The Sensible Jew

by Malki Rose

Rabbi Groner (the late head of the Chabad Movement of Judaism in Australia) was a great man.  I did not agree with many of his views; indeed, I’d argued with him about a number of theoretical and practical matters.

But I had enormous respect for him because he was, above all things, a father and teacher to thousands of children and adults over a very long period, nurturing his community in a relatively new and very isolated Jewish outpost.  He was a Manhig HaDor, the ‘leader of a generation’

The fire and fury of his words would cause many to tremble, but then the comforting warmth of this fire’s gentle afterglow offered a protection, a fatherly reassurance, and a promise of guidance and leadership.

Sadly, his departure from this world has left a vacuum in Australian Chabad almost as deep as the one left by the departure of Rabbi Schneerson, the late global head Rabbi of the Chabad/Lubavitch Movement.

Arguably, the Australian vacuum was even more profound. Continue reading In the Absence of Loving Kindness – by Malki Rose →

By Malki Rose

Over the last few days since my piece “In the Absence of Loving Kindness,” I’ve received a great number of emails from many different people, from all sectors of the community. Some disagreed intensely with my account, suggesting that what the messianists did was so clearly outside of what is permissible in Jewish law, that Rabbi Telsner had no choice but to publicly distance himself from them and their behaviour.

I would like to make abundantly clear that I agree with this completely.

Rabbi Telsner, as leader of the Australian Chabad Community, absolutely had to issue some form of public statement distancing himself and the mainstream Chabad community from these people and their actions. Continue reading In the Absence of Loving Kindness 2: Between Man and God – by Malki Rose →