Rabbi claims assault
ADELAIDE'S only orthodox rabbi claims he was assaulted by members of his congregation as they tried to evict him from a city synagogue in a dramatic escalation of tensions between the two parties.
Lawyers for Rabbi Yossi Engel sought a restraining order against board members of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation after alleging two directors entered his office and started removing property. Locks were changed on a number of doors around the synagogue, including his office.
Police were called to the synagogue after the rabbi alleged two female board members pushed a door into him.
"The door hit me hard in the head and chest," Rabbi Engel told The Weekend Australian. "I am stunned at what has happened ... this is not the way adults behave."
Rabbi Engel has accused the AHC of a "smear" campaign. The restraining order was not required after lawyers for the AHC said they would allow the rabbi to work at the synagogue this weekend only. The matter will be heard in full on Friday.
AHC president Leon Zimmett said yesterday he was "not aware" of the actions taken by congregation board members.
The move follows Wednesday's District Court order that Rabbi Engel and his wife and children should leave the AHC-owned home they have lived in for eight years.
A three-week stay was ordered on the eviction from the family home.
The protracted dispute has illustrated a clear clash between the orthodox community's strict Halachic law and the wider legal system.
The AHC believes it is fighting a contractual dispute but risks exclusion from the orthodox Jewish community by moving to evict the rabbi without sanction from the community's highest ecclesiastical court, the Beth Din.
The Beth Din has attempted to mediate a resolution to the dispute and recently issued a seruv - a notice of contempt - against the AHC, the first time this has been done in the Australian orthodox Jewish community.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21355851-5006787,00.html
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Posted By Chaptzem to Chaptzem Blog! at 3/09/2007 10:00:00 AM
