An icon dies – Rabbi Raymond Apple passes away in Jerusalem

Sydney’s The Great Synagogue community has been saddened to hear of the passing of Rabbi Raymond Apple AO, who was the spiritual head of the congregation for over three decades.

The Great’s Rabbi Dr Benjamin Elton told J-Wire: “Rabbi Apple defined religious leadership for a whole generation at The Great and for many across the whole of Sydney. He was a teacher, guide and comforter and accompanied his congregants as they faced good times and bad. He was a mentor and inspiration for many who turned to him.

The congregation was aware and proud of his work in the wider community, in so many areas and with such distinction but above all he was their rabbi. His extraordinary breadth of outside work never led him to neglect his own synagogue and its members.

Since his retirement in 2005, many have continued to learn from him through his writing. Just last year, we published a collection of his writings on the weekly Sidra to celebrate fifty years since his induction as our Chief Minister.”

Rabbi Elton was in regular contact with Rabbi Apple and often turned to him for advice and information which was always given swiftly and warmly. They enjoyed lunch together in Jerusalem this past July and corresponded in the last few weeks.

An era has closed in the history of The Great Synagogue and of Australian Jewry. Rabbi Apple served his congregation and the wider Jewish and general community well, and his example will be a blessing.

In July 2014, J-Wire published its first “Ask the Rabbi” column produced by Rabbi Apple. It has been part of the Monday edition from then until last week.

Rabbi Apple, together with the late Professor Alan Crown, was one of the driving forces behind the creation of Mandelbaum House, the Jewish residential college at the University of Sydney.

He served with great distinction as Co-Master of Mandelbaum House, on the Council of the College, on the Academic Advisory Committee, and as a Trustee on the Rachel Lipton Trust for many years.

Sydney’s Central Synagogue’s Rabbi David Freedman said: “His passion for Judaism and Jewish knowledge, his involvement in higher Jewish education and his commitment to Jewish university students made his contribution at all levels of Mandelbaum House, the Rachel Lipton Trust and the Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies at the University of Sydney invaluable.  He was also a prolific author, and the publishing arm of Mandelbaum House published many of his works.

On a personal note, my association with Rabbi Apple began in the 1960s.  As a lecturer at the summer and winter schools for Jewish Youth Study Groups (JYSG) in the UK, he was one of a band of young rabbis who inspired an entire generation of young Jewish teenagers, many of whom chose to dedicate their lives to the service of the Jewish community, via Jewish education, Israel, the rabbinate or other aspects of Jewish communal life.  I was also privileged to have Rabbi Apple as a teacher in the field of pedagogics when I began teaching for the then London Board of Jewish Religious Education in the 1960s.

Many years later, Rabbi Apple welcomed me to Sydney when I accepted the position of Campus Rabbi at Masada College and rabbi of Kehillat Masada.  It was Rabbi Apple who spoke so warmly at my inauguration ceremony at Kehillat Masada in July 1988.  Following this, I was also privileged to work with him in inter-faith dialogue, and I saw how his contributions were valued by all participating Jews and non-Jews alike.  He built close relationships with members of other faiths, most especially, as I recall, with the late Cardinal Edward Clancy of the Roman Catholic Church.

Rabbi Apple also lectured in Jewish Law at UNSW and it was Rabbi Apple who called me in early 2007 to ask if I would consider taking over his university lectureships at Sydney and UNSW as he was about to make Aliyah.  He then, most generously, shared with me many of his notes to assist me in preparing my lectures.  His call that day led to a wonderful chapter in my life as I continued to lecture in both universities for the next ten years.

Our thoughts and prayers go to Marion, his children, grandchildren and entire family.”

Professor Suzanne Rutland shared a passion for Jewish history with Rabbi Apple.

She told J-Wire: “Rabbi Apple became minister at the Great Synagogue in 1973, but I came to know him mostly through his work in Australian Jewish history.

I joined the Australian Jewish Historical Society committee as a young woman in 1970. Rabbi Apple very much took on the baton, following his predecessor Rabbi Porush in advocating for Australian Jewish history.

He recognised the importance of Australian Jewish history early on, which is sadly being neglected by many of today’s young Australian Jews.

In the late 1970s, he started to collect stories about the Great Synagogue as he was planning to write a book that included various stories and chapters, which was entitled ”Our Big Shule”.

Rabbi Apple’s involvement with the Historical Society was a lifetime commitment.

Every year, he would contribute an article to the Sydney edition of the Australian Jewish Historical Society journal, which I used to edit.

His commitment to the community was widespread.

His role in the Australian Army as Senior Chaplain was crucial. He also was central in interfaith dialogue, and from the early Catholic-Jewish dialogues which took place at the Great Synagogue from the 1970s onwards.

He was a central figure in developing links with the various Christian communities and also with the Council of Christians and Jews. He was very quietly determined in everything he did.

He fostered and worked to create links between Orthodox Judaism and Reform Jewry, working closely with the Emanuel Synagogue’s Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins. There had been tensions in that area in Sydney. There was complete harmony between the rabbis representing the Orthodox and theReform movement.

Suzanne Rutland that the Great’s congregation had been orthodox when Rabbi Porush was its spiritual leader, but things were changing when Rabbi Apple increased the orthodoxy when he took over the leadership, changing the synagogue’s mixed choir to being male-only.

She added: “His influence in every domain, including working with the Board of Deputies and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, was quite determined, pervasive, and he really played a key role in shaping Australian Jewry as we know it, today.”

Rabbi Yaakov Glasman is the spiritual head of Melbourne’s St Kilda Shule. He commented: “”Rabbi Apple lived an extraordinarily life of leadership and earned the respect of so many in the Australian Jewish community and beyond. His passing marks the loss of an erudite and compassionate leader and the St Kilda Shule community expresses sincere condolences to Rabbi Apple’s family.”

Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins, senior rabbi at Sydney’s Emanuel Synagogue added: “From the time of its founding in 1938, Emanuel Synagogue had a warm relationship with the Great Synagogue, enhanced under the leadership of Rabbi Apple. He taught Judaism with intelligence and clarity and had a great and wry sense of humour. One felt the heritage of the centuries in his presence and we were able together to do important work especially in the area of interfaith relations.”

 

Rabbi Raymond Apple was awarded an AO in the 2004 Queen’s Birthday Awards for ‘service to the community through promoting inter-faith dialogue and harmony, raising awareness of social justice, ethical and spiritual issues, and to the Jewish community’.

 

Rabbi Raymond Apple is survived by his wife Marion, children Shmuel, Riva, Adina and Benseon, 20 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.

Rabbi Raymond Apple

Born: December 27, 1935, Melbourne. Died: January 19th, 2024, Jerusalem.