Report from Adelaide

Adelaide Hebrew Congregation

I was pleased to receive this report from our South Australian correspondent with regard to how the community is trying to pull itself together after the (continuing) saga with the previous Rabbi. The comment came in late on Friday in response to a previous post.

Insider reports:

Adelaide Hebrew Congregation’s communal seder on the second night of Pesach had a record attendance of eighty people who enjoyed the evening of song and participation led by Rabbi Gutnick. For a large group of elderly congregants, it was their first communal seder in many years. Visiting Israeli backpackers who came to the seder and services were also welcomed by Rabbi Gutnick and hosted with home hospitality during their stay. His whole family were here with us and are role models embodying the Rebbe's concern for others.
During the week, the youth of the synagogue went on a ten-pin bowling outing with Rabbi Gutnick and two bochurim (one each from Melbourne and Sydney yeshivot) with twenty participating in activities.
The Moshiach's seder was also fun with Rabbi telling Chassidic stories.
Last Friday night twenty five people came to Shabbat maariv services. On Shavuot there was a crowd of about sixty when Rabbi Gutnick led services and gave drashot. He gave us all the blessing of the Cohenim. He is a warm, caring individual and brings honour to his father's memory.
We look forward to learning and renewal under his guidance.

Hopefully Rabbi Gutnick will continue in this vital role and the community as a whole will get past their challenges unscathed.
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Adelaide Report

Yossi Engel with Massada College students in happier times

According to a report in the Australian Jews News website here, Rabbi Yossi Engel has "has been reported on nine counts of false pretences and eight counts of deception in relation to funding applications made by a South Australian Jewish school to the state's Ethnic Schools Board." It seems that the police are turning this over to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) office which, from what I understand, will assess the evidence and summons him to appear in court for sentencing.

However you look at it this is an extremely sad state of affairs. This is not a positive thing for frumkeit in Adelaide. The fact that Rabbi Engel has opened up his own shul/centre is causing rifts in this small community of less than 1,000 Jewish people. If it is proven that he broke the law I would suggest that he pay the fine (hopefully he will not have to do any jailtime) and leave Adelaide. He is not doing the cause any favours.

I haven't heard how Avremki Gutnick is going as the new Rabbi but I think he would be a suitable candidate to get things moving again.
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Chillul Hashem or Yellow Journalism

Maybe the Jewish News journalists should read this...

The Australian Jewish News has come out with a number of articles about the situation with Rabbi Yossi Engel in South Australia. When I saw the front page of that newspaper I thought that this was another embarrassment for the frum community. After reading the articles (here & here & here), and the accompanying piece by Yossi Aron and Jason Frenkel which explains - very briefly - some halachic aspects of supervision, I have started rethinking how I feel about the situation.

From what I have heard personally, comments that I have read in this and other blogs and from emails I have received I am pretty certain that Yossi Engel acted inappropriately - to say the least. Considering his past conduct and the way he has been behaving over the last few months I feel strongly that he should leave Adelaide asap before he does more damage there. But that does not mean that everything he touches is tainted. I cannot believe that Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick, a person of integrity and responsibility, would condone food products that are questionable as far as kashrus is concerned. The AJN quotes him:

“The matter of inspections carried out or not carried out by Rabbi Engel has been pursued and completed and we are satisfied that the current situation regarding the advertised SA products is acceptable,” Kosher Australia’s rabbinic administrator, Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick, responded on Sunday June 17.
“We have also been satisfied for some time now that, in practical terms, there have thankfully been no breaches that have occurred that have compromised the ultimate kosher status of the products listed as endorsed by Rabbi Engel/AHC.
“We are further satisfied at this time that any alleged shortcomings that may have existed in past inspection schedules of those products have now been rectified. No updates or warnings, as suggested by you, were therefore necessary.
“We are continuing to monitor the situation – and the matter has for some time now not been 'an issue'.”

The sensational headlines in the AJN just prove that they function like any other newspaper in playing up a story by twisting the facts. The headline of one story, "SA scandal threatens Australian kashrut", is worthy of the worst of tabloid journalism. The supposed question of the kashrus of 3 minor products certainly does not threaten kashrus in this country. Another headline, "South Australian producers' kosher confusion", is more than likely just ignorance. The Jewish News shows each week that their journalists know very little about Judaism and even less about Orthodox Judaism. Because some non-Jewish food manufacturers know and understand little about kashrus doesn't carry any weight halachically.

I asked in the previous post for comments in support of Rabbi Engel or at least in explanation of the events in South Australia. So far I have seen none here or in other blogs. This leads me, and many others who do not live in Adelaide, to assume that he must be "guilty as charged". I am happy to give him a hearing here and present his side of the situation.
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A Sad Situation

I have refrained from mentioning this extremely uncomfortable subject for a number of weeks but now believe that it is time that we extracted our heads from the sand and recognised this sad situation. What I am talking about is the current fiasco in Adelaide where Rabbi Yossi Engel has refused to leave his pulpit despite his contract not being renewed. To add to this is the accusation that he received money from the government under false pretenses for a school which didn't exist. And to make matters worse the Sydney and Melbourne Batei Din seem powerless to resolve this and the London Beth Din, who have been called in as a last resort, appear not to want to become embroiled in this bun fight.

There is another aspect of this situation which is also worrying. Rabbi Engel and the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation have taken this case to the secular courts. The courts have ruled on two occasions that this is a civil matter to do with his contract and not one that can or should be decided by Jewish law.

What we have been seeing in the Jewish and secular press appears to put Rabbi Engel in a bad light. I am more than happy to present his side of the story as I do not believe that he has had a fair go in the press - this could be because, so far, he has refused to give his side.

But whatever his side may be the facts are that this dispute, and the revelations about his school, have caused much hurt and damage to the Adelaide Jewish community. This is an extremely small community which is not growing as the youth tend to leave for Sydney or Melbourne when they reach university age. This community needs all the support from larger Jewish communities as we can give them.

Despite the fact that the courts have ruled that this is purely a contractual dispute, I strongly believe that the Sydney and Melbourne Batei Din should be working overtime to ensure that there is a resolution to this matter which is acceptable to both parties. Even if it was proven that Yossi Engel was unfairly dismissed there has been too much damage done for him to stay on as Rabbi. The Adelaide community needs a new Rabbi so that they can begin the healing process and get back on a stable footing.
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