Changing Nature of Jewish Religious Practice in Australia and the Importance of Interfaith Dialogue

An edited version of a talk to the ISRA Studies of Religion Conference in Sydney 10 March 2023

In response to the Studies of Religion Syllabus focus on the changing pattern of religious observance in Australia post-1945, I will discuss one change - the prevalence of Hasidic Rabbis in orthodox synagogues in Sydney. I will also address the importance of Interfaith dialogue.

I begin with a bit of scripture,

Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets, he was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant… the Israelites were afraid to approach him (Exodus 34:29-30).

The phenomenon is explained by the Midrash[i]. Moses worked closely with God to create the second set of tablets after he broke the first set in response to the worship of the golden calf. Moses held one side of the tablets in his hand – symbolic of the parts of the Torah humans could understand, while the Divine Presence held the other edge – symbolic of the parts of the Torah that only God understands[ii], and in between the two parts was something of profound mystery. It was from this mystery that rays of light appeared on Moses’ face.  

I, a Rabbi from Brooklyn, New York, read this passage while preparing my lesson for a Hasidic-led Synagogue based on the North Shore of Sydney. The congregation I will deliver this lesson to are not Hasidic Jews, but choose to attend the lessons of a Hasidic Rabbi. 

Senior Dayan (Judge) of the Sydney Beth Din 
(Religious court), Rabbi Yehoram Ulman

This reflects a peculiar development of Jewish practice since 1945. Instead of mainstream orthodox Jews being led by Rabbis of the same inclination, they are mostly led by Hasidic Rabbis. In terms familiar to Studies of Religion teachers, many of these Rabbis are less in the mode of Maimonides and his rationalist approach - that would interpret the Torah’s story about a talking donkey as a prophetic vision - and more in the mystical mode of the Baal Shem Tov. This change that has occurred in orthodox Jewish life in Australia is linked to the rise of secularism.

 Australian Jews are generally full participants in Australian culture, and the general trends you will see in the census also hold true for Jews. Like the census data that tell us that more than a third of Australians selected no religion, around 30% of respondents of the Gen17 Australian Jewish Population Survey cited a ‘secular’ outlook or lifestyle[iii].

The trend away from religious observance has been a global one. It prompted a response from the Chabad Hasidic movement to send Rabbis from New York to all corners of the world to call Jews back to religious belief, study, and practice. 

This development is one change in one stream of one faith community in Australia, and it is important not to overstate its significance, even within the Jewish faith. Hasidic Rabbis will often teach from mainstream orthodox perspectives.  Adherence to religious requirements is still mixed, despite the best efforts of the Hasidic Rabbis. 29% of survey respondents reported that only kosher meat was bought for their homes and 14% attend synagogue once or more per week.

Despite the Hasidic background of many Rabbis in Sydney, this has not inhibited interfaith work. Labels can often be misleading. An example of this is my good friend, Imam Farhan Khalil, who comes from a Salafi school of Islam and is one of the most passionate advocates of interfaith I know. 

The interfaith work done by the Together For Humanity Foundation began in a Chabad Hasidic Synagogue in 2002. It was a collaboration between a Hasidic Rabbi, Christians and Muslims spreading a message of goodwill between people of different faiths. One of the early events was covering NSW Parliament with messages from students in response to the visits by the Christian, Jewish and Muslim teams to schools.

During the Sydney siege, Father Patrick McInerny and I said prayers on the steps of Lakemba Mosque alongside Sheikh Wesam Charkawi. This was part of an effort to show interfaith solidarity. It was widely reported in the media, and was part of the spirit of goodwill at the time that prevented that terrible event eroding social cohesion in our city.

There is a lot of effort being put into interfaith. Studies of Religion is strong in NSW, with an active Facebook page with over 1600 members.

School children from different cultures come together in interfaith encounters. These are run by Catholic Mission, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and Together For Humanity, to name a few.

An Independent evaluation of Together For Humanity’s work by Western Sydney University found that there was a significant impact from these activities. The research found that programs are effective in assisting students to challenge stereotypes and alleviate their fears. These programs also empower students to deal with prejudice and discrimination and promote the acquisition of empathy, mutual acceptance and belonging. [iv]

Some would argue that if the criteria for evaluating the importance of interfaith dialogue is measured by the number of participants, then it is irrelevant to most Australians and therefore unimportant.

