TELL May - July 2012 - Emanuel Synagogue
TELL May - July 2012 - Emanuel Synagogue
TELL May - July 2012 - Emanuel Synagogue
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should say, ‘Who among us can go up to the heavens<br />
and get it for us and impart it to us, that we<br />
may observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that<br />
you should say, ‘Who among us can cross to the<br />
other side of the sea and get it for us and impart<br />
it to us, that we may observe it? No, the thing is<br />
very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart,<br />
to observe it.” The Torah encourages us to live by<br />
these teachings, countering those other passages<br />
that indicate that we are to kill by them as well.<br />
Which brings us to this year’s Festival of Dangerous<br />
Ideas. Torah, with its underlying and central presumption<br />
of the unity of God and the consequent<br />
idea of the sanctity of life, is the most dangerous<br />
“At <strong>Emanuel</strong>, we embrace<br />
the essence of Torah -<br />
challenging the status<br />
quo to enhance human<br />
dignity and sanctity.”<br />
idea of all, for it challenges us to think where we<br />
are failing as humans to unify and to sanctify. Over<br />
thousands of years, certain notions, under the<br />
weight of an experience of suffering, have crept<br />
into Judaism, and I would like to explore these<br />
years a few of those. This year my topics will be:<br />
“Arrogance and myopia: how the story of Jacob has<br />
been misread”; “Genocide and Judaism”; and once<br />
again, “Torah-latry: what happened to you shall<br />
have no other gods beside Me?” I look forward, as<br />
always, to learning with you and to growing <strong>Emanuel</strong><br />
<strong>Synagogue</strong> as a community where we embrace<br />
the essence of Torah - challenging the status quo to<br />
enhance human dignity and sanctity.<br />
The more questions that we ask with open hearts<br />
and minds and good intention, the more we stretch<br />
ourselves and give ourselves the opportunity to<br />
connect to the wisdom of our ancestors and transmit<br />
their beautiful core values and aspirations to<br />
our descendants.<br />
Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins<br />
The 72nd<br />
Annual General Meeting<br />
of <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong><br />
will take place on<br />
Tuesday 29 <strong>May</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
at 7:30 pm, at<br />
7 Ocean St, Woollahra.<br />
All members<br />
of the congregation<br />
are invited to attend.<br />
By order of the board<br />
of <strong>Emanuel</strong> <strong>Synagogue</strong>.<br />
N Elias<br />
Hon Secretary<br />
www.emanuel.org.au<br />
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