David writes his first piece for The Lehrhaus and explores the social, cultural, and theological perspectives of how the Jewish community has responded to COVID-related restrictions to gain a deeper understanding of the drivers of specific responses [The Lehrhaus].
With the recent departure of their senior coach, it has been revealed that former Fremantle coach Ross Lyon is a “front and centre” contender for the top role at the Yeshivah Centre. Following years of club turmoil and poor performance, the Yeshivah Centre engaged KPMG to undertake a comprehensive review of operations, and in an unusual move also requested a forensic examination of the club’s game plan over the last forty years. As one director…
After judges from the Sydney Beth Din are found in contempt of court by the NSW Supreme Court, David considers the wider implications of this precedent, and how Beth Dins need to adapt to their role when embedded in secular society [Times of Israel and J-Wire]
In the lead up to Jewish New Year and the AFL finals (post-season), David combines a message from the weekly Torah reading with principles of sports leadership and culture, and delivers a message with timely relevance. [Times of Israel]
The drawn out process of governance reform at Yeshivah over the last few years has not concluded, rather has reached an important step. If it were a construction project, we could say that we’ve done our share of demolition and excavation, and the foundation is largely complete. Now it begins in earnest. With a new organisational structure, broad membership, and boards with elected representatives, we have the basis for a fresh start – a new…
With the passing of a new Jewish year and the fresh spiritual energy this brings to the world, there is a palpable buzz around the Yeshivah as we approach something that has never happened here before: democratic elections. The intersection between democracy and Orthodox Judaism is a complex one that is still developing, and after a baptism of fire over the last few years, our community is likely breaking new ground in its transformation from closed to…
As the restructure process at Yeshivah Centre inches forward, and we draw closer to elections, the big question is: who will nominate to hold board positions on the new legal entities that will operate the school, shule, and other business units of the Centre? Three new legal entities will require over twenty people to put their hands up. There are a few challenges in taking the leap from where we are now to where we need to be. 1. Despite…
A wise friend of mine adapted the Harvard-developed negotiation model (seven elements, getting to yes) to articulate a hierarchy of three ways a dispute can be resolved: power, rights and interests. Power is a very effective way to resolve a dispute. For example, a child says “I want to do X”, and their parent says “no”. The dispute is very quickly resolved through the use of power. It works well because of the power imbalance…
Following the Royal Commission hearing into the Yeshivah Centre in Melbourne, David Werdiger has written several articles. With a lot of the focus on the Jewish law of “mesirah”, David points out that criticism of the AFP’s handling of the Bali Nine is actually the asserting the very same legal principle. “Knowing that a citizen would be subject to a legal system far more severe than our own, the AFP would not hand someone over to that jurisdiction”….
The Jewish community is reeling after the recent case study as part of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. From the perspective of an ‘insider’ who personally knows almost all of the people involved, it’s especially painful. I am related to victims, to people accused of abuse, and to people in senior positions in the community. That’s the way things work in close-knit communities: there are many overlapping and complex inter-relationships,…
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