On the other hand, I would argue that the criteria should be based on the need for it, in which case, it is very important.  

To return to the scriptural idea I began with. Some people are drawn to a ‘golden calf’ type of religion. Concrete, solid and uncomplicated. Interfaith work, however, can be linked to the mystery of ’the middle section of the tablets‘. Its mystery involves the complexity of holding in tension; truth claims on one hand, and leaving space and having respect for those who believe and practice differently.

  

[i] Midrash Rabba, Exodus, 47:11

[ii] Etz Yosef on Midrash Rabba, Exodus, 47:11

[iii] https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/1531791/gen17-initial-findings-report-online-version-final-22_3.pdf

[iv] Gale, F., Edenborough, M., Boccanfuso, E., Hawkins, M., & Sell, C. (2019), Western Sydney University, Australia. Promoting intercultural

understanding, connectedness and belonging: An independent qualitative evaluation of Together For Humanity programs. 

Ambiguity and Mystery vs. Clarity & Display - Bamidbar

Robot with clarity, flag and rigidity

We crave clarity in an ambiguous world.

In the early 90's I struggled to decide on a vocation. Did I want to join the Chabad movement's team of “Shluchim” agents of the Rebbe to try to bring Jews back to observance or undertake some other path? As I sat at a tribute dinner to my grandfather Rabbi Joshua T. Kastel in Boston shortly after he passed away and heard how much he was loved and how he contributed as dean of the Lubavitch school there, I decided that I did not need to decide because the decision had already been made for me. I had to try to fill his shoes, this was my destiny and life's work. Except that it wasn't. Since 2006 my full time occupation is focused on the needs of the wider community and diversity education work[1]. 

Clarity vs. Mystery, flexibility and ambiguity

Clarity is sought in matters of the the spirit, purpose, identity and relationships between people and groups. I have watched in amazement and despair as groups lap up the “us good victims, them evil, evil perpetrators” discourse in speeches, print and Facebook, over and over again, like a toddler listening to a familiar bed time story. This week Jews read a section called “Bamidbar”, “In the wilderness”. It begins with a census displaying God's love[2] and clarifying the number of men[3] wandering in the uncertain landscape. Followed quickly by another step of clarity and display, the allocation of flags to groups of Jews[4].  Yet it ends with some holy objects being shrouded from view[5]. How do we navigate the balance between the desire for clarity, sense of place and pride and the flexibility, freedom and mystery that invariably come at the price of ambiguity?

Identity

This question plays out in the lives of so call “new economy” workers. These are people who work as free agents, constantly moving between short or medium terms jobs as well as between cities and countries, enjoying great freedom and flexibility. Some of these workers are now craving the sense of belonging and recognised identity they left behind with the company job. Some even work “alone, together” in a shared work space with other unattached workers. Others express frustration about not being known as they leave their reputation behind in one country and start work in the next[6].  

Desert Flags & Belonging

The unconnected worker is advised to build her own “personal brand”. For the Jews wandering In the desert, the approach was a more traditional one, with a tribal or collective “brand”. Every Jew belonged in a particular place in the camp, around a flag with known colours and images that related specifically to his group of tribes[7], or his tribe[8] or even his clan or family[9]. “In this way each would recognise his flag [10]”.

In this very ordered society, misfits are unlikely to do well. We are told the background story of the executed blasphemer. He was the son of a Jewish woman who was raped by an Egyptian[11]. He came to pitch his tent in the camp of Dan,
they said to him “what is your nature that you would pitch your tent in the camp of Dan?”

he replied,”I am the (son of one of the) daughters of Dan,

they said “it is written each man...according to their fathers houses

he went to the house of judgement of Moses where things did not go well for him, he then stood up and blasphemed”[12].   

His case aside, the flags expressed strength stemming from people knowing who they were. The evil prophet and sorcerer Billam who had sought to curse the Jews but was thwarted, is said to have looked at the flags and then remarked “who can touch these people who recognise their fathers and their families[13]”.  

Definite Purpose

Perhaps what really impressed Billam was that he saw “that each one stands in his place that is proper and corresponds to his strengths (as these are manifest) above (in the spiritual dimension)”[14].

