Rabbi Gary's Announcement

12 April 2016
4 Nisan 5776

Dear friends,

In 1988, fresh out of rabbinical school, only a short 5 years after marriage and just months following the birth of our first child, David, Jocelyn and I left our families and our home in the United States for four years, choosing, as the poet Robert Frost would have it, to take “the road less travelled”. Here, our two younger children, Shoshana and Aaron, were born, educated and came to maturity.  Here, David stood beneath the chuppah beside our daughter-in-law, Sarah.  And here, just one year ago, we were blessed with a precious gift, our granddaughter, Eliana. 

Now, I have arrived at a new season in my life. In December of this year, following 13 years of continual service to the congregation and 17 in total, after 28 years as a full-time rabbi, I will complete my present contract and conclude my tenure at NSTE.  

The wisdom teacher Ecclesiastes once said:  “To everything there is a season...” For me, it is a season for renewal, a time to entertain new challenges, discover fresh interests and to pursue a different derech (direction).  From now until December, I intend to continue working on behalf of our members and, together with the staff, support the synagogue’s leadership team as it prioritises its key strategies and works to ensure the congregation’s sustainability well into the future. 

As I anticipate my retirement from NSTE at the end of 2016, I wish to express my family’s gratitude to those who were most responsible for helping us to resettle in Chatswood in 2003: Dr. Frank Wolf, Philip Levy and Di Engelander, among others.  I am also most grateful for the tireless and enthusiastic support provided to me by my staff, by my assistant, Pauline Lazarus, musical collaborator Judy Campbell and Barbara Holmes, who, like Judy, has been with me from the very beginning.  A special thanks as well to our Meah administrators, past and present, who have helped our school to grow and prosper.  

I wish to express my appreciation to NSTE’s most recent presidents, Susan Kadar, Keshira HaLev and Mark Ginsburg, as well as their predecessors and boards. Deepest thanks, too, to my professional colleagues, my old mate, Rabbi Dick Lampert, former cantorial soloist, Benny Kaplinski, Rabbi Allison Conyer and more recently, my talented, hard-working and exceptionally devoted colleague, Rabbi Nicole Roberts. 

Just as importantly, I would like to recognise you, the members of the congregation and our dear friends.  You have taken us into your hearts, welcomed us into your homes and shared with us countless lifecycle 

passages, Shabbatot and Festivals.  Todah rabbah - thank you for always being there and for accompanying us each step of the way along our journey. 

It has been one of the great privileges in my life to be your rabbi, to teach your children and celebrate with them on the bima, to rejoice with bride and groom, and to dry the tears of the mourner. I have enjoyed working together to produce high-quality, lasting Jewish memories: in the beit k’nesset (havdalah at the end of Yom Kippur is a highlight), in the classroom and in the community. 

Whenever preparing a sermon, eulogy or “charge” to our B’mitzvah children, when visiting in hospital or at home, presenting a service, teaching a class or leading a program, I have always tried to keep your interests foremost in mind and to perform to the best of my ability. However, should I, at any time, have caused offense, disappointed or been insufficiently responsive, I ask for your forgiveness. 

In closing, please accept Jocelyn’s and my best wishes for your wellbeing and that of your family.  Together we pray that God grant us all the good health we require and the happiness we seek. May our futures be filled with the light of Torah, and Israel and the world with peace.    

Sincerely yours, 
 

Gary J Robuck
Rabbi