From the Rabbi
DEVAR TORAH - Vayakhel-Pekudei – HaChodesh 5786
I want to thank the staff, Synagogue and Foundation Board members and volunteers who made the Service for the Opening of Law Term and for the Rededication of the Sanctuary, and the Foundation dinner that followed, that took place last Tuesday such a success. We showed The Great Synagogue at its best, and it was a worthy occasion to welcome the Governor-General and Chief Rabbi.
This Shabbat we are looking forward to another wonderful communal lunch. We will hear from the world expert on antisemitism, Dr Dave Rich MBE, and the lunch is in recognition of everyone who has been honoured in the Order of Australia and in particular the two Australia Day honourees from 2026, Joe Kensell OAM and Fiona Stewart AM.
Pesach is on its way. Please see all the details and events in this newsletter. I am sure it is going to be another beautiful Yom Tov.
The Shabbat before the month of Nissan is called HaChodesh, and we read a special Maftir that gives the instruction to create a calendar and declare new months based on sightings of the moon. This was the first mitzvah given to the Jewish People as a collective and establishes their control over their own time, which is a prerequisite of freedom. Nissan is the first month in the festival cycle, and so we read this passage just before Nissan. It is a reminder that the most important asset we possess is time, and if we use it well then our capacity is almost limitless.
I am always interested in striking examples of deliberate intertextuality, when a word or phrase seems to be deliberately alluding to the same or similar word or phrase elsewhere. In the context of rabbinic exegesis it is called a gezera shava, and in those cases it is used for legal purposes. But it is also relevant for a literary reading of the text.
The first word of the first of the two parshiyot we will read this Shabbat is ‘vayakhel’, from the word ‘kehilla’, and it tells us that Moses assembled the people. The purpose was to organise them for the construction of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle.
This word seems to be a deliberate reference back to an episode in the sin of the Golden Calf which we read about last week. When the Israelites wanted to ask, or to pressurise, Aaron to make the calf the Torah says ‘vayikahel ha’am al Aharon’, the people assembled against Aaron.
We tend to think about community as a good thing. I often seem to be preaching about the benefits of community, and I sincerely believe in them, but we often use the word ‘community’ as shorthand for ‘positive community’, and yet it is not always so. A wicked community, which might be a mob, a fascist junta, or a criminal gang, is even worse than a wicked individual and can do a great deal more harm. A community can build a sanctuary in which the Presence of God can dwell, or it can create a blasphemous idol. When we make a community, we must choose which one.
From The President
Law Service and Rededication - Making History in 2026
It's not every week we make history, but when we do, we do it in style.
Let me take you back 4 years. In January 2022 Rabbi Elton approached the Board with the idea to relocate the Bimah to its original location as designed by architect Thomas Rowe in 1878.
At Tuesday night's service, combining the Commencement of the 2026 Law Term and Rededication, we celebrated the completion of this project in the presence of the Governor-General Sam Mostyn AC, the Chief Justice Andrew Bell AC and Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis.
Following my welcome our special guests all spoke highly of our rich heritage, our enduring contribution to Australian society, our beautiful synagogue, the richness of our Chazzan and choir, and the growth, strength and vitality of our community led by Rabbi Elton. And they touched on recent world and local events.
"Our synagogues exist for the sake of the people. What we're celebrating today is an expansion, a rededication, a celebration of the fact that we are not just alive here in this building, we are thriving. Isn't this the most appropriate response to what transpired on the 14th December last year? The response of this community, as is the traditional response of Jewish communities around the world, is to declare we will never be cowed. We will never be intimidated" …… extract from Rabbi Mirvis's speech.
Two plaques, for the Bimah and Ark were unveiled by the Governor-General and Chief Rabbi.
It was an amazing service with close to 750 attending, filling the Shule in a blaze of colour and excitement. An outstanding success marking this moment in history.
Following the service, around 220 people moved to the Sheraton for our Commonwealth Day dinner organised by The Great Synagogue Foundation. The energy and excitement generated at the Law Service continued to the dinner. It was a superb evening, MC'd by Soraya Calavassy with speeches by Garry Browne, the Governor-General, the Governor and Chief Rabbi. The dinner was an outstanding success and Rabbi Feldman's entertainment was priceless.
Such success could only be achieved with the enormous amount of planning, effort and preparation by Garry and the Foundation committee, Larry, Ilana, Jonathan and Louise in the office, Carla Green, Rabbi Elton, Rabbi Feldman and the choir, and Zac Cardo and Amy.
Kol Hakavod to all involved.
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