Shul body facing crisis

By Naomi Levin

A NUMBER of Melbourne’s most important Jewish community structures are in danger of crumbling due to a funding dispute in the Orthodox community.

According to the Council of Orthodox Synagogues of Victoria (COSV), unless synagogues pay their full fees to the body very soon, the future of Melbourne’s eruv and beth din are in doubt.

There are a number of reasons why COSV fees, set at $25 per congregational member, are in jeopardy.

Firstly, one of the largest congregations, Caulfield Hebrew Congregation (CHC), has said it can still not afford to pay its fees, believed to about $25,000 per year.

And COSV facilities are being used by congregants at synagogues who do not pay COSV fees -— the user-pay system is failing.

St Kilda Hebrew Congregation, which has traditionally always paid in full, is not completing payment of its required fees for 2008/9, saying it will withdraw from the COSV unless the “inequitable” system is rectified.

CHC president Gary Frydman said despite recognising the value of the COSV and its work, financial problems have seen the shul pay a much-reduced fee to the COSV.

“We realised we owed a responsibility to the community and even in our darkest hour we’ve been paying something,” Frydman said.

“We’ve increased that recently and we plan to increase it over the next three years, so much so that in three years we hope to be in a position where we can pay the full fees.”

Speculation that the shul is flush with money and has been able to make high profile appointments -— Rabbi Ralph Genende and chazan Dov Farkas -— are incorrect, Frydman said.

Appointments, including a proposed youth director, are being funded by private donations, he said.

But Stephen Pinch, president of St Kilda shul, said his board would withdraw from the COSV by December 31, if large shuls such as CHC, as well as smaller shtiebels, fail to pay the full fee to maintain vital facilities.

“We have always been supportive of the COSV and we will continue to be, however, we just cannot accept that only a handful of synagogues provide all the funding,” Pinch said.

Romy Leibler, former president of the COSV and now president of Melbourne Beth Din and Melbourne eruv, said it would be a black day for the community if these institutions were left to wither.

He put the blame squarely on CHC’s shoulders.

“The bottom line is Caulfield runs the risk that instead of being recognised as revitalising the shul, they’ll be remembered for having destroyed essential communal service,” Leibler said.

If the COSV collapses, Leibler said the beth din would likely revert to the control of Melbourne’s rabbis. He warned that costs would go up, so much so, that a gett, which currently costs about $1300, may triple in price.

Current COSV president Moshe Trebish also spoke of a real threat to the eruv if funding was not pledged and secured.

“Thank the almighty God, since the eruv has started, there has not been one Shabbat or one Yom Kippur when the eruv has not operated,” Trebish said.

“The community should be very proud of that and it may be that until we can find people who are prepared to contribute … the eruv may have to close down.”

A meeting will be held with synagogue presidents and rabbis shortly to discuss funding options.

“If we don’t get unanimous support from all our members to agree to funding … then the board will have to see if it has any alternatives,” Trebish said.

“But it is a very strong possibility, very likely, that we will not be in a position to fund Melbourne eruv and the beth din.”