Mordechai Gutnick | |
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| Occupation | Rabbi |
| Parent | RabbiChaim Gutnick |
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RabbiMordechai Zev GutnickAM (Hebrew:מרדכי זאב הכהן גוטניק) is a prominentOrthodoxJewishrabbi inAustralia. Gutnick has served as a member ofrabbinical courts inMelbourne andSydney and various Australian rabbinical associations. He is associated with theChabad-LubavitchHasidic movement; he is the eldest son of the late RabbiChaim Gutnick.
Gutnick was born inSydney, Australia. His father, born in Ukraine, was RabbiChaim Gutnick, aHolocaust survivor.[1] RabbiMoshe Gutnick and businessmanJoseph Gutnick are his brothers.[2]
He received hisrabbinic ordination inNew York 1972. He served as an outreach lecturershaliach ("emissary") for theNational Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education, visiting and lecturing in many communities throughout the US and Canada, and was also a lecturer and counselor at theMachon Chana institute in New York. He received rabbinic training fromRabbi Pinchus Hirschprung among other rabbinic figures.[3]
At the behest of his mentor, theLubavitcher Rebbe, Gutnick returned to Sydney in 1974 to serve as the rabbi ofStrathfield and District Hebrew Congregation.[4] At that time he was also appointed asdayan of the Sydney Beth Din (rabbinical court) and worked in the field ofkashrut supervision.[3]
In 1982, Gutnick moved to Melbourne to serve as the rabbi of the North Eastern Jewish Centre inDoncaster, where he served for 14 years, and then as rabbi of the Elsternwick Jewish Community, a congregation affiliated with theMizrachi Organisation in Melbourne.[5] In 2003 he was appointed rabbi of theElwood Talmud Torah Hebrew Congregation, succeeding his late father, RabbiChaim Gutnick.[6][7]
At the turn of the century, theMelbourne Beth Din was shut down amid allegations of nepotism, lack of transparency and financial irregularities. After the Beth Din was restructured and reopened in 2002, Gutnick was appointed as a senior judge and currently serves as itsAv Beth Din.[8]
Gutnick has served as Rabbinic Administrator of theKosher Australia agency (formerly Melbourne Kashrut) since 1997.[9] He also lectures regularly onhalachic and general Jewish topics.[5][3]
Gutnick, like his father,[10] served as aMilitary Chaplain in theAustralian Army. He received a commission to the rank ofCaptain in 1984 and subsequently served as Jewish Chaplain for 19 years, until reaching his retirement age from that position in 2003.[11]
In 2008 Gutnick officiated at the firstJewish wedding ever hosted by Australia'sParliament House inCanberra, when the federal member forMelbourne PortsMichael Danby married Amanda Mendes Da Costa. The wedding was attended by Australian Prime MinisterKevin Rudd and his deputy among 150 guests.[12][13]
In August 2014, Gutnick was elected President of theRabbinical Council of Victoria.[14] Gutnick has also served as president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australia[15][16] and in this role he took a stand against Jews using civil courts to settle their disputes.[17]
In 2021, the Australian Government honored Gutnick with theMember of the Order of Australia (AM) award, in recognition of his "significant service to the Jewish community".[18][19][20]
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