The idea that the flags relate to purpose is linked to a Midrash about the origin of the flags. When the Jews were at Mt. Sinai they saw “Twenty-two thousand chariots of angels, each one decked out with flags, (that) attended the Revelation of the Torah. The Israelites immediately desired to have flags just like the angels [15]”.

The angelic connection is significant, because angels symbolise a fixed purpose. They are divine messengers created to fulfil one task, and cannot do any other task other than the specific mission for which they were created. Their flags, reflected this clear purpose.  Human beings, however are not limited to serving God in one particular manner[16]. For humans, a banner is too restricting; it does not reflect our true free and flexible spiritual essence. Still the Jews desired the flags and the clarity they represented. This was granted to them[17].  Perhaps they would have liked Mikey Jordan, a Sydney barista who has declared a belief in freedom from choice” and provides certainty in coffee, giving his customers no choice in the matter[18].  Interestingly, to the best of my knowledge these flags did not continue to play a part in the worship of the Jews in later times[19].

There is plenty of merit in making our unique contribution, best suited to our talents and interests. The tension here is between a quest for a predestined purpose which is then followed somewhat rigidly and what I think is a more dynamic on-going exploration of what I can possibly do today or in the future that is the most appropriate and useful.

Coverings and Smoke

The reads ends with another expression of the question of display and mystery. The Levite tribe whose task it was to carry the holy objects of the portable desert temple were forbidden to see the objects that they carried[20]. The holy ark was covered by Aaron and his sons who were Cohanim (a separate religious class) with two coverings[21]. The effect of this was that the holy objects would remain “Symbolic objects, subjects for the mind, for thoughts, not much as actual tangible objects, and so all the more fill their minds with thoughts of their meaning[22]”. The space where the ark was kept was only visited once a year by the high priest and even then he was enveloped with a cloud of smoke[23].   

Conclusion

There is comfort, value in definition and clarity, and in finding ones place and purpose. How attractive it is for many people for everything to be as clear about it all as the angels. Equally, there is potential for still greater achievement by embracing the infinite possibilities inherent in being human, and I think the stress of uncertainty is a fair price to pay for this. I suggest that this is true both in the the way we relate to the divine and our fellow human beings, including those whose beliefs, ethnicity or perspectives on certain conflicts are different to our own. It might be harder, but it is the more promising path.

---

[1]    I still do my bit for the Chabad movement, teaching Bar Mitzvah students on a Sunday morning and teaching adults on Saturday afternoon. Monday-Friday, I lead the “Inclusive, multi-faith based”, Together For Humanity Foundation.

[2]    Rashi

[3]    Numbers 1:2

[4]    Numbers 2:2, 34

[5]    Numbers 4:5-20

[6]    Delaney, B, The Community of the Office, Sydney Morning Herald, 21.05.11, p22

[7]    Abarbanel states that his view is that there were only 4 flags, but that the commentators said that there were twelve.

[8]    Rabbenu Bchai, also strongly implied in Bamidbar Rabba 2:6

[9]    Haemek Davar

[10]  Rashi, on Numbers 2:2

[11]  Leviticus 24:10, with commentary

[12]  Torah Kohanim Emor Parshata 14

[13]  Bamidbar Rabba 2:3

[14]  Etz Yosef commentary on Bamidbar Rabba 2:3, see the Ramban on 2:2, who links the tribe of Judah to kingship, Yissachar to Torah, Zevulun to riches, Reuben to Teshuvah etc. The Klei Yakar has additional roles, Shimon were teachers, scribes and paupers in whom humility is more common, and Gad is charitable.

[15]  Bamidbar Rabba 2:3, God's response was that he “swore that by their lives”, they will have flags too. Generally an oath is made to overcome resistance. While God granted their request, it would seem that in a sense they would have done better without the flags.

