Yonason Abraham
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Rabbi Yonason Abraham (born 1964) is a British
rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
. He served a number of years on the
Melbourne Beth Din The Melbourne Beth Din (MBD) is an Orthodox / Chassidic Jewish court in the city of Melbourne, Australia. Located in Caulfield North, Victoria, it rules mostly on divorces and conversions although it does rule on other matters as well. History ...
and as the Rabbi of the Caulfield Shule, he then returned to London where he was given a post on the
London Beth Din The London Beth Din (LBD) is the Ashkenazi Beth Din of the United Synagogue, the largest Ashkenazi synagogal body in London, England. In its capacity as ''Court of the Chief Rabbi'', it is historically the supreme halakhic Authority for Ashkena ...
, a position he resigned in March 2019. He was also the rabbi of Toras Chaim synagogue in
Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...
, a position he resigned at the same time.


Biography


Early life and education

Abraham was born in London and went to
Hasmonean High School Hasmonean High School is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status for pupils from Orthodox Jewish families, situated in the London Borough of Barnet, England. History The school was founded by the late Rabbi Dr. Solomon Schonfel ...
, where his father Rabbi Sasson Abraham was a teacher and also served as minister of
Ohel David Eastern Synagogue The Ohel David Eastern Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 4-14 Broadwalk Lane, Golders Green, in the Borough of Barnet, London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation, that comprises Sephardi Jews from ...
from 1980 until 1994. He studied in the yeshivos of
Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...
and Lakewood before moving to Australia in 1985 where he was a member of the Lakewood Kollel Beit Hatalmud (Melbourne). He originally came to Melbourne with the Mashgiach of Lakewood, HaRav
Nosson Meir Wachtfogel Nosson Meir Wachtfogel () (18 February 1910 in Kuliai, Lithuania – 21 November 1998 in Lakewood, New Jersey, USA), known as the Lakewood Mashgiach, was an Orthodox rabbi and long-time ''mashgiach ruchani'' (spiritual supervisor) of Beth Med ...
who was then trying to establish a yeshiva in the city. He served seven years as the rabbi of Caulfield Shule and in that time he joined the Melbourne Beth Din. He also regularly consulted with, and helped, Sydney set up its own
eruv An ''eruv'' (; , , also transliterated as ''eiruv'' or ''erub'', plural: ''eruvin'' or ''eruvim'') is a ritual ''halakhic'' enclosure made for the purpose of allowing activities which are normally Activities prohibited on Shabbat, prohibited ...
.


Resignation from Caulfield Shule

The Caulfield Shule became embroiled in a bitter dispute between the Main Minyan and congregants of breakaway
minyan In Judaism, a ''minyan'' ( ''mīnyān'' , Literal translation, lit. (noun) ''count, number''; pl. ''mīnyānīm'' ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain Mitzvah, religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Judaism ...
Or Chadash, led by Rabbi Mottel Krasnjanski, as well as by brothers David and Barry Mond. The main faction refused to provide the breakaway faction with proxy forms for the AGM due to be held on 20 September 2000, or allow them access to the register of members. The dispute quickly escalated with an application for an
injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...
at the
Magistrates' Court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...
, which was granted, preventing the AGM until the dispute was resolved by Rabbinic Arbitration or otherwise. David Mond was subject to hate mail, which he claimed was incited by Abraham, and Abraham had Mond's religious activities within the synagogue restricted. A special rabbinical tribunal, known as a ''Zabla'' was established to resolve the issues, comprising Yehoram Ulman, Yitzchak Berger, and Yehuda Katz. A public hearing took place in October 2001, with Abraham giving testimony on 29 October. He was due to resume cross examination on the 30th. Abraham announced on the 30th that he had resigned with immediate effect and would be departing the next day to London. Due to testify on the 31st, Abraham did not attend. Accusations of collusion between certain of the arbitrators to prevent Abraham from having to testify further were raised in the
Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...
. Ulman acknowledged that "Abraham was in a high state of agitation, was crying at one stage during his meeting with the dayanim... and his lack of composure was such that Rabbi Ulman had no expectation that he would reappear to continue giving evidence on 31st October". The arbitration ultimately failed, with Abraham's sudden departure becoming a main issue of contention in the subsequent supreme court case.


Move to London

He then, in 2001 and aged 37, took up a position on the London Beth Din thanks to recruitment by
Chanoch Ehrentreu Chanoch Ehrentreu (27 December 1932 – 24 November 2022) was a German-born British Orthodox rabbi. He served for many years as the head of the London Beth Din in Great Britain (also known as The Court of the Chief Rabbi), serving the United S ...
where he became an integral part of its everyday running. He was also heavily involved with community organisations Tribe and Jabez. In 2016 Abraham accepted the position of Nasi (president) of
Shuvu Shuvu Chazon Avrohom, often referred to by its former names Shuvu or The United Fund for the Education of Russian Immigrant Children in Israel, is an Orthodox Jewish kiruv organization in Israel. It was founded by Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Pam as a ne ...
, a network of day schools founded 1991 by Rabbi Avraham Pam. Abraham was also appointed Nasi of the Leeds Kollel.


Resignation from all public positions

On 6 March 2019, the Rosh Beth Din of the London Beth Din announced that on 5 March 2019 Dayan Abraham stood down from his position at London Beth Din. He also resigned his rabbinate of the Toras Chaim synagogue and his other community roles. In his resignation letter he said that definitely he had "fallen short of the standards expected of me".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham, Yonason 1964 births Living people English Orthodox rabbis