Rabbi leads Megillah reading
Rabbi Dovid Gutnick led a group of about 40 participants in reading the Megillah during halftime at the AFL.
AS the Demons-Western Bulldogs clash at the MCG went into half time on erev Purim, an unlikely event began taking shape in the concourse area – as Rabbi Dovid Gutnick led a group of about 40 participants in reading the Megillah, the Book of Esther traditionally studied on Purim.
Knowing some footy fans might get waylaid at the MCG for the season opener on their steadfast trek to synagogue on the night of March 16, the East Melbourne Shule rabbi took action to make sure they had a chance to get their taste of Purim.
On an initiative planned a few weeks ago by Mizrachi congregants, he met Demons supporters – and a sprinkling of Bulldogs fans – in the concourse for the Megillah reading.
“Non-Jews took a keen interest, as greggars were shaken at Haman,” related Rabbi Gutnick, who led the reading clad in an old Fitzroy (now Brisbane Lions) guernsey and beanie.
“What could be stranger than a bearded man in a Fitzroy guernsey reading from a parchment scroll – perhaps only the sight of grown men chasing a leather ball round a park?” he quipped to The AJN.
Whatever heavenly powers were summoned by Jewish Demons fans in the concourse at half time, they appeared to have an impact on the second half of the match – with Melbourne staging a turnaround and going on to win by 26 points at the final siren.
Rabbi Gutnick said that as Purim is a chag (festival), not a yomtov, the prohibitions on travelling and attending sports and other entertainment events do not apply. And while he said it might have been better for Jews to read the Megillah in shule that evening, he decided more could be achieved by bringing the Megillah to the Jews.
The rabbi has been a lifelong Fitzroy/Brisbane Lions tragic, and recalls that for his bar mitzvah, he snared autographs from the entire Fitzroy team, including the era’s on-field greats, Gary Pert, Paul Roos and Richard Osborne.
Rabbi Gutnick said he isn’t done with the MCG. “My next project is to try to bring kosher food services to the ‘G’,” he said.
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