St Kilda Shul Elects Chabad Rabbi

By Dalia Sable, Australian Jewish News

Following an extensive international search, the board at St Kilda Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne this week announced it will nominate Rabbi Yaakov Glasman to be its next chief minister and rabbi.

If appointed by the members at the general meeting in early May, the president of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria will become only the sixth rabbi in the 140-year-old congregation’s history.

“It’s quite surreal,” Rabbi Glasman, 31, told The Australian Jewish News. “Should the members approve the board’s recommendation to appoint me to the position, then the mere knowledge that St Kilda shul is regarded as one of the largest and most prestigious congregations in the country would make it a deeply humbling experience.”

The father of 4, currently congregational rabbi at the North Eastern Jewish War Memorial Centre (NEJC) in Doncaster, where he has served for 6 years, could become the congregation’s first-ever Australian born chaplain.

Rabbi Glasman obtained his smicha in Israel in 2002, and has since completed courses in mediation and negotiation, relationship and conflict management, training and assessment, and arbitration and mediation.

In searching for a new leader, the St Kilda board was conscious of attracting a husband and wife team.

Congregation president Phil Levy said that Rebbetzin Sara Glasman “has an equally impressive list of achievements and has made a significant contribution at North Eastern.”

“Rabbi and Rebbetzin Glasman are a formidable team,” Levy said.

“Their energy is infectious, and their willingness, if appointed by the members, to embrace the wonderful traditions of St Kilda shul, [is] inspiring.”

Current chief rabbi of the iconic congregation Rabbi Philip Heilbrunn announced in late 2009 that he would stand down from active duty after more than two decades, leading to the international search. He will stay on as chief minister emeritus in July 2011, when the new chaplain is officially appointed.

Candidates shortlisted for the position spent time at the shul meeting the congregation and completing an intensive program that included interviews, Skype sessions, emails and background checks.

A selection committee has already been formed at the Jewish War Memorial Centre to find a successor for Rabbi Glasman.