Rabbi Sheryl Nosan-Blank

(Extract of interview with Ben Carlish)

What brings Rabbi Sheryl Nosan-Blank and her two young children from the West Coast of the USA to the West Coast of WA?

“Temple David was looking for a new Rabbi and I was looking for a new phase in life, when I could really be more involved in the life of a congregation and equally involved in my family’s life.  Although I love the United States and California, the pace of life there was not conducive to the kind of integrated life I wanted,” she says.

“It’s entirely different!” she exclaims. “We all speak English, although our English is substantially different. It’s not just the nuances, the differences are ‘gob-stopping’...’gob-smacking?’ Did I get it right?” she laughs at her mangling of the colloquial expression and would be the first to concede it sounds as alien in her brogue as a Bogan Aussie reciting a Shakespearean sonnet. This Rabbi clearly has a healthy sense of humour.   

”The cultural differences are real and substantial - the general culture, the Jewish culture and the Jewish demographics - based on the few weeks that I have already spent here,” she says. “In the United States these days, the Jewish population is approximately 80 per cent reform affiliated or identified, 10 per cent will say they are conservative, perhaps the remainder will say Orthodox, with a sprinkling of reconstructionists and renewalists and all sorts of interesting variations.

“Here in Perth, the proportion is almost completely in reverse and the vast majority of Jewish people here identify with Orthodoxy, in the way that they view themselves or conceptualise themselves. It’s really fascinating to see the way people live, some of us might be Orthodox, but not necessarily practising some of us might be affiliated reform, but not living in a way that is conducive to reform, or a progressive philosophy necessarily. So there’s always a lot of interesting grey area and of course we all have much more in common that what separates us.”

Her own background, growing up in a tiny 20-family strong Jewish congregation in the small American Mid West town of Mount Pleasant, has prepared her for what it is like in a minority section of a minority community in one of the most remote cities in the world.

As a child, her parents fostered her Jewish identity, teaching her and her three brothers to read Hebrew, sing blessings and make Shabbat. Her love of Judaism was instilled through family celebrations.

As a woman, she is grounded by her confidence in herself and in other women being capable of bringing a new perspective to the rabbinic calling through G-d.

“I would say every individual offers something that’s unique. We all start from one human family and we all have the spark of G-d within us. But every spark might be a different colour or size,” she says. “Our background means we bring different stuff to the table and our gender is part of who we are and that will shape our perception.  So being a woman I come to the tradition and the texts differently than let’s say my brothers - just because we have different experience. So if we love pilpul [Rabbinic practice of meticulously deconstructing and debating the meaning of Torah] -shouldn’t we love that much more when we have another prism through which to see it? It’s not about taking down the tradition it’s about adding another layer of understanding.

“I think also there are issue that as a woman I can respond to in ways I couldn’t if I was a man. So I have first hand-experience with women’s matters – physical aspects of women’s bodies – of nurturing children in only that way women can – of rituals around chapters of women’s life that rabbis of old hadn’t developed traditions for. There are a whole series of [potential]blessings that we can welcome daughters into our world and help with the transitions from childhood into womanhood – that hadn’t really been explored by our ancestors or hadn’t necessarily put women on the same level playing field as men or girls as boys.”

And so the big question – how does she think we should move forward?

“The flame is really burning bright and the commitment is extraordinary at Temple!” she enthuses I think that new classes in our ‘Discovering Judaism’ series, and new topics explored in Shabbat services will re-engage  continuing members and attract new families and individuals to our community,” she opines. “I believe our welcoming attitude to interfaith families and seekers of all backgrounds will draw in the unaffiliated.  Ultimately, the values of Progressive Judaism will speak for themselves as the community is propelled by commitment to G-d, Torah and Israel as well as Tikkun Olam, egalitarianism, and blending modern life and understanding with authentic Jewish living."

Here’s a rabbi ready to listen as well as teach. There are undoubtedly very interesting times ahead at Temple David and within the Perth Progressive Jewish community as a whole.