Jewish Journeys is Live!

As many of my readers already know, my partnership with Temple Shalom Gold Coast ended in June.  In the wake of this I had to ask myself:  am I here in Australia because I’m supposed to be here?  That is, is there some reflection of the Divine Will active in this?

     We can never truly know G-d’s Will, except in that Torah provides the general blueprint for the conduct of our lives.  But the Torah will never answer the questions ‘What am I supposed to be doing with my life?’ and ‘Where am I supposed to be?’  On the other hand, when our work bears fruit, and in particular the fruit of lives touched and enriched spiritually in a very positive way, then it is hard to argue that we are then working our true vocation, a concept I spoke about several years ago on Yom Kippur.  And that we’re where we’re supposed to be.  That we experience hardship whilst exercising our vocation in a given place, that does not call our vocations into question.  It only points to the reality that so much of humanity is not at all listening for the Voice of G-d.

     So I’m here on the Gold Coast, with a vocation to fulfil, yet without a ‘job.’  What to do?  Thankfully, I am not alone; friends and supporters encouraged me and helped me to find a way to continue my work.  We created a vehicle for this to happen.  And the vehicle is Jewish Journeys, LTD.

     I am the only non-Orthodox rabbi living and now actively working in the rabbinate, in the state of Queensland.  Actually, I am the only one in Australia, north of Sydney.  That’s a lot of territory left unserved, since rabbis tend to stay more than busy enough with their own congregations and work outside that framework and geographic boundary very little.  In the territory I’m taking about, there are sadly a number of congregations (of which Temple Shalom is now one) which have nobody to provide the teaching and leadership that is a rabbi’s – and indeed a congregation’s – raison d’être.  And there are also Jews in this territory – one cannot truly know how many – who don’t have a congregation to serve them…not even a rabbi-less one.  So the concept of Jewish Journeys was born.  The idea is to provide a rabbi-at-large to serve the needs of small groups and individuals in this great and expansive land.

     After a lot of background work, Jewish Journeys is starting to look like something very real, something with a true potential to make a difference here in Queensland.  Their first client, which I have been serving for a couple of months, is the start-up fellowship Beth Hamitzvot, meeting here on the Gold Coast at the Southport Community Centre on Friday evenings.  And I’m poised to begin teaching “(Re-) Discovering Judaism” the course in basic Jewish concepts, practices, and history that will likely become Jewish Journeys’ signature product.  By November, I hope to be teaching three sections per week of this course:  one in Southport, one in Carina, Brisbane, and one via online teleconferencing.  Additionally, this Saturday morning I will begin offering an informal Torah study and worship service at my home, also in Southport, as a direct service of Jewish Journeys.

     You can learn the details of all these initiatives, and get a fuller picture of the Jewish Journeys concept, by visiting Jewish Journeys’ website (www.jewishjourneys.com.au) or Facebook page (www.facebook.com/jewishjourneysaustralia).  I certainly invite you to check out either or both, and to avail yourself of the service that Jewish Journeys is committed to provide.