After an inspiring and busy week, Rabbi Genende and all at Caulfield Shule wish you Shabbat shalom. There is nothing like a shot in the arm, an infusion of energy and passion. At CHC over the past week that’s exactly what we got. With the visit of the dynamic duo, Rabbi Ronen and Dr Pnina Neuwirth of Ra’anana, our scholars in residence, a good few hundred of our members were treated to a display of the very best of Modern Orthodoxy. Rav Ronen and Pnina are both Israeli natives. They both have professional backgrounds; Ronen studied and worked in the field of high tech as well as serving as a captain in the Israeli Navy Special Force. He was an executive member of Tzohar, an inclusive rabbinic organisation is a communal rabbi and Executive Director of Beit Hillel which he helped found. Pnina is a tax lawyer, lecturer extraordinaire (she lectures at Haifa and Bar Ilan universities and was visiting law professor at Stern College, New York). She also teaches Torah and Jewish philosophy at Matan and other institutions. What is so refreshing about this couple is their easy integration of Torah and Madah (secular wisdom) in their lives. They are living examples of the synthesis of Torah knowledge and general culture or modern civilisation; they live the lives of Halachik Jews but are very much part of the society and world around them. They reach out to Israeli society as equals and without a sense of superiority. They are inclusive without compromising their own standards, they are tolerant without being condescending. Beit Hillel which they are both passionate leaders of, takes its name from the famous sage Hillel and the school he founded. Melbourne-born, Rabbi Yitzchak Ajzner who lives in Israel explains: “The name is a statement of the aspiration to live by the values Hillel preached: to love peace, pursue peace, love one’s brothers and bring them closer to the Torah”. The members also endeavour to emulate the mission statement of the original Beit Hillel: “They were amicable and unpretentious and they would study their own opinions as well as those of Beit Shamai; and not only that, they would also mention Beit Shamai’s positions before their own “ (Talmud Eruvin 13b). Beit Hillel engages with Israeli society and with those in the religious camp (especially the National Religious rabbis). They promote the harmonising of Torah with democracy, the empowerment of women within the Halacha and the blending of Torah and modern culture. They are thus Modern Orthodox and the movement was born out of their frustration and embarrassment at the presentation of Torah in the public sphere. It was at the time when National Religious rabbis tried to bar female soldiers from singing at army assemblies with instructions it was better to choose death than hear a female soldier sing Hatikva! It was also the period when some of these rabbis sought to prohibit Arabs from renting apartments in Sefad. The response of Beit Hillel was to say: There is another path, you don’t always have to take the most extreme opinion and you don’t have to express yourself in the most uncompromising and intolerant way. In terms of the Australian Jewish community there is much we can learn from the Neuwirth visit and Beit Hillel; their message is one that should speak to the majority of Australian Jews. This majority usually defines itself as Orthodox albeit non-practising. I would suggest that the type of Orthodoxy Australians are are closest to is that of the middle, that of Modern Orthodoxy. Most Australian Jews are deeply involved in the society around them, they are well-educated and actively engaged with the tolerant and inclusive principles of Australia’s Western liberal democracy. Their own values and lifestyles are closer to those espoused by Modern Orthodoxy. Modern Orthodoxy is neither a cop-out nor a compromising position. It’s not about seeking loopholes but promoting the moderate voice of Halacha. And moderate isn’t parev or wishy-washy but an authentic voice backed by sources, experience and powerful rabbinic personalities. The poet WB Yeats lamented that the “best lack all conviction” and the worst are filled with “passionate intensity”. Let’s strengthen the standing and self-esteem of Modern Centrist Orthodoxy. Let’s pay more careful attention to people like Ronen and Pnina. Let’s stand proud as one of Melbourne’s leading shules and exponents of Modern Orthodoxy. And let’s be filled with passionate moderation in our pursuit of the ideals of democracy, inclusion, recognition of the public role of women and integration of Torah with general culture. “Chazak Ve’Ematz – be strong and of good courage.” Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Ralph Genende
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 02:22:17 +0000
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