AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

November 26, 2014

Rachel Kleinman

Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant is a portly and genial man, whose wiry beard travels in several unexpected directions. A true Melburnian, he loves his coffee (short black) and is a staunch Carlton supporter.

For the past 25 years, his working life has revolved around the Jewish Care headquarters on St Kilda Road in Melbourne, where he has tended to the spiritual needs of palliative care patients comforted families and held religious services for residents and staff.

As president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia, Kluwgant, 46, is currently Australia’s most senior rabbi. Like all rabbis, his training revolved around learning halachah (Jewish law). When rabbis are ordained, they are essentially qualified as legal scholars – to decide and interpret the law for their community.

For those that take up congregational roles (there are about 70 congregations in Victoria), this…