Chief Rabbi in Perth

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Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth,  was the keynote speaker at a function commemorating the 120th anniversary of the founding of the Perth Hebrew Congregation last night.

Mr Malcolm McCusker AO CVO QC Governor of WA, Mr Michael Sutherland Member for Mt Lawley representing the Hon Premier, Dr Keith Shilkin AM Convenor PHC 120th Year Commemoration Committee, Lord Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the Commonwealth, tThe Most Reverend Barry Hickey OAM, Catholic Archbishop of Perth and Rabbi David Freilich, Chief Rabbi of the Perth Hebrew Congregation pic: Sas Saddik

Over 300 people attended the Gala Dinner  held in Government House Perth organised by the Perth Hebrew Congregation as the first event to commemorate its foundation in 1892. The Dinner was also honored by the presence of His Excellency Mr Malcolm McCusker AO CVO QC and Mrs Tonya McCusker, the WA Premier’s representative,  Michael Sutherland, the Member for Mt Lawley,  and Mrs Michelle Sutherland,  The Most Reverend Roger Herft, Anglican Archbishop of Perth, and Mrs Cheryl Herft, The Most Reverend Archbishop Barry Hickey, Catholic Archbishop of Perth, Emeritus Rabbi Dr Shalom Coleman, Lisa Scaffidi,  the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth and Jo Scaffidi, Michael Keenan MP, Member for Stirling and other dignitaries.

Members of the Perth Hebrew Congregation and representatives of the Perth Jewish community experienced a special evening.

MC Adam Levine introduced the President of the PHC, Mr Dan Mossenson, who welcomed the distinguished guests and delivered a short history of the 120 years of the Congregation, marked by its progress and development under the four main Rabbis who were its spiritual leaders…David Isaac Freedman , Louis Rubin-Zacks, Shalom Coleman and the incumbent, David Freilich.

He pointed out that the PHC had been the leading Jewish organisation and that  its  members  had contributed not only to the growth of the Jewish community but that they had made an inordinate contribution to Perth and the State of Western Australia. Rabbi Freilich, in introducing Lord Sacks spoke of the religious significance of 120 years and how the life of the PHC had been imbued with spiritual values that had been inculcated by his predecessors all of whom had been educated at Jews College in London. He noted that the PHC remained one of the few congregations in Australia that remained under the “aegis” of the Chief Rabbi of the  United Congregations of the British Commonwealth.

The tour de force of the evening was the address by Lord Sacks. His audience was enthralled as he highlighted the universal  and eternal values of Judaism that were just as relevant in the 21st century as they had been for at least the last 2600 years when the concepts of the survival of a minority in a diaspora were revealed, in the first dispersal in Babylon, by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Judaism had a message for a troubled world in which respect and understanding were central along with personal faith and the role of the house of worship whether it was, as at first the synagogue, or the church or the mosque. His eloquence and passion had a profound effect on all present and it will be a night that will be long remembered in the annals of the PHC.

On his first full day in Perth and Australia today, the Chief Rabbi will attend a Morning Service at the Perth Shule, then meet with other communal rabbis before attending a Lord Mayoral Reception at Council House. Later he will be the guest of Archbishop Herft and he will speak at a gathering organised by His Grace at the Perth Town Hall. This evening he will meet with the youth of the Jewish community before attending a broader communal forum in the PHC Synagogue where there will be an opportunity for members of the congregation to hear and meet him.

The Chief Rabbi and Lady Elaine Sacks travel on to Sydney on Tuesday to continue their commitments in Australia.