[16]  See Nefesh Hachaim1:10

[17]  Morrison, C, 2006, based on the teaching of Rav Kook, in Gold From the Land of Israel, pp. 227-229. Adapted from Midbar Shur, pp. 24-25), this article also makes the link between the Midrash linking the flags with the song of songs (2:4) “he brought me to the wine house and his banner over me is love”  and the idea that  “when wine enters the  secrets come out (Talmud Eiruvin 65a) in that both the flags and wine reveal the inner character.  http://www.ravkooktorah.org/BAMID62.htm,

[18]  Sydney Morning Herald, 21-22 May 2011, p3

[19]  although the colours continued to be displayed on the chest of the high priest, the Cohen Gadol

[20]  Numbers 4:5-20

[21]  Bamidbar Rabba, states that even the Cohanim did not look at the holy objects, instead lowering the cover bit by bit

[22]  R. Samson Raphael Hirsh, commentary on Numbers 4:17

[23]  Oznayim LaTorah, cited in Nachshoni, Y (1991), Studies in the Weekly Parshah Bamidbar, Artscroll, Brooklyn NY,  p.932

Embracing the Unknown and alternatives to scientific knowledge /the case of the Golden Calf

Egyptians and others who care about what happens there are facing the unknown. There is an ancient impulse to seek linear knowledge, evidence based, “scientific” information about what is and what will be. This essay argues that having clear knowledge is not always appropriate and that some times it is useful to embrace the unknown or “traditional knowledge” of people with a variety of skin tones including the darker shades.

In 1999, the Nuer and Dinka tribes of Southern Sudan had been waging war, killing each other and destroying each others’ cattle. An American Christian, Bill Lowery, and others from the New Sudan Council of Churches brought chiefs from the two sides together, at great risk to the chiefs themselves. One of the rituals involved participants spitting into a gourd filled with water. When it came to Bill, he spat into it too. When everyone had spat, they splashed the water on each other. The spittle on the tongue is meant to be the coldest part of a person, and splashing it symbolised cooling off the hot bodies, charged with the ‘heat of conflict’. Bill asked the chiefs to tell stories they heard from their fathers’ mothers about how conflicts were resolved in the past. They sat opposite each other, divided by a rope representing the Nile, and discovered the wisdom of their respective ancestors was very similar. They told stories about what was done to them, and finally were asked what they ‘remembered’ for the future of their daughters’ sons.

After three days of story telling, they reached the point of decision. Bill warned his team that this was not a time to give advice. In the end the decision was a ‘no-brainer’. The logical conclusion was ending the fighting. One of the oldest chiefs told Bill, “I have been to many meetings with the United Nations. Never before has anyone asked me what I think[1].”

It is plausible to suggest that the wise UN people were arrogant, but I suspect that they suffered from this need to have a linear “scientifically” documented plan with neat graphs that might not have allowed for listening to old black men. One liberated brown gentleman, India‘s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, had this to say. “It is science alone that can solve the problems of hunger…of superstition and deadening custom…the future belongs to science and those who make friends with science”[2]. 

This impulse may have also been at work when the ancient Israelites, not long after hearing God’s command “Do not make for your self any image[3]” demanded “make us Elohim that will go before us[4]” then created and bowed to a Golden Calf.  The common understanding of this is reflected in the Midrash that “the Egyptians would carry their gods and sing before it and see it before them. Make us a God like the gods of Egypt and we will see it before us”[5]. The word Elohim can mean God but it can also mean a guide as we find when a reluctant Moses is told to speak to the Jews with Aaron as his spokesman, he is told that “you will be for him an Elohim[6]”[7].  The Jews were seeking a replacement for Moses who failed to come back from the mountain.

They thought it would have a higher power to tell them the future, to stand instead of Moses to lead them and tell them what will happen to them[8]. Alternatively, the purpose of the calf was “like Teraphim (statue like objects) that were used in witchcraft to tell them their needs[9]”. In direct contravention of “do not have diviners, (using lucky or unlucky times or omens)…be wholesome with God”[10].  

The Golden Calf was to serve as a focal point for prayer for the Israelites, “just as we do today in our places of worship, taking pride in their stones and mortar” Just as we turn our hearts to “heaven” in prayer. In this view the problem was not so the calf which in its meaning was not that different to the Cherubim on the holy ark but rather creating their own symbol not commanded by God[11]. Aaron states that tomorrow there will be a feast to God, because the spiritual content remained unchanged, only there was a small concession to concreteness of worship[12].

The quest to uncover mysteries engages Moses as well and he asks God to “show me your glory[13]” by which he meant “show me how you lead the world[14]”, seeking to understand divine justice, reward for the righteous as well as the tranquility of the wicked[15].

