Chief Minister : Rabbi Yaakov Glasman
Rabbi Yaakov Glasman was born in Melbourne in 1979 and graduated from Yeshivah College in 1997. He earned a Diploma of Talmudical Studies from the Rabbinical College of Australia and New Zealand in 1999 and further advanced his Talmudic studies overseas at the Rabbinical College of Canada and the Rabbinical College of Greater Miami. He received his Rabbinical Ordination (Smicha) from the Rabbinical College of America and completed a further two years of advanced study of Halacha in the Yeshivah Kollel in Melbourne.
Rabbi Glasman demonstrates a keen interest in education and conflict management. He earned a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment in 2007, completed a Mediation Course at Monash University and an Arbitration Course at the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators, as well as a Counselling Course at Monash University. In 2009, he completed a Rabbinical course on responding to disclosure of Family Violence and in 2011 completed a course on responding to disclosure of sexual abuse.
A passionate advocate of Interfaith dialogue, Rabbi Glasman was involved with the Manningham Interfaith Network which has representatives from the Catholic, Christian Uniting, Baptist, and Anglican churches, and the Jewish, Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist, Sikh and Baha'i communities.
Rabbi Glasman's Synagogue is frequented by public schools and private Christain schools, as well as by other faith groups, to whom he provides guided tours and explanations about Judaism as a means of building bridges with members from across Melbourne's wide spectrum of different faiths and cultures. | 
Rabbi Glasman served as the spiritual leader of the North Eastern Jewish Centre for six years and in 2011 was appointed Chief Minister at the St Kilda Hebrew Congregation. He has served as President of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria since November 2009.
Rabbi Glasman and his wife, Sara, have been blessed with four children. He is also an avid Collingwood supporter. |
