A factional dispute at Melbourne’s largest Progressive synagogue has erupted into a battle for control of its board amid a string of resignations and allegations of bullying and harassment.
Board members and employees of the Temple Beth Israel synagogue in St Kilda claim to have been bombarded with threatening emails and messages by a group of dissidents known as the Chaverim, who want to ditch the board at next month’s annual general meeting.
The Chaverim, who includes seven past Temple Beth Israel presidents, two retired rabbis and a host of business and legal industry luminaries, demanded the resignation of incumbent board members by last Thursday, or face a hostile coup. The board did not accede to their demand.
Temple Beth Israel has been plagued by conflict since October last year, when Senior Rabbi Gersh Lazarow apologised for plagiarising parts of his sermon. Lazarow resigned last year but later retracted the resignation with board support, before leaving again.
The factions have also been battling over the board’s decision to stand down cantor Michel Laloum, who was investigated over allegations of workplace bullying.
The investigation concluded that no serious misconduct occurred, but that “a number” of the allegations were “considered to be bullying in nature”, according to Australian Jewish News.
Read the article by Cameron Houston and David Estcourt in The Age.