Online prayer platform goes live
EVER since Stan Gordon, CEO of Cold Rock Ice Creamery, began his personal relationship with Chabad 30 years ago, he says he has “witnessed and experienced unexplained events and miracles”.
When he arrived in Australia an opportunity arose for him to establish a business. The only problem was that he was broke. “Even a $2 coffee at that time was a stretch,” he told The AJN.
But … “After prayer – and a self-commitment to take on a mitzvah – the NAB agreed to loan me 100 per cent of the full funds required to fully acquire the business. No requirement for any security, just my signature,” added the ice cream magnate, who called it an “unexplained miracle”.
So, when South Africa’s Rabbi David Masinter called on Gordon to launch his Tehillim initiative in Melbourne, the Spiritgrow stalwart was quick to get started, bringing on board Rabbi Menachem Wolf and a team of dedicated rabbis.
Gordon has sponsored the production of one thousand 230-page prayer books “to encourage every single person, rich or poor, male or female, young or old, to embrace the saying of tehillim for an individual benefit”.
The books are accompanied by a website, prayitforward.com.au, where people can ask other members of the community to say prayers for them, for example if a family member is ill. They’ll receive a notification when the prayer has been said.
Gordon said he decided to invest in the initiative “to empower those who don’t (yet) understand the power of prayer and the understanding and belief in what it can achieve”.
St Kilda Shule’s Rabbi Yaakov Glasman, East Melbourne Shule’s Rabbi Dovid Gutnick, Sydney’s Rabbi Aron Moss, Glen Eira Chabad’s Rabbi Moshe Loebenstein and C Care’s Rabbi Shlomo Nathanson pulled their skillsets together to create the initiative, which went live online late last month.
“Rabbis are no more powerful than the next person,” said Rabbi Wolf, “Having a soul is all that’s required to give prayer.”
The team hopes the prayer books can find their way to households that do not already have a book, especially households of those who are not necessarily religious but see value in linking up with other members of the community.
“There is no such thing as an inferior Jew,” said Rabbi Wolf, adding this initiative seeks to “help people that are less observant discover that actually their prayer is equal to the next person’s prayer”.
The team plans to work with Jewish schools to create a new generation of children – especially those in non-religious households – that will have greater access to prayer.
For more information, visit prayitforward.com.au.
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