In 2005 Israeli President, Iranian-born Moshe Katsav, paid his first visit to Australia
with his wife Gina in March, telling Australian Jews they were an example to world Jewry. In
Melbourne he met dayschool students, toured city landmarks, was keynote speaker at a community
function at the Palais Theatre, lunched with Premier Steve Bracks, and attended two Shabbat
services.
The presidential visit to the East Melbourne Congregation, Melbourne's oldest shul, was
especially memorable for Rabbi Shamir Caplan, who was leading his first official Shabbat
service.
Tributes flowed in for Sir Ronald Wilson, the eminent jurist who died in Perth in July,
aged 82. A Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain, he was the first lay president of the
Uniting Church in Australia, and towards the end of a distinguished legal career headed the human
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
He will be long remembered as a passionate advocate for indigenous Australians, and co-author of Bringing
Them Home, the report which, states West Australian Premier Geoff Gallop, has changed the way we
look at Australian history.
Jeffrey Driver, a former journalist and currently Anglican Bishop of Gippsland, has been
elected Archbishop of Adelaide, and will take up his position later this year.
Born in 1951 and ordained priest in 1977, he has been a leader in national theological education
at Charles Sturt University, and has had pastoral experience in regional NSW and Victoria. His
career in journalism began in New Zealand, and his experience on regional and suburban newspapers in
NSW gave him a feel for communities beyond the capital cities.
This was to prove valuable in helping to build unity in country parishes. As Rector at St Paul's
Manuka ACT, he saw the average Sunday attendance exceed 3000. Bishop Driver has been a particular
friend to young people, and women, leading, for example, a youth pilgrimage to the Diocese of Rahini
in Rwanda, and convening the General Synod Standing Committee Working Group on Women in the
Episcopate from 2002-2004.
Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence has been installed as the senior rabbi at Sydney's Great Synagogue,
succeeding Rabbi Raymond Apple. During his seven years at the Auckland Hebrew Congregation, he was
for two years Jewish Co-President of the Auckland Council of Christians and Jews. Council friends
and colleagues gave the Rabbi and his wife Mandy a fond farewell, praising his academic learning
along with his wit and humour.
After 19 years of active membership of CCJ Victoria, Michael Cohen was farewelled by the
executive Committee in June. In a moving address, he recalled, below, his introduction in 1986, when
Rabbi Lubofsky of blessed memory invited him to join the Executive:
'At the drawing of water during the festival of Tabernacles, which was the pinnacle of religious
ecstasy, Hillel used to say:
If I am here everyone is here, and if I am not here then who is here.
'We know without a shadow of doubt that Hillel was the epitome of modesty and humility, so it can
not be an egotistical statement. It is an exhortation for each and every individual to accept an
obligation to be present, to be a participant. For then everyone will be present. Moreover no
absentee can be replaced; society is poorer for the absence or non-participation of a single
individual. So it was incumbent on me to accede to Rabbi Lubofsky's request.
'And this being my last meeting, I am reminded of a saying of Rabbi Tarfon, late first/early
second century CE:
The day is short, the work load is large, the reward is great, and the Master is insistent. It is
not for you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.'
The Church of England has its first black Archbishop, John Sentama. The Ugandan-born,
Cambridge-educated barrister was ordained in 1979, served in several parishes and became Bishop of
Stepney, then Birmingham, before reaching the high office of Archbishop of York, second only to the
See of Canterbury. He has become known throughout the UK for his gifts as an evangelist, his keen
sense of the problems and challenges of British society, and his stand against racism.
As The Tablet of 25 June 2005 reports, Archbishop Sentama is also known for his
frustration over the arcane structures of the Established Church. In a speech to the General Synod
as to what the Church's reaction to the second coming might be, he claimed:
'When the last trumpet shall sound, a commission will be set up on the significance of the
trumpet, the financial implications of the trumpet, and for a report to come back in 10 years'
time.'
Order of Australia awards this year have gone to various CCJ members and friends, and we
congratulate them warmly.
The Australia Day list includes Mark Leibler AO, Dr Helen Light AM, Henry
Mendelson AM, Fleur Freadman OAM, The Revd Father Francis McLaughlin OAM.
The Queen's Birthday list includes Justice Alan Goldberg AO, Cardinal George Pell AC,
The Revd Tim Costello AO, the late Isador Magid AO, Justice Clive Tadgell AO,
The Revd Dr Bruce Kaye AM, Sister Shirley Sedawie nds OAM, The Revd Nanette Good OAM,
Dr Anne Hunt OAM, John Perry OAM.
Businessman and philanthropist Richard Pratt received an honorary doctorate from Ben
Gurion University in Be-er Sheva in May. The citation, apart from his business successes and his
philanthropy, stressed Mr Pratt's support for water research in arid regions such as the Negev.
While there, the Australian addressed the university's MBA class on the importance of leadership and
entrepreneurship.
The CCJ executive has elected three new members.
Anthony Bailey, The Revd Barbara Allen and Dr Morna Sturrock AM. Anthony Bailey
is Convenor and secretary of the Friends of St Paul's Cathedral, Deputy Grand Prior for Australia of
the Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem, former head of Accountancy at RMIT University, and
sometime secretary of Christian-Jewish Understanding in the Diocese of London.
Barbara Allen moved to Melbourne recently as Director of Field Education with students
training for ministry in the Uniting Church. A trained teacher and trained nurse, she has been
involved in Christian-Jewish affairs for 20 years and did her Masters degree on Holocaust liturgies.
She is now researching Australian Holocaust literature for a PhD, while writing a play about Anne
Frank and Sakado. In 2000 Barbara won the ICCJ essay competition, based in Britain, on the topic of
Forgiveness.
Morna Sturrock, journalist, author and historian, has had a lifelong involvement in the
ecumenical movement, has served on both the Melbourne and General Synods of the Anglican Church and
is a lay chaplain at St Paul's Cathedral. Another abiding interest is ecclesiastical and ceremonial
embroidery. Her seventh book, on James Moorhouse, the Bishop of Magnetic Power, was published
in May.
The Victorian Council of Churches has paid tribute to Sister Mary Leonora Moorhead who
died in Sydney on 8 July at the age of 68. She made headlines at the time of her appointment – a
woman and Roman Catholic nun – as General Secretary of the VCC in 1982. She served in that role
for 6 years. A member of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, she was involved in Christian education at
secondary and tertiary levels in Australia, New Zealand, America and Japan. After her time at VCC
she worked with the Victorian Council of Christian Education, then with Jesuit refugee Services in
Bhutan and the Pacific Islands. She wrote a history of the ecumenical movement in the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Melbourne.
Dr Philip Bliss, secretary of CCJ Victoria, has been appointed vice chairman of the World
Union for Progressive Judaism at the bi-annual conference held this July in Moscow Russia.
The World Union is represented in 40 countries around the world and has a membership of 1.8
million Jews, the largest Jewish congregational membership in the world! The WUPJ headquarters are
in King David Street, Jerusalem. The new Chairman is Steve Bauman who lives in California; Penny
Jakobovits was also appointed to the WUPJ executive. Altogether an outstanding achievement for
Australian Jewry.
