Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein was formally inaugurated as Chief
Rabbi of South Africa this week at a solemn and moving
ceremony held at the Bet Hamedrash Hagadol in Sandton.
Amongst those in attendance was South African President Thabo
Mbeki.
Rabbi Goldstein is the third Chief Rabbi to be appointed
since the unification of all Orthodox congregations under one
body in 1986. Sadly, Rabbi Goldstein's illustrious
predecessor, Chief Rabbi Emeritus Cyril K. Harris, was unable
to attend the ceremony due to serious illness. Rabbi Yossy
Goldman led the congregation in the recitation of Tehillim
for his speedy and complete recovery.
In Rabbi Harris' absence, Rabbi Goldstein was inducted by
Rosh Beth Din Dayan Moshe Kurtstag. Rabbi Kurtstag pointed
out that Rabbi Goldstein was the first locally born and
trained Chief Rabbi to be appointed in South Africa, which
made the occasion a source of pride not just to himself and
his family but to the South African Jewish community as a
whole.
In his inaugural speech, Rabbi Goldstein emphasized the
illustrious lineage of the Jewish people, the Patriarchs and
Matriarchs, whose pioneering striving for holiness had led to
the emergence of the family of Israel and laid the
foundations for the greatest event in history, Matan Torah at
Har Sinai.
"We are the children of these heroes of the Book of Books,
and we stand on their shoulders," he said.
The Sinai experience, Rabbi Goldstein said, had been
indelibly imprinted on the collective memory of the entire
Jewish nation, not just those who were actually there but all
succeeding generations. It was the real birthplace of the
Jewish people. Chazal stated clearly that a community
dedicated to Shomayim would endure forever, and
therefore Jews will only survive and thrive if they are in
sync with the values that sustained their forefathers
throughout the generations.
"Knesset Yisrael is a vertical community, rooted in
Sinai. It is the moral vision of Sinai that holds us together
as a community, for all Jews and forever thereafter," he
said.
Rabbi Azriel Goldfein, founder and rosh yeshiva of the
Yeshiva Gedolah of Johannesburg where Rabbi Goldstein learned
for seven years and obtained his smicha, congratulated
the Union of Orthodox Synagogues on the wisdom of their
choice of Chief Rabbi. Referring to Rabbi Goldstein as his
"dear and beloved student," he described him as young in
years but mature in wisdom. He exhorted him to respect and
protect on the great achievements of Rabbi Harris and to
build on them to raise the Jewish community of South Africa
to ever-greater heights.
South Africa has given the Jewish community the greatest
possible gift, he said, that of allowing its members to serve
Hashem in peace and tranquillity. South African Jewry
therefore owes their country a debt of honor and should
strive to do its part in helping build South Africa into one
of the world's great nations.
President Mbeki called the inauguration "an auspicious
occasion, both for the Jewish community of South Africa and
the country as a whole" and, on behalf of all the people of
South Africa, wished Rabbi Goldstein all success in his
challenging new position. Religious leaders had a crucial
role to play in South Africa today, he continued. By their
personal example, and through the wisdom of their teachings,
they can inculcate in their followers the values of honesty,
compassion and self-discipline that are so vital in
establishing a truly just and moral society.
Rabbi Shmuel Suchard, Dayan on the Beth Din and long-serving
rov of the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, read out a message from
Rabbi Harris, written from his sick bed, in which he urged
Rabbi Goldstein to take the lead in pushing for ever higher
standards of Yiddishkeit throughout the Jewish
community.