God responds to this request by explaining that no man can see His face and live. Instead God offers to “I will put you in the cleft of the rock[16] where Moses will see “God’s back” but not his face. Then He will “shield (Moses) with  the palm of his hand on him until He passes”.  The face, back and hands are metaphors that indicate that there are some secrets that must remain closed even to Moses.

The place in which Moses has this experience, hosts another visitor years later in the dramatic story of Elijah in the cave[17].  Elijah arrives in the very cave and asks him “"What are you doing here, Elijah?". Elijah replies that he had “been zealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant... they have killed Your prophets by the sword..” Again the theme of passing plays out. God tells Elijah, “"Go out and stand in the mountain before the Lord, Behold! the Lord passes”. Then there is a great and strong wind splitting mountains and shattering boulders before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake-not in the earthquake was the Lord. After the earthquake fire, not in the fire was the Lord, and after the fire a sound of silence[18]. Whatever God’s message was to Elijah with all of this, curiously God repeats his original question. "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Elijah’s response is identical with the one he offered before this dramatic display. I wonder if this is part of the reason our sages teach us that forever more Elijah is required to attend every circumcision where the covenant is affirmed. Perhaps observing imperfect people ambiguously cleaving to God is a good correction to Elijah’s judgmental “black and white” certainty.  

Moses is changed forever by this experience and having “Gods hand on him”. Moses did not know it but the skin of his face shone with rays of light, Aaron and the sons of Israel were afraid to approach him. For most of the rest of his life he would need to have some concealment of his own, covering his face with a mask or veil. If we understand the veil metaphorically then rather than adding to the mystery detracted from it by “putting a mask on the ideas and presenting them in a way that the people could understand[19]”. Thus, Moses having sought to uncover the mystery and having being touched by it, must now protect others from mystery, giving physical interpretations to spiritual ideas, thus concretizing the ethereal.     

While the scientific method can help us communicate and put a man on the moon, it is not the tool for the ultimate questions of life. Embracing the unknown or seeking traditional knowledge each have their place. The Ultimate knowledge of God is (to know that) we don’t know[20].

[1] Lowery, W. (2010). Related to me in by Bill Lowery in late night Conversation at the Third World Peace Forum, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. http://southsudanfriends.org/News/Update991122.html. Accessed 7 June 2010

[2] Appleyard, B. (1992) Understanding the Present, Science and the Soul of Modern Man, p.3 Picador/Pan Books, London

[3] Exodus 20:4 in the Ten Commandments

[4] Excodus 32:1

[5]  Pirkey Drabbi Eliezer 45, cited in Torah Shelaima, volume 21, p 85.

[6] Exodus 4:16 and later 7:1

[7] Interpretation brought in Torah Shlaima, Volume 21, Miluim p. 206, seems to be quoting Ibn Ezra, not clear to me from the text.

[8] Ralbag, Torah Shlaima ibid

[9] Rashbam, in Torah Shlaima ibid

[10] Deuteronomy 18:10-12

[11] Kuzari 1:37, cited in Nachshoni, Y (1988) Studies in weekly Parsha, Sh’mos p.573, ArtScroll, Brooklyn NY

[12] Ibn Ezra as understood by Nachshoni, Y, ibid p.574

[13] Exodus 33:18

[14] Midrash Tanchuma Yashan, Vaetchanan 3

[15] Shemot Rabba 45:5

[16] Exodus 33:22

[17] Talmud Pesachim 54a, quoting Kings I Kings - Chapter 19. Ten things were created on the eve of Shabbat between the sons (twilight), these are…and the cave in which both Moses and Elijah stood. Moses as it states and “I will put you in the cleft  of the rock and with Elijah “and he went till the mountain of God, Horeb and came there to the cave and rested there”.

[18] The Hebrew is Kol Demama Daka, which literally means a sound, a silence, that is fine. The late educator Mr. Max Wallhouse, of blessed memory, translated it as the “Sound of Silence” which is the best translation I can think of. The more common translation is “a small still voice”.

[19] Rabbi A. Alrabi, Drashot Torah – Rabbi Shem Tov son of Rabbi Shem Tov, Ralbag, discussed in Torah Shelaima, Kasher, M, Torah Shelaima, volume 22, Miluim, p 181

[20] Mimonedes

---