Chaim Freedman: August 2012

The Hon. William Kaye AO QC - obituary

The Hon. William Kaye AO QC
Lawyer, judge and advocate for tolerance

(Obituary written by Bill’s daughter, Dina, with the help of her brothers.)

William (Bill) Kaye died on 12 May 2012, aged 93 years, after a life of service to the legal system, the Jewish community and to our country.

Born in Melbourne and the youngest child of Chana Reizel and Shlomo-Zalman Komesaroff, who arrived in Australia from Berdyansk in the Ukraine in 1913, Bill was always conscious of his family’s origins and his parents’ early struggle in Australia. He was a proud Australian, with a deep appreciation of our tolerant, democratic society.

Bill was educated at Kew Primary School, Scotch College, and Melbourne University. In 1941, he interrupted his studies to enlist in the Royal Australian Navy. He was assigned to the sloop HMAS Warrego, which was engaged in mine sweeping and escorting convoys around New Guinea and along the east coast of Australia. Later he joined the corvette HMAS Cowra, serving as an anti-submarine officer in the same areas.

Bill married Henrietta Ellinson while on leave in May 1943. He died just one week before their 69th wedding anniversary. Their marriage was marked by an abiding devotion to each other and to their family.

Somehow, Bill managed to complete his law studies on board ship and sat the final law exams just before his demobilisation in early 1946. After completing articles, he was admitted to practice as a barrister later that year. Thus began a career in the law of almost 45 years. As a barrister, he specialised in personal injury cases and in criminal and commercial law. In 1962, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel and led a number of significant cases, including the inquiry into allegations of police corruption and the 1971 royal commission into the West Gate Bridge disaster.

He served his profession as chairman of the Victorian Bar Council’s Ethics Committee and subsequently as vice chairman and chairman of the Council. He was also president of the Australian Bar Association, an executive member of the Law Council of Australia, a member of the founding committee of the Faculty of Law at Monash University, and a member of its Faculty Board. In addition, he chaired the Proctorial Board of La Trobe University for 2 years.

In 1972, Bill was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, becoming the 51st Supreme Court Judge in Victoria and the first Jewish judge appointed to that Court in its then 121 year history. Throughout his term of office, Bill was deeply committed to upholding the role of the Supreme Court in our system of justice.

Bill was proud of his Jewish faith and its history and tradition. He was a deeply humane man who practised his values in everyday life. He chaired Temple Beth Israel’s Fund for the Future, and was a long standing member of the Victorian Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women. He was a member of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, and founder and first president of the Victorian Branch of that association.

Shortly after their arrival in Australia, his parents joined the Zionist movement, and Bill grew up with an ethic of concern for the welfare of the Jewish people. As a 19 year-old, with his friend Ron Taft, he visited Rabbi Sanger (who had just arrived in Melbourne from Berlin) to talk about the situation in Nazi Germany. Bill gave his full support to the State of Israel as it rose from the ashes of the Holocaust, and always admired Israel, its democratic system and its respect for the individual. Together with Henrietta, he made many trips to Israel and formed close friendships there, including with members of Israel’s Supreme Court.

In 1990, Bill’s contributions to the law, the community and the country were recognised with the award of an Order of Australia. After 19 years distinguished service as a judge, he retired from the Supreme Court in 1991.

In retirement, he was soon working for the broader community, serving on the RSPCA advisory board for 8 years. The main focus of his work, however, was in interfaith relations. He was the founding chairman of the Australian Council of Christians and Jews, and chaired the Victorian Council of Christians and Jews from 1991 to 1999. During this time, the Victorian Council published two important works addressing anti-Jewish texts in Christian scripture. He was greatly assisted on the Council by members of the Sisters of Sion with whom he formed lasting friendships. In 1996, he was presented with Philia award by the Australian branch of the World Conference on Religion and Peace.

Bill remained active until the last two years of his life, when he endured declining health with grace, courage and good humour. He is survived by his wife, daughter, three sons, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He was and will remain a blessing in their lives.

