Yehoram Ulman

Ulman is the Rabbi of Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe (FREE), which has been servicing Sydney's Russian speaking community since 1986. FREE attempts to connect many of the thousands of immigrants from the former USSR to their Jewish roots. In this role Ulman has presided over many adult circumcisions, as they were forbidden in the USSR.

FREE had been trying to get a permit to build their new synagogue in Bondi on land that until recently had been a public amenity.[1] Because the space was originally zoned as recreational space, a permit was required to change the use to residential. The Waverley Council did not want the change in zoning since it had been keeping pace with housing needs in the council area, and they felt there was a need for the recreational space. FREE eventually managed to overturn the council's decision after appealing to the NSW Planning Department.[2]

In their planning permit they included a security document about the dangers of a 500 kg bomb, a situation that had never existed in Australia. The addition of this document in the planning document led a number of communal leaders and security experts to express "absolute shock".[3] The council on the back of this document rejected the submission because the existing structures were not sufficient to repel a bomb of this size.[1] The problem was a major error by FREE, that they "did not address the issues that it raised in its own submission."[3]

The rejection of the permit on security grounds initially caused outrage amongst the Jewish population,[4] and the wider Australian press.[5] Ulman accused the council of attempting to "stifle Jewish existence and activity in Sydney and indeed, by creating a precedent, the whole of Australia, and by extension rewarding terrorism."[6] It was also reported in a number of international publications.[7][8] However the outrage quickly died down.

Far right wing extremist Avi Yemini,[9][10] planned to hold a demonstration outside the council building, which was to be attended by several members of the neo Nazi movement in Australia. The demonstration was eventually cancelled.[1][11]

When asked to summarise the incident, two prominent Sydney lawyers described it as "a beat up" and that "the only thing it’s a precedent for is the principle that if your application doesn’t include the required information it will be rejected."[1]

Ulman refused to distance himself from the neo-Nazi presence at the rally on behalf of his synagogue.[1]

The new centre was approved shortly after.

Ulman is the senior member of the Sydney Beth Din[12] and owns in partnership with the other senior dayan, Moshe Gutnick. The Beth Din has jurisdiction over Orthodox conversions and divorces. More recently the Beth Din making efforts to be the sole arbiter of who is a Jew in Sydney.[13]

After the leaking of a secret document from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate it was revealed that the Sydney Beth Din, with Ulman as the senior rabbi, was one of the few Beth Dins around the world that were recognised to perform conversions.[14][15] After a number of Australian rabbis were placed on a secret Israeli blacklist,[16] Ulman interceded on behalf of one of them to have him removed from the list,[17] even though the Israeli courts are expressing an ultra-Orthodox viewpoint not in keeping with a majority of Australian Jews.[18]

The Sydney Beth Din and Ulman specifically have received criticism from the secular judiciary in Australia. They have had a number of their decisions overturned and have lost some appeals. The Rabbinical Council of NSW, of which Ulman was a vice president at the time, issued a ruling that forbade any dispute with a Jewish institution from going to the courts, unless mediation had failed.[19]

In 2013 a ruling of the Beth Din against a Sydney man, Benjamin Amzalak, was overturned in the state Supreme Court. The ruling included an excommunication order that called on the community to "expel his children from school and his wife from synagogue". Ulman did not sign this excommunication letter, It was only signed by Rabbis Telsner and Kaminetsky. In a transcript of the Beth Din's deliberations, Ulman was recorded as saying in Yiddish "I am already persuaded, [but] so that we do not give the appearance of impropriety, let us give him [Amzalak] some time to answer."[20][21]

Ulman was also involved in the siruv (Jewish contempt of court order) of South Caulfield Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne. The dispute began when the congregation reduced the salary of their existing rabbi and member of the Melbourne Beth Din, Yacov Barber. The ruling excommunicated all members of the board and prevented any rabbi or clergy from assisting the congregation in any way.[22] The siruv was later lifted.[23]

In another case the rabbis of the Beth Din, including Ulman were found to be in contempt of court for threatening sanctions on Reuven Barukh if he took his case to the secular courts and did not first attend the Beth Din.[24] The letter, sent on behalf of all the individuals on the Beth Din stated that "all members of the Jewish faith are obliged to have their disputes heard in accordance with Jewish Law at a Beth Din” and that Jews are “not permitted to seek adjudication at a civil court without the express permission of a Beth Din". The judge in his ruling stated that their behaviour "displays either arrogant disregard of their own procedures and rules of natural justice, substantial ineptitude, or inexperience dealing with commercial disputes".[25]

The rabbis involved appealed the case, and although the fines were reduced to $25,000 from $50,000, they were still expected to pay costs for the case which were expected to be $350,000.[26][27][28]

In the aftermath of this ruling the Rabbinical Council of Australia and New Zealand (RCANZ) committed to an internal review, although a statement from the Rabbincal Council of NSW rejected the judgment calling the ruling a "serious violation of religious freedom, a principle that Australia holds dear."[29] RCANZ later changed their stance and rejected the calls for the rabbis of the Beth Din to stand down.[30]

The Sydney Beth Din of which Ulman is a senior member, released a statement stating that Jews must go to a Beth Din to settle matters with other Jews and they should not go to secular courts.[26] In their statement they said that this is a fundamental core religious principle, and that removing the power of the Beth Din to force Jews to come before them "sets a precedent that affects... our ability, as Jews, to freely practice our religion."[28]

In March 2019 the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBOD) intended to investigate the Beth Din which Ulman is a part owner and senior member. The resolution which was passed unopposed was to look into all aspects of the Beth Din in connection to this case. JBOD said that the Beth Din had a "history of effectively undermining the theological basis of Orthodoxy and halachah," and that there were serious "defects in the ownership structure, governance, mechanisms of accountability and dispute-resolution processes" and that they were a law unto themselves.[31] The Beth Din responded that JBOD had a "this attempt by the BOD to assert authority over the SBD creates an insurmountable conflict of interest for the BOD, a body with a history of effectively undermining the theological basis of Orthodoxy and halachah". They rejected the concept that JBOD "has any right to be involved in, to interfere with or comment on the affairs of an Orthodox rabbinical body".[32]

Ulman supplied written testimony to court on behalf of Jaron Chester, who was accused of money laundering for an alleged Sydney organised crime family. While the organised communal leadership distanced themselves from Chester, Ulman testified as a character witness and called Chester a "very fine boy."[33][34][35]

Ulman was one of the signatories to a letter to the Prime Minister opposing marriage equality, even in the secular context. The other Jewish signatories were fellow Sydney Beth Din member, Moshe Gutnick and senior rabbi on the Melbourne Beth Din, Mordechai Gutnick.[36] In a submission to the Senate inquiry into same sex marriage, to which Ulman was a signatory, homosexuality was compared to adultery, incest and bestiality.[37]

Ulman is the rabbinic authority of the Australian Jewish Fertility Network (AJFN), which offers halachic advice for couples who are having fertility issues.[38] Besides Australia he is responsible for Kosher IVF in a number of cities across the globe including, Chicago, NY, Caracas, Panama and others.[39]

Ulman's knowledge and expertise is viewed highly in the Chabad communities around the world. He is a reference point for family purity,[40] organ tissue donation,[41][42] as well as running an international institute for Dayanut.[43] He has also taken a stance in favour of medicinal marijuana,[44] and is publicly in favour of reporting child sexual abuse.[45][46]

Ulman is the Jewish Chaplain for the NSW corrections serving all Jewish inmates with their religious needs including: attending court hearings, supplying references, organising packages and meals for the holidays.[47]