Bentleigh shul fills a rabbinic gap
BENTLEIGH Progressive Synagogue in Melbourne has announced the appointment of Rabbi Gersh Lazarow as its new rabbi.
DALIA SABLE
FOLLOWING an “exhaustive year-long process”, Bentleigh Progressive Synagogue (BPS) has announced the appointment of Rabbi Gersh Lazarow as its new rabbi.
Currently a teacher at The King David School, he will take on the BPS role in a part-time capacity, replacing Rabbi Aviva Kipen who resigned from the post in August 2008 after eight years.
“Having a person like Rabbi Lazarow leading us will make a real difference to our community,” BPS president Frank Moore told The AJN. “He is a very vibrant person.”
Moore said Rabbi Lazarow would continue the congregation’s strong focus on pastoral care, and while his specific responsibilities had not yet been confirmed, communal guidance would one of his central roles.
“Rabbi Lazarow’s appointment means moving on to our next step for our growth,” the president said.
“We have grand plans for our little sanctuary. It is a vibrant and warm community, with a strong sense of family and a warm inclusive environment. Rabbi Lazarow understands that and is looking forward to being a part.”
King David principal Michele Bernshaw referred to the appointment as a “strategic partnership” between the school and BPS.
“The school has strong ties with Temple Beth Israel, the Leo Baeck Centre and Kedem and seeks to enhance our relationship with BPS,” she said in a statement.
“The King David School, like each of the members of the Victorian Union for Progressive Judaism [VUPJ], is keenly aware of the growing needs of young Jewish families in the greater Bentleigh area and we look forward to sharing more news in the future about initiatives and programs we will be launching together.”
Rabbi Lazarow took on the King David post in May last year after eight years studying and working in the United States, where he was ordained as a rabbi.
He completed two masters degrees, one in Hebrew letters and the other in Jewish education, at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles — the same school at which he received his s’micha.
BPS has 158 family memberships and attracts 300 to 400 people on Jewish holidays. The congregation has been led by VUPJ rabbis and lay leaders from the shul since Rabbi Kipen’s departure.
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