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Chaim (Keith) Freedman was born in 1947 in Melbourne, Australia to parents of eastern European origins. He was educated at Mount Scopus College in Melbourne. In 1977, he immigrated with his wife to Israel. Chaim is a noted genealogist having lectured at numerous genealogical and historical conferences including The International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, Jerusalem 1984,1994 and 2004. He has published his research in Avotaynu, Sharsheret Hadorot, Search, RootsKey, the Journal of the Australian Jewish Historical Society and Yated Ne'eman. Freedman edited "Jewish Personal Names: Their Origin, Derivation and Diminutive Forms" by the late Rabbi Shmuel Gorr, published in 1992 by Avotaynu. Freedman wrote several books about his immediate family, "Our Fathers' Harvest", a history of the Komisaruk and other families involved in Jewish agricultural colonization in the Ukraine, and "The Pen and the Blade", a history of the Super family. Chaim Freedmans major work "Eliyahu's Branches, The Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family" was published in 1997 by Avotaynu. The book is the culmination of thirty years of research of the Vilna Gaon, and includes 20,000 names with valuable biographical and historical details. Freedman's particular expertise in Rabbinical genealogy was published in 2001 in his book "Beit Rabbanan, Sources of Rabbinical Genealogy". Much of the content of this book appears on the RavSIG site http://www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/ Freedman's presentation of Rabbinical genealogical sources has been published in Avotaynu's "Guide to Jewish Genealogical Research" (2004). Freedman acted as a consultant to Beit Hatefutsot's exhibition on the Vilna Gaon in 1998. He provided material for Beit Hatefutsot's 1983 exhibition "The Jewish Agricultural Experience in the Diaspora". Freedman has lectured to the Israeli Genealogical Society in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and to the Jewish Family Research Association in Tel Aviv and Petah Tikvah. His lectures always draw a good and attentive audience who appreciate the opportunity to hear of his activities in genealogical research and learn from his wide experience in using a range of valuable sources. Many of his compositions appear on the Internet

Some philosophy - stress avoidance

Learn to delay reacting. You can’t always prevent stressful situations from happening, but there are ways to help you prevent stress from taking over your body. Learn to recognize the first small signs of stress in your body, and immediately realize that you don’t have to react instantly! Take a deep breath. Take two or three. Look away, clear your head, excuse yourself and go someplace to meditate; do whatever it takes to put a bit of distance between you and your reaction to whatever it is that is stressful for you. Mentally step back and put the situation in perspective and ask yourself if you even need to respond? Will responding do any good? Will it help? Will it make a difference? Or will it make things worse. If it is not necessary for you to respond, let it go and focus on something else. If you do need to take action, consider first what might be best and what the outcome might be, and then make a deliberate choice based not on your emotions, but on your knowledge and the desired outcome. Above all else, take the time you need to step back from the situation before you respond or react in any way.

