‘Shabbat Shalom’ – an iconic AJN highlight

It was Tzom Gedaliah 1997. As part of my historical research activity I was sitting in the AJN Balaclava Road offices reading archived old editions of the paper (that date back to 1933). Then editor Sam Lipski stopped by and asked what I was doing since leaving my previous executive government position. He was seeking to create a section focused on religious matters to give the paper what he saw as a much needed “neshama – soul” that he felt was lacking amidst the welter of information presented there. So, he asked, would I be interested in heading such a section? And thus a few months later began a 28-plus year journey for myself and the community. (Note that in Hebrew 28 is the gematriah of “koach – strength”). 

It was a journey, I would add, without a break. In all that time including whenever I embarked on my frequent visits to Israel or occasional travel elsewhere – there was never a week without my column or “Shabbat Shalom” as a whole. Yes there were challenges – the subject matter to be discussed other than that determined by our calendar or political events was not always obvious but we got there.

The first task as we developed the idea was to give it a name. “Shabbat Shalom” was chosen as we felt that with the inclusion of pieces devoted to Torah and especially the weekly parasha it would provide reading material particularly appropriate for Shabbat and discussion material for the Shabbat table. From anecdotal evidence over the years we succeeded in that regard – in many a household the section and particularly my column did become a Friday night meal staple, though I am a little concerned if it became so at the expense of study of the works of the great sages and commentators.

Sam named my column, whether or not in-depth analysis of issues or effectively a rambling “blog”, as “Sichat Yosef”, literally the speech of Yossi. It was a name about which I was hesitant because in my world a “sicha” was something by a special personality – be it the Rebbe himself or perhaps a “Mashgiach Ruchani – spiritual guide”, such as my teacher Reb Gedaliah Ajzenman, decades-long mashgiach of Kol Torah Yeshivah where I studied. However, Sam insisted on giving it a try and it has stuck, even to the extent of defining my persona. 

And so, in the first “Sichat Yosef” column, I began with reference to Rosh Chodesh Nisan and the Parashat Hachodesh reading of that Shabbat “Hachodesh hazeh lachem Rosh Chodashim – this month (Nisan) shall be for you the head of the months…” (Shemot 12:2). For The AJN, I suggested that Rosh Chodesh, coinciding as it did with Parashat Hachodesh, was indeed to be a beginning. It marked the start of what we hoped would be a significant contribution to the religious life of Australian Jewry. To take the pasuk further: “Rishon hu lachem – it is a first for you (our people)” and in the spirit of Rashi’s comment elsewhere on the related words “Lech lecha”, (Bereshit 12:1) – coincidentally the start of this week’s parasha – it was hoped that for the community it would be “l’hana’atcha ul’tovatcha – for enjoyment and benefit”.