induction Ceremony on Tuesday 15 September, 2020." -
2020-09-16Jewish Melbourne: Mt Scopus Principal's End of Term 3 message
"Despite our community’s difficult circumstances Principal Rabbi Kennard is still able to provide an end of term message detailing Mount Scopus Memorial College Highlights for Term 3, 2020." -
2020-09-20Jewish Melbourne: Sassoon Yehuda Sephardi Synagogue - Rosh Hashana message
This is a video of the 2020-5781 Rosh Hashana message from Rabbi Ben Hassan and Rabbanit Sharona Hassan for the Sassoon Yehuda Sephardi Synagogue: "We were delighted to have Rabbi Hassan deliver a drasha and inspire us for for the year ahead" -
2020-09-18Jewish Melbourne: Rabbi Ralph Genende for Rosh Hashanah
For Rosh Hashanah, Caulfield Shule's Rabbi Ralph Genende pre-recorded a sermon and a short video celebrating apples and honey -
2020-09-27Jewish Melbourne: St Kilda Hebrew Congregation pre-Yom Kippur sermon
Due to the halachic restrictions on using technology during Yom Kippur, and that lockdown prevented synagogues from having congregations attend services, St Kilda Hebrew Congregation's Rabbi Yaacov Glasman pre-recorded and shared online a Yom Kippur sermon -
2020-09-28Jewish Melbourne: St Kilda Hebrew Congregation Yom Kippur shofar blowing
At the end of Yom Kippur, the rabbi at St Kilda Hebrew Congregation blew the shofar, and it was livestreamed on Facebook -
2020-08-28Jewish Melbourne: Chabad Kingston & Moorabbin newsletter 28 August
Email newsletter from Chabad Kingston & Moorabbin Shul, which discusses upcoming preparations for Rosh Hashanah and how to prepare under lockdown. Also lists upcoming online events -
2020-06Jewish Melbourne: Caulfield Shule letter regarding opening up
Letter from the president of Caulfield Shule to the congregation, sent just after Shavuot, discussing the possibilities of opening up and people being able to attend services, but the need for caution in case there is a second wave of infections -
2020-07-10Jewish Melbourne: St Kilda Hebrew Congregation newsletter update 10 July
St Kilda Hebrew Congregation provides an email update to their congregation, sharing a message from the Rabbi about lockdown, as well as information about observing yahrzeit and saying kaddish while locked down. -
2020-09-19Jewish Melbourne: 'Everyone wants to hear the shofar': ringing in Jewish new year in locked-down Melbourne
article published in Guardian Australia, written by Elias Visontay, documenting Rosh Hashanah in Melbourne under lockdown -
2020-04-09Jewish Melbourne: TBI Pesach Seder
On 9 April 2020, Temple Beth Israel streamed a Pesach seder, which was lead by Cantor Laloum -
2020-04-05
A COVID LOVE LETTER
This time of year is usually buzzing with family and community. Passover is often referred to as a holiday of freedom, but this year it was for some people the furthest thing from that. As the Rabbi of an ever-growing synagogue and community centre, I host the Seders (traditional Passover feasts) at my home with community members and extend invitations to anyone willing to accept. However, this year there wasn’t anyone to invite. Leading up to this usually joyful holiday, I became quite dispirited as the calls started streaming in from community members that had lost their jobs, savings in the stock markets and now couldn’t even see their grandchildren. What’s ironic is that throughout the year I am the one chasing community members to bring them to the centre for events and prayer services. I also make calls, send WhatsApp and post on Facebook to catch their attention and attempt to entice them through the doors of the synagogue. Now I’m lamenting with them, trying unsuccessfully to find some reason as to why G-d is putting us through this test. The best I came up with was, “we are all in this together, we are all in the same boat”, none of us are unique in this corona-quarantining. Then a late-night call last week after the Sabbath really rocked me, a Holocaust survivor, 98 years old, had passed away and I was asked to officiate her funeral. Due to social distance regulations no more than 10 people were allowed to attend the funeral. This lady that I was laying to rest could’ve been my great-grandmother. I agonised about how I was to console this family that had just lost their matriarch. Who was I, some young rabbi, to give this family comfort and words of healing when they had had such a momentous loss, and their friends and extended family weren't even able to mourn together with them. This woman survived German slave labour camps during the Holocaust and now because of this silent killer was unable to have her grandchildren and great-grandchildren at her farewell. The reality of the situation is that COVID-19 has fundamentally changed my rabbinic role. As time goes on and this becomes our new normal, the constant calls from community members looking for support have been integrated into my schedule. My role has changed from preaching on a pulpit to one of reassurance and consolation during this time of social isolation and loneliness during the festive season of Passover. Whenever I am on the phone to a congregant I lighten the mood by facetiously joking “thank G-d crèche is an essential service!" With four children of my own under the age of five, or should I say with four babies under the age of five, I would have never been able to do anything if the government had pulled the plug on crèche. I was quietly praying together with my wife that they wouldn’t. I started dreading the upcoming school holidays, what am I going to do for two weeks locked in the house with my kids especially over Passover? Is my Passover Seder going to be 10 minutes because of nappy changes and bedtime will be in the middle of it? Incredibly without guests, my wife and I had the most wonderful two weeks locked up at home with our children. Our Seder was a lively event with re-enactments of the exodus of Egypt, as well as long speeches and songs from my 3-year-old who lively sang way past his bedtime. I even dressed up as Moses one night. I saw the silver lining in this turbulent time-I finally had time to be fully present with my children, no phone to disturb me, as on Jewish festivals we don’t use electronics, I had no sermon to fine-tune and I was finally able to spend the entire time with my family. My 4-year-old even learnt how to ride a bike without training wheels, an impressive feat that his grandmother told him over FaceTime “your daddy could only do it when he was 5”. Yes, the fridge has some scratches and dents that came about with children 2 and 3 trying to break into it for some milk. The curtains to their room have been ripped down and I am trying unsuccessfully to find a tradesman to come and fix it. But, I must say lockdown was a sort of blessing that I didn't know I wanted. Spending quality time with my kids without having to run to an urgent meeting or being required to write emails, was in a way an Exodus from real life I much needed (hopefully temporarily). But...I think my wife now needs a holiday. -
2020-04-09The Challenge of Social Distancing in Hasidic Communities
Frimet Goldberger writes about the effects COVID-19 is having on the Hasidic community in New York City, and also points out how their traditions and lifestyle are contributing to the exacerbated effects of the virus within their community. Household numbers considerably larger than the average American household, a deeply communal lifestyle, a lack of access to the news, and distrust in secular authorities and science are all contributing to the intensified effects that COVID-19 is having on the Hasidic community. Instead of blaming Hasidic Jews as a whole, Goldberger points a finger at rabbis that are in the position to warn their community about the threat of the virus and encourage social distancing protocol but choose not to.