Rabbi Dr John Levi is proud of Australia’s Jewish history, dating back to the First Fleet, the first Australian-born governor-general Sir Isaac Isaacs, and General Sir John Monash, who has a university named after him.
Through his work with the Jewish community in Melbourne, Australia and internationally, Rabbi Levi has shared the history of the Jewish faith with modern generations, making up for the “sense of lack” that he said was part of his own journey to becoming a rabbi.
Now he has been awarded the highest honour, the AC, for his eminent service to Judaism through seminal roles with religious, community and historical organisations, to the advancement of interfaith understanding, tolerance and collaboration, and to education.
As a child, Rabbi Levi said he was a “complete cuckoo in the nest”, attending a mainstream school and learning about the English kings while listening to a rabbi with a heavy accent at the temple.
“I didn’t know anyone born in Australia who had become a rabbi … the rabbinical seminaries were all in Europe,” he said.
He went on to co-found The King David School in Melbourne to meet the need for a school “where Judaism was a part of everyday life”.
He has also been involved with the regional and World Union for Progressive Judaism, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and was also a founder of Progressive Jewish Congregations.
Read the article by Tessa Ackerman in The Australian.