Father of slain Chabad rabbi visits Sydney

February 18, 2009

SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) -- The father of the Chabad rabbi slain in the Mumbai terror attacks is visiting Australia.

Rabbi Nachman Holtzberg, whose son Gavriel and daughter-in-law Rivka were murdered last November, was honored Tuesday night at a gala dinner with 1,500 guests hosted by Chabad-Lubavitch in Sydney.

Holtzberg thanked the Jewish community “for your great love to me and my family in those days filled with darkness and pain.” He also recognized the Australian government's assistance.

“Participation of the government in such a faraway country is special, as it means that the wider Australian community, not just the Jewish community, stands with us in the struggle of good against evil, light over darkness,” he said.

Holtzberg was joined in Sydney by Moscow Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, who has been appointed director of the fund to rebuild the Chabad house in Mumbai and to ensure lifetime support for the couple’s 2-year-old orphaned son, Moshe. More than $3 million will be required to rebuild the Chabad house.

Malcolm Turnbull, the leader of the opposition Liberal Party, praised Chabad and paid tribute to the young couple killed in the terror attacks.

“The best way we can remember your inspirational son and daughter-in-law is to practice and promote Yiddishkeit with even more vigor,” he said.

Turnbull added that he was still “humbled” that Chabad’s chief rabbi, Pinchus Feldman, presented him in 2007 with a U.S. dollar from the Lubavitcher rebbe.

Governor General Quentic Bryce sent a letter of support, as did Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who commended Chabad of Sydney’s assistance in the aftermath of the Victorian bush fire disaster on Feb. 7 that has killed more than 200 people.

Rudd sees the light

KEVIN Rudd is back in the good books with the Jewish community. The PM copped some flak last month for scheduling his two-day 2020 Summit on the same weekend as the religious festival Passover, leaving practising Jews unable to attend. But on Friday he was welcomed with open arms at Bondi's Yeshiva Centre, the HQ of Chabad NSW. In front of 600 people, including Jewish community leaders and more than 40 rabbis, Rudd was presented with a menorah (Jewish candelabra) by Yeshiva's dean and spiritual leader, Rabbi Pinchus Feldman. Chabad is the largest Jewish outreach movement in the world, operating in more than 100 countries. Its aim is to encourage acts of goodness and kindness. So maybe we can expect tax cuts in Tuesday's budget.

Rudd gets Chabad rabbi's blessing

Published: 05/04/2008

The chief rabbi of Sydney’s Chabad-Lubavitch movement blessed Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

U.S.-born Rabbi Pinchus Feldman presented a menorah to Rudd before more than 600 people Friday at the Yeshiva Center, Chabad’s headquarters in Bondi.

In blessing the prime minister, Feldman recited a prayer for the nation’s leaders. Feldman, a Kohen, also bestowed the priestly blessing on Rudd.

“The menorah is a symbol of light,” said Rudd, who was making his third public address to the yeshiva. “It is about the Jewish people’s tradition, in the words of the biblical prophet Isaiah, of being ‘a light unto the nations’ and illuminating this world with acts of goodness and kindness."

Chabad has a longstanding tradition of presenting a menorah to political leaders.

After his address Rudd, who also baked challah during his visit to the Yeshiva Center, received a standing ovation.

Eli Feldman, one of Feldman’s sons, told JTA: “The menorah is a symbol of the yeshiva, a symbol of Jewish life."

“Rudd’s outdoing John Howard,” he said, referring to the extraordinary support Israel and the Jews received under the 10-year rule of Howard’s now-opposition Liberal Party. In March, Rudd led a bipartisan parliamentary motion congratulating Israel on its 60th anniversary.

Van crash kills Sydney Chabadniks

The bodies of a Lubavitch couple killed in a car crash Dec. 20 were buried in Sydney on Monday.
More than 700 mourners joined 19 immediate family members for the burial of Zev and Rochel Simons, who were killed when their van veered across the median strip on a major highway and plowed into a truck. Their deaths have stunned Sydney’s Orthodox community.
The couple, who have 10 children, were traveling to Melbourne for a wedding. None of the children were with them at the time.
The 39-year-old driver of the truck was thrown from his vehicle and died at the scene.
The truck was carrying 50,000 liters of gas, prompting emergency personnel to close the highway for more than 12 hours for fear of an explosion.
Zev Simons was a former director of Jewish studies at the Yeshiva Primary School. Rochel Simons was a teacher at Kesser Torah College and also worked at the local mikvah, or ritual bath.
Kesser Torah College’s president and principal sent a letter on Friday to the school community grieving over the “terrible tragedy took the lives of two of our beloved. We are all in varying stages of shock,” they wrote. “At KTC, we are trying to digest the monumental proportions of this heartbreaking loss.”
The couple's son-in-law, Rabbi Yossi Cunin, the co-director of Chabad of the Hills in Beverly Hills, Calif., told the Chabad.org Web site: “They gave their lives to the community.”

Jewish House fundraiser draws 250

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JEWISH House raised more than $200,000 at its annual fundraiser, which was attended by 250 people at The Westin in Sydney last Wednesday night.

Jewish House, a 24-hour crisis centre for people with stress-related conditions including, anxiety and depression, will use the money to continue the upkeep of its accommodation and counselling facility.

Co-president Roger Clifford said he was proud to see the community supporting his organisation and was pleased with how much money was raised.

“I think anyone can see, by the number of people that attended, that there is a tremendous support base for the Jewish House in the community,” Clifford told The AJN after the function.

“The reason the community supports us is because they recognise the unique work that we do and see it as something that is absolutely vital for the Jewish community.”

Executive director and rabbi at Jewish House Elozer Gestetner echoed Clifford’s comments.

“It was very gratifying to see the support we received. I’m proud to be able, as a rabbi, to lend my support and assistance to those needing emergency help”

Rabbi Kastel to leave the Great

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RABBI Mendel Kastel will end his tenure at The Great Synagogue in the coming months The AJN has learned.

Both the Great Synagogue and Rabbi Kastel, who is the president of the NSW Rabbinical Council, refused to comment when they were contacted by The AJN this week. However, the rabbi is expected to leave the synagogue by the end of the year.

After moving to Sydney from New York in 1988, the rabbi joined The Great Synagogue in 1993, and has become a key figure in Sydney’s Jewish community.

While he is best known for his work at the Elizabeth Street Synagogue, organising its youth camps and annual Chanukah celebrations, he also founded Point Zero Youth Services in 1997, and j-junction in 2006. He was the chaplain of the NSW police force, Maccabi NSW and St Vincent’s Hospital, where he visited more than 30,000 patients in Sydney.

Federal MP for Wentworth Malcolm Turnbull said he hoped Rabbi Kastel would continue his service to the community.

“I was thrilled to recently present my good friend, Rabbi Kastel, with a Wentworth community service award for outstanding service to the community. Rabbi Kastel epitomises the act of tzedakah,” Turnbull said.

His sentiments were echoed by Point Zero Youth Services general manager Stephanie Lenga, who said that Rabbi Kastel was very supportive of the community.

“He has been incredible and he is such an asset to the community,” Lenga said.

“He seems to spend all the time he has, giving to the synagogue and community, whether it be j-junction for the single people in the community or Point Zero for the youth.”

Rabbi Kastel is expected to stay in Sydney and continue his work with j-junction, Point Zero Youth Services and a variety of other organisations.