Rabbi Jeffrey B. Kamins OAM Endowment Fund

In 1938, courageous visionaries established Emanuel despite the external threat of World War II, beginning construction of the now Heritage Sanctuary as synagogues in Europe were being burned. In a dark time for the Jewish people and the world, the founders believed in the future and wanted to establish a sanctuary for Jews to connect with their spiritual heritage and community. Since then, the congregation has continued to evolve as a leading, dynamic and inclusive congregation, growing organically from the progressive, egalitarian foundation laid by its founders. The synagogue has been blessed by strong, visionary rabbinic leaders since that time: Rabbi Max Schenk, Rabbi Rudi Brasch, Rabbi Brian Fox and Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins – each playing their role in expanding the depth and reach of Emanuel Synagogue.

37 years ago, Rabbi Kamins, to date our longest-serving rabbi, imagined a future for Emanuel Synagogue—one that is today a reality: pluralistic, inclusive, egalitarian, and focused on social justice issues grounded in Torah teaching. Understanding that our vision for the future must be based on the values learned from our ancestors, Rabbi Kamins has had a passion for teaching our community to be more knowledgeable of the breadth and depth of our beautiful Jewish heritage. Over those years, Rabbi Kamins guided and nurtured clergy, educators, and community members, helping them grow into the talented leaders of the future. Blessed to work alongside Cantor Michael Deutsch, who, for decades, was the multi-generational heart and soul of Emanuel, Rabbi Kamins has also officiated at thousands of life-cycle events across multiple generations. He has been there with and for our congregation in times of greatest joy and deepest sorrow, always bringing his compassion and deep care along with a commitment to Jewish traditions and values.

Emanuel Synagogue is approaching its 100th anniversary, and as we do so, we look back on the road we have travelled and look forward to the future. Just like Emanuel’s courageous founders who dug deep in challenging times to establish our synagogue, so too must we. In this time of rising antisemitism and global conflict, we are being called upon to uphold the synagogue as a sanctuary of refuge, holiness, spiritual connection and community to ensure the future for the generations to come in the century ahead. We are tasked with holding fast to our faith: faith in our traditions, faith in our people and faith in ourselves as we shape our Jewish space together.

With faith, we can expand and grow into the future under the wise and compassionate leadership of Rabbi Ninio, along with the dedicated clergy team who have given so much support to our congregation since October 7th, since Bondi, and upon whose strength and wisdom we will continue to call.

With faith, we will continue to enhance our sacred communal spaces, crucial for gathering together during so many life-cycle events – baby namings, b’nai mitzvah, weddings and funerals; those spaces that enhance the sanctity of all our religious services on Shabbat, festivals and other occasions.

With faith, we will gather the very best people to inspire, teach and connect us to one another. And we will invest in the physical and technological infrastructure to enhance the experiences of the synagogue life and provide access and inclusion for as many people as possible.

And just as our founders’ faith led them to action in building our synagogue, so too must ours.  Our call to action is to establish an Endowment Fund to sustain and expand the values of religious pluralism, egalitarianism, and inclusivity championed by Rabbi Kamins, ensuring these principles continue to enrich Jewish and Australian communal life for generations to come. Thus, Emanuel Synagogue will further develop as an inspirational and model religious community, where we continue to teach and learn from one another in an open exchange of ideas and concepts.