From the Vice President
Lauren Ryder
e: admin@greatsynagogue.org.au
Shabbat Shalom,
Join us this Shabbat for our annual Israel Shabbat, as we celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut and 76 years of the State of Israel. This special Shabbat will feature special prayers for Israel and the IDF. We are honoured to welcome guest speaker Yossi Eshed, CEO of the Zionist Council of NSW and Managing Director of IsraAID, who will share his insights and experiences. We look forward to hearing from him at Kiddush.
Looking ahead, on Shabbat, 1 June, join us to celebrate a milestone anniversary at The Great— 80 years of B’nai B’rith. This event will feature a sponsored Kiddush and a performance by MAGEVET, the renowned Jewish a cappella group from Yale University. It promises to be a day of joyous celebration and splendid music.
The Great Synagogue Social Groups
Over the past few years, some of our members have created groups to create deeper connections with other TGS members. We now have many new groups where our members meet outside of shule, including one for younger women (yes, under 50 is young!!) It's wonderful to have so many volunteers organising these get-togethers, and I encourage you to reach out to the organisers to find out more:
• Beverages & Banter After Work: We are currently taking expressions of interest for a new social group for women under 50. For more information and to register your interest, email soraya@neon.black.
• Coffee & Connection: Join our monthly morning coffee get-togethers. For enquiries, contact fayfrischer@lawyerlanecove.com.au.
• Coffee & Connection for Male Congregants: Discuss politics, literature, history, sport, Netflix, or just schmooze. Upcoming dates are 20 May, 17 June, and 15 July at 10 am. For venue details and enquiries, please contact Rodney Marks at rodney@comedian.com.au.
• Are You an Only Child or Have You Ever Felt Like One?: We are exploring interest for a new TGS women’s social group. Join coffee get-togethers to share your experiences in an inclusive space. For enquiries, contact fayfrischer@lawyerlanecove.com.au.
Community Events
There are quite a few community events coming up in the next few weeks:
• Zionist Council of NSW Yom Ha’Atzmaut Week: A week of celebrations from 12-19 May 2024. For a full list of events and to book your spots, use this link.
• Wolper Wellbeing Program – Living with Parkinson’s Disease: On Wednesday, 15 May 2024, join us for an informative session on 'How to stay independent and keep living well' with Parkinson’s Disease. The event will be live on Zoom at 7:30 pm. Register at wolper.com.au/wellbeing.
• Council of Christians & Jews of NSW Shoah Memorial Service: On Thursday, 23 May 2024, at 6:00 pm, join us to remember the Shoah from 1933-1945. This memorial service at The Great Synagogue is open to all people of compassion. Registration is essential here to attend.
• Live at The Great Concert: On Wednesday 28 May 2024, do not miss the opportunity to see Hungarian virtuoso Jozsef Lendvay and pianist Edward Neeman. The concert begins at 7 pm, and tickets can be purchased at www.liveatyours.com.au.
To all those in our community who are suffering an illness, we wish you a Refu’ah Shleima — a complete and speedy recovery; and to all those commemorating a Yahrzeit, or who have recently suffered a loss, we wish you a long and good life, full of S'machot.
I look forward to seeing you in Shule this Shabbat. Wishing everyone a peaceful Shabbat Shalom.
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From The Rabbi
Rabbi Dr Benjamin Elton
e: admin@greatsynagogue.org.au
Devar Torah: Kedoshim 5784
This Shabbat we celebrate seventy-six years of the State of Israel, and it has never been more important to show our solidarity and support. Others might try to turn ‘Zionist’ into a dirty word, but we continue to believe that the Jewish People have the right to national aspirations and self determination in our ancestral homeland. To mark this occasion the Chazzan and Choir will lead us in the Israeli prayers for the State of Israel and the IDF.
In place of a sermon we will be addressed before Kiddush by Yossi Eshed, CEO of the Zionist Council of NSW and Managing Director of IsraAID. Founded in 2001 as a coalition of Israeli organisations working in disaster relief and international development, IsraAID is now the largest humanitarian aid organization in Israel. It has been at the forefront of responding to major humanitarian crises worldwide, has worked in more than sixty countries with three hundred staff around the world.
After Yossi speaks we will enjoy a special Israeli-themed Kiddush. I hope you will join us for this important Shabbat.
The last mitzvah in Parashat Kedoshim is not to imitate idolators in customs and clothing. Not only can we not adopt idolatrous practices, we cannot even comport ourselves like those who follow idolatry, this is know as Chukat Akum, the laws of idol worshippers. We might think this is now an obsolete or irrelevant prohibition, but it has been the source of much discussion, especially in the modern era.
One discussion has been about academic dress. In medieval times academic institutions were closely connected with the Church, and when Jews were first allowed to enter and to graduate the question arose as to whether they could wear the garb that the monks and priests wore at the universities. This question came to the leading Italian Rabbi of the middle of the fifteenth century, Rabbi Joseph Colon ben Solomon Trabatto, known as the Maharik. Italian Jews of that era were undertaking higher secular studies and they had to determine whether they could wear the gowns, hoods and caps or not.
Maharik made a distinction between clothes worn for no good reason, and those which had a rational basis and a sensible purpose. If no practical argument could be made for a garment then it could not be worn in simple imitation of non-Jewish practice, but if there was a purpose then it was permitted. The easiest example is a doctor’s white coat, which easily identifies them as they go about their work in case they are needed. It might be more difficult to make that case for a ceremonial academic gown, and indeed Rabbi Moshe Feinstein did not approve of academic dress. However, the Maharik argued that academic dress identified the wearer as someone who had completed a course of study and their qualifications could be relied upon. On that basis, he permitted it.
A connected question is the wearing of robes and caps by rabbis, and even a clerical collar. Rabbi Apple recalled that in the early days of his ministry in 1950s London his collar allowed his easy access to hospitals for pastoral visits, which was an obvious basis and purpose. In the synagogue, robes added a note of solemnity and dignity, which was much-prized by congregations in past generations, although it is less valued now, except on special occasions. Some rabbis wore their rabbinic and academic robes at the same time, although I cannot say I have yet done so myself.
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