Weekly thoughts 2017

In the week leading up to Pesach, I attended a dinner at the stately Government House in our Royal Botanic Gardens. I’ve been fortunate to have visited this splendid State House on several occasions, but this time it was different. Our Jewish Governor, the Honourable Linda Dessau’s invitation was to a “Multi-Faith Youth Passover Dinner”. This was a dinner for young, Jews, Christians and Muslims, and a...Read more...

Israel, it’s hard to believe you’re seventy. 70, after all, is a ripe old reverential age. The Mishna calls it the era of settled old age or seiva. I don’t think of you as old even though the years have not been kind to you – you’ve been battered  by wars, torn by the loss of so many of your finest children, pilloried by the UN, maligned by too many nations and become a magnet for some of the oldest and newest anti-Semitism...Read more...

It’s a popular Hebrew response “Hakol beseder” (הכל בסדר), everything is ok, it’s alright mate… You can also translate this phrase as “It’s all in the Seder.” And in a sense this sums-up the essence of those magical first nights of Pesach. Everything you need to know about being Jewish is indeed contained in those nights. The seder experience is unique in its structure, exciting in its vision and visionary in its...Read more...

It has been said that animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions. Oliver Goldsmith once retorted: “Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies”.

I can’t imagine comments less Jewish than these! The Kotzker Rebbe who was known for his sharp retorts was once faced with a challenging question from a Yeshiva student. The student asked why it took God so long to...Read more...

Do you find yourself rushing from task to task, event to event, appointment to meeting? Stressed-out, worn-out, burnt-out seems to be the mantra of our manic lives. Apparently 52% of people say stress keeps them up at night.

Not only is ongoing stress bad for our health, it also affects our relationships, our capacity to be effective and of course our well-being. Even when we are...Read more...

Transparency, accountability, openness – these are the buzzwords today for any organisation or business worth its salt. They are also the key words to understanding the opening of the second parasha this week, Pekudei, Exodus 38. It begins with Moshe giving a detailed financial accounting of the costs of setting up the Mishkan (Sanctuary).

Moses was all too aware of the need to...Read more...

We had a riotous run-up to Purim with our young bubs (Caulfield Mums & Bubs) in their colourful Purim costumes, a spectacularly smart and entertaining Grand Debate on the “Future of the humble ham (entasch) and topped it off with a splendid carnival of Purim activities for our kids. Not to mention 5 Megillah readings (including one at Arcare Kooyong Rd by Rabbi Gedaliah Levin).

Read more...

We may call it a Megillah, we may think of it as a long, rambling, rambunctious fairy tale drama, we may joke about unchecked, unfiltered dramas being “gantseh megillahs”. The truth is that this little book, Megillat Esther, the story or scroll of Esther, is as profound as it is perceptive, as succinct as it is short. It comprises ten brief chapters and is more of a long short (but sharp) story than a book. At...Read more...

It’s been ten years since Kevin Rudd’s historic statement of apology to the ‘Stolen Generation’. It was a breakthrough moment for the survivors; as one survivor put it – “It was what happened to Aboriginal people more broadly. And it wasn’t an argument, it wasn’t a debate, it was just the sky is blue, the grass is green. This happened and we need to do something about it...Read more...

It’s one of the thorniest questions across the world today. It’s causing controversy and a heated debate in Israel today. It’s not new to us in Australia. It’s the question of accepting “illegal” asylum seekers, or those who enter a country without going through the usual channels and processes.

It came to the fore in Israel in...Read more...

If you stepped outside at midnight on Wednesday, you would have had a once-in-a-blue-moon experience! The streets of Caulfield were quiet and sleepy, but the moon was colourful and vibrant. It wasn’t blue, but in fact a ‘super blood moon’, radiating an eerie reddish-orange glow as it was slowly and majestically eclipsed by shadow. It’s called by this impressive name because it was...Read more...

 Welcome to the year of the “Chai” – 2018! Even though our Jewish new year (5778) commenced several months ago, we live by a parallel calendar, which especially outside of Israel, shapes our routines and determines so many of our plans....Read more...

I arrived in Jerusalem on the eve of Trump’s historic announcement and I left it on the eve of the historic festival of Chanukah. I would like to say I timed my visit deliberately, but then there were no calls from Jared Kushner and  even though Rabbi Riskin may have heard I was in town Bibi seemed oblivious…

Jerusalem is always an edgy city. Even when it’s relaxed it’s looking over its’ shoulder. This past week it...Read more...

If ‘clothing makes the man’, sometimes it can also kill the man! The story of Joseph can be seen as a man betrayed or at best greatly endangered by his clothing.  I am of course referring to the “ketonet passim”, the magical dream coat given to Joseph by his father.

It is the coat which singles out Joseph and gives him an initial edge over his brothers. They rightly read into the coat their father’s favouritism and...Read more...

As Jacob prepared to encounter his brother Esau after a separation of twenty years, he has one of the strangest encounters recorded in the Torah.

Leaving his family on one side of the river, he crosses it, remaining alone on the other shore in the dark of the night. 

Read more...

U

It’s my Barmitzvah parasha, Vayetze, this week. Shakespeare knowingly asked “what’s in a name?” and we could just as well ask “what’s in a parasha?” A Jewish name is significant in that it conveys ones essence and potential. The parasha of the week of one’s birth is important in that it transmits something of one’s substance and capacity.