Torah and Genealogy

Torah and Genealogy By Chaim Freedman Reprinted from Eliyahu's Branches, the Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family (Avotaynu 1997) Yikhus (lineage) has always been an integral part of Judaism. In the opening chapters of the Bible, in the weekly Torah portion, the concept of recording the history of mankind appears with the use of the term Sefer Toldot Adam (Book of the history of man), Bereishit (Genesis) 5:1. The Midrash (Midrash Rabba, Parasha 24) explains this term to indicate that Adam, the first man, was given a preview of all the generations that were destined to descend from him: God revealed to Adam each generation with its scholars, each generation and its wise men, each generation and its writers, each generation and its leaders. Adam was the only one who saw the yikhus which descended from him, until the end of all generations. (Yalkut Shimoni) The Midrash asserts that the Messiah will arrive only when all those generations that were predestined to live have in fact been born. The course of the Biblical narrative revolves around the sequence of the generations, from the early generations descended from Adam, through the division of the nations descended from Noakh, and down to the Jewish Patriarchs: Avraham, Yitskhak and Yaakov (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). Each major figure is introduced in the Bible first by a narration of his descent, connecting him with all the previous generations. Thus, the great Jewish teacher Moshe (Moses) is introduced through his father's descent from the tribe of Levi. From the time of the descent of the Children of Israel to Egypt and following their liberation from Egyptian bondage, their genealogy is noted at the very beginning of the book of Shmot (Exodus). Time and time again throughout the Bible, lengthy genealogical lists are recorded. The Torah includes 477 genealogical records. The Prophets and other books of the Bible include 2,756 genealogical records. Divrei Hayamim (Chronicles) is almost entirely concerned with genealogy. For the Jews returning from the Babylonian Exile, it was particularly important that they retained knowledge of their descent. This knowledge conferred upon them their status in society, which was often based on their relationships with prominent families, in particular, the ruling House of David. Those who had assimilated with their non-Jewish neighbours in Babylon found that their lineage was held in suspicion, particularly if they belonged to the priesthood. Such problems are portrayed in detail in the book of Ezra: They sought their genealogical records, but they were no longer available, and so they were banished from the priesthood. Those immigrants could not state which was their father's house or whether they were of the seed of Yisrael. (Ezra 2:62) The Talmud in the Tractate Kiddushin (Chapter 4) stresses the importance of yikhus: Ten lineages emigrated from Babylon. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, does not bestow his Divine Presence, other than on Israeli families of noble Yikhus. Yet the Rambam (Mishne Torah, Hilkhot Melakhim, Chapter 12, Halakha 3) gives hope in the future for those who have lost the records of their lineage: In the time of the king Mashiakh, when his kingdom is established and all Yisrael are gathered, their lineage will be revealed by the Holy Spirit which will rest upon him, and he will announce to everyone in Yisrael to which tribe he belongs. The Torah places importance on yikhus because man is influenced by the qualities and characteristics of his forefathers, both genetically and by the moral values that are passed from generation to generation. The book of Mishlei (Proverbs, 1:8) states: Heed, my son, the moral advice of your father, and do not abandon the teaching of your mother. The Gaon of Vilna comments on this sentence: Man has three partners: the Holy One Blessed Be He, his father and his mother. This theme is taken up in the Talmud (Avot 3:1): Know from whence you came, and where you are going, and to Whom you will have to give account in the future. Only if we know from where we originate in terms of our family heritage will we be in a position to decide what path in life we should take in the future. The late Rabbi Shmuel Gorr, who dedicated his entire life to genealogical research, believed: Just as we perform many Mitzvot as an act of zeikher le'maaseh bereishit (commemoration of the act of the creation), so the study of our family history can be considered as another aspect of this Mitzvah. When we see ourselves obligated to preserve the continuity of our people's existence in the world, so will we fulfill our task as it was prescribed by the Holy One Blessed Be He from the time of the creation of Man. The study of genealogy, therefore, can be considered as an act of zeikher le'maaseh bereishit, as we seek to link ourselves, through the generations of our ancestors, with the first living man, Adam. Yet, from the outset, the Biblical commentators explained that illustrious lineage alone was not worthy of note. Commenting on the verses of Bereishit 6:9B10: These are the generations of Noakh; Noakh begat three sons. Rashi explains: The essence of the history of righteous men is their deeds. One of the most comprehensive collections of genealogical quotations based on Jewish religious sources appears in Rabbi Yosef Zekhariah Stern's Zekher Leyehosef (1898). The following are some examples: It is worthy of all who seek righteousness to look to the rock from which they were hewn (Yeshayahu, Isaiah 52) and should be Asons of sons are a crown to the elderly, and the glory of sons are their fathers. (Mishlei, Proverbs 17) Like a crown without a kingdom and a gold ring in the nose of one who embraces garbage, so is the value of ancestral Yikhus without personal Yikhus to abandon evil ways. (Yalkut Shimoni; Rashi) If you see a Tsaddik who is the son of righteous fathers, he will not hastily sin (Midrash Mishlei 14) But what of the person who is not descended from ancestry worthy of note? Stern answers: It is important to the Almighty that man should abandon the ways of his ancestors (if they were not worthy) and follow the ways of God about whom it is said, "Peace to the distant, who is the seed of distant ones, but came close."Stern stresses the duty to perpetuate the memory of former generations: How can we not stretch out in our hearts to our ancestors who may be forgotten within two or three generations as if they never existed? In our generation, after our ancestors left the countries where their families lived for many generations and emigrated to other countries, we should perpetuate their history. In particular we have a duty to immortalise the memories of the communities and families that perished for the sanctification of the Holy Name during the Holocaust or during anti-Semitic acts throughout the course of Jewish history: To do justice with the deceased and give them a memory upon the face of the earth. The Midrash (Midrash Rabba, Parasha 37) explains the origin of man's naming system: The early generations that knew their lineage well, gave names to commemorate an event. But we, who do not know well our lineage, give names after our ancestors. The Gaon of Vilna comments on the term used in reference to a deceased person, "May the righteous be remembered for a blessing, and may the name of the wicked decay" (Mishlei, Proverbs 10:7): Remembrance is recalling that which happened in the past, that is, after the death of a righteous person, he is not just a memory, but he is a blessing. But as for the wicked, even his name is contemptible. Throughout Jewish prayer the concept of recalling our ancestors is a recurrent theme. The central prayer of the three daily services, the Shmonah Esreh, begins with: God of Avraham, God of Yitskhak, God of Yaakov...remember the good deeds of our fathers and bring the redeemer to their sons' sons. Amongst the most important statutes given to the People of Israel, the Ten Commandments, is the commandment: Honour your father and your mother.... In the High Holy Day liturgy the relationship between God and man is couched in familial terms: If you regard us as sons, have pity upon us like a father. Our Father, our King.... The tracing of family history is a most effective way to appreciate Jewish history on a personal level. As we recite in the Hagaddah of the Pesakh (Passover) festival: In each generation man must regard himself as if he himself came out of Egypt, as it is said and you should relate it to your son on that day, saying... People make history by their reaction to the demands and opportunities of their environment. An awareness of personal family history establishes a link in the chain of Jewish existence. Jews left Babylon and Eretz Yisrael and spread out through the Diaspora. Many of their genealogical records were lost. Yet certain families painstakingly preserved their traditions of descent. The scholarly family of the Kalonymides left Babylon about the eighth century, settled in Italy, and then moved to the Rhineland and France in the ninth and tenth centuries. From this family emanated the great Biblical and Talmudic commentator Rashi (1040-1105). Rashi's family and disciples established centers of learning in many towns in Western Europe and later, in the fourteenth century, in Eastern Europe. Thus a vast interrelated dynasty of rabbinic families spread across Europe, establishing a framework for future genealogical research. Sources: Many of the sources quoted above were collected by the late Rabbi Shmuel Gorr as part of an article he wrote titled "Torah and Genealogy."