I was given the name of my father Isaac’s brother Raphael killed as...Read more...

In 1956 a young British playwright wrote a play that is said to have changed the face of modern drama. The playwright was John Osborne and the play was a verbal barrage on a wide range of topics from the class system to family, sexuality to religion. It was ferocious and unrestrained and apparently set the scene for a new cultural movement and the libertine 1960’s.

I was thinking of the play this week (which I studied at Uni) not...Read more...

From the beginning of time we have all been strangers. The very first encounter between human beings was one between two strangers: Adam meeting Eve. We all know what it is to be the other, an outsider. It’s part of the universal human experience; it’s something we’ve all felt, and it’s not necessarily negative; most of our friends and partners were probably strangers at first.

As Jews we have felt the loneliness and...Read more...

Just last week the astronauts on the International Space Station reflected on the spiritual significance of their experience. Speaking to Pope Francis via video call they spoke of seeing planet earth “from the eyes of God”. Randy Bresnick one of the Americans on board said that what gave him the greatest joy in space was “to be able to look outside and see God’s creation maybe a little bit from His perspective. People cannot come up...Read more...

I was asked two probing questions this week which relate to the charismatic founder of the Jewish people – Abraham. Firstly someone asked who my models and role models for leadership are. I replied that of the biblical figures, Abraham was definitely my hero. Secondly, when speaking to our bar mitzvah boy Walter Minc and his parents they asked if the superlative leader, Abraham, had any flaws.

My answer to both questions is linked....Read more...

Gender issues feature prominently in our lives. Just this past week we witnessed the unravelling of a Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein for his serial harassment and assault of women and abuse of his privileged position. Hilary Clinton spoke on ABC about her harsh treatment as a woman candidate, the shameful name-calling and the way she was stalked by Trump in their debates.

Just these past weeks the Torah prominently featured gender...Read more...

I love the first buds and blossoms of spring and the hope, fragrance and freshness they bring. So on Tuesday morning when I noticed the jasmine bushes in bloom my heart lifted. This year though, the blossoms were more of a bouquet then a promise, for my heart was already singing: On Monday night, a first grandchild, a boy, was born to my son Eyal and Carly.

Caron and I had already been primed for grandparenthood by the enthusiastic...Read more...

It’s just two weeks to go until Rosh Hashanah, a time of reflection and introspection. A period that calls for restraint and thoughtfulness, compassion and concern for others. The Chafetz Chaim, when writing on the beautiful food customs (the so-called ‘simanim’) associated with Rosh Hashanah – the apples dipped in honey, the pomegranate seeds and the other sweet reminders – cautions these are all lovely symbols but the critical...Read more...

It’s the second most viewed movie (after Gone With the Wind). Across the world the lyrics are recognised; it’s a feel-good uplifting experience. It’s The Sound of Music with the irrepressible Julie Andrews in starring role of Maria Von Trapp; the governess of the family who married Captain Von Trapp, the father of the seven children. The movie was largely filmed in the gorgeous city of Salzburg with its fine old buildings, gardens,...Read more...

It’s time to blow your horn again! Well almost, but it is the time of the year we start to sound the shofar at our morning service. Every morning during this month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh Hashana we blow the basic notes: Tekiah, Shevarim, Teruah, Tekiah. Each morning those ancient, eerie notes hover in the air; each day we hope that their tremulous tones will enter into our hearts; pierce our habitual apathy, assail...Read more...

Looking around at the state of our world today it’s hard not to feel anxious at best, desperate at worst. Threats of nuclear war; incendiary hateful speech; the capital of democracy in disarray, if not dismay, at its capricious and churlish captain; carnage and terror in Madrid, conflict and famine across Africa and the Middle East. Closer to home they’re sharing the hatred in anti-Semitic graffiti across Melbourne schools and Jewish...Read more...

The great Israeli poet, Yehuda Amichai, was all too aware of the harshness and heaviness of life, and particularly life in Israel. In one of his many poems of Jerusalem he writes:

“At times Jerusalem is a city of knives

And even the hopes for peace are sharp enough to slice into

The harsh reality and they become dulled or broken.”

This week’s parasha, by contrast, could be said to present the...Read more...

It may sound nerdy, but I agree with writer Alexander McCall Smith when he says: “Manners are the basic building blocks of civil society”. Manners - respectful, restrained and thoughtful behaviour towards others doesn't have much traction today. We prefer the direct hit, saying it straight and tough, taking no prisoners.

There's a vulgar and ugly spirit that characterizes our public debate, our civil discourse and our communal...Read more...

It’s always in the news. It’s locked into our prayers. It’s mythical and it’s very real. It’s a place of heartbreak and heartache, it’s a space of joy and jubilation. It’s twice on the Jewish calendar. It’s Jerusalem,  ירושלים, city of old, city of gold…

It’s on our minds as we approach Tisha B’Av (or 9th Av) this coming Monday night and Tuesday. It’s in the news today as the city comes to terms...Read more...

At our Wednesday shiur this week, Ian Gelbart reminded me of the cheeky Gilbert and Sullivan ‘Little list song’. The song opens:

“As some days may happen

That a victim must be found

I’ve got a little list

I’ve got a little list

Of society offenders

Who might well be underground”.

You will forgive me if I’ve been a little obsessed with little lists since my name appeared on...Read more...