EMBARGOED UN4TIL DELIVERY 6Z9' 1
PRIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA SUNDAY, MAY 4 1980
OPENING OF THE YESHIVA PRIMARY SCHOOL
Thank you for inviting me to share with you the opening of
your new school. I am deeply honoured to be involved in what is a
most important day in the history of this school, the Yeshiva
organisation in particular, and Sydney Jewry in general.
That you have named your school, " Yeshiva" is significant.
For " Yeshiva" carries with it the ancient idea of learning and
the snread of knowledge, so important to the Jewish-community.
And the Yeshiva, by its dedication to the study of the Talmud
and Rabbinic literature, continues directly the academic
traditions of early Palestine and Babylonia.
Because of these strong links with the deeper past, the Yeshiva
is able to ensure the continuing and future strength of the
JeWish community.
A strong Jewish community derives its strength f rom the
value of the fundamental Principles of Judaism. These are
especially important to-young people. They help Promote
individual development and demonstrate to young people the
importance of their family and the wider community of which they
are members. And this community is enriched through the continued
growth of the Jewish tradition,
The influence of that tradition has been felt in Australia since
its foundation. Since then, Jews have participated conspicuously
in the life and development of Australia as a multicultural society.
Some have been renowned for their contribution.
I need only remined you of Sir Isaac Isaacs our first Australian
born Governor-General and the present distinguished occupant of
that office, Sir Zelman Cowen.
Your community and this school play a vital role in the furtherance
of this great tradition within the Australian nation.
Australia has a deep appreciation of the fact that these traditions
have been forged through thousands of years and countless struggles
for independence in the pursuit of values and beliefs. These
struggles regrettably continue today. Jewish people are still
discrimt~ inated against in the Soviet Union, and their rights as
people are suppressed. This only serves to highlight the increasing
imoortCance of Israel as a homeland; a dream achieved; a hope
fulfilled. It also emphasises the importance of countries like
Australia where there is an acceptance and a welcome for all people;
especially those of Jewish faith. who have done so much for Australia.
-2
Be assured that Jewish people, their customs, their traditions,
their religion and their practices will always be welcome in
Australia. We prosper through your contributions to our community
and we enjoy your company as proud Australians.
Your role in-the community, emphasises the -acceptance and
encouragement of diversity in the Australian way of life.
This is -not* a . country. where we, expect everyone to -be the-same-
Wle believe we. are a better, more tolerant and more mature
nation bec~ use ouir -people have come from* ma~ y' lands and from
* many . different backgrounds.
* And. the Jewisb icommunity. playsa proud -part in -the successes
tha't come from our diversity.
For us all.; the decade has opened in an atmosphere of international
concern. The Middle East is the focus of that concern. The
difficlilties involving-and su-rrounding the strength and survival
of the state of Israel; the Soviet invasion of Atghanistan;
the illegal detention of American hostages in Iran; the threat
that all this poses to oil supplies for industrialised countries.;
all these cast shadows of turmoil and unpredictability over the
Middle East.
The minds of world leaders are centred upon these problems,
Our hope is that they will secure practical and peaceful
solutions to these grave and threatening crises.
Against this background, the links between our nations have
stood the test of time. In 1948, Australia was one of the
strong supporters of the creation of the state of Israel.
And we remain absolutely committed to its continuation within
secure and recognised borders.
Within this context, we welcome the Camp David agreements
as providing a constructive framework for progress towards
peace in the Middle East. And I knqw that with these-new
facilities, your school, by educating the children who pass
through it in the long tradition of Yeshiva, will carry on
serving, not only the Jewish community, but also our wider
Australian community.
In this way, education at this school will be an education
enriched with the truths of the past and will be, for its
fortunate students, education for life. Of course, it is ' in the
home that the most formative part of our education begins. It is
the family, to which the young child first looks for love and
approval; for heJlp, encouragement, inspiration and for rules.
I stronglybelieve children need to know, and want to know,
what is permissible and what is not. Families who believe
they can ' raise children in an environment devoid of rules -risk
the moral development of their children and their capacity
to adjust successfully to the demands of an adult world.
There is no doubt that the family model will always be the
basis for a child'Is learning. It is the home,' together with the
school, which provides the basis for a constructive, usef uland fulf illi
life in the world. This is especially so today when many
families lack the expertise and many of the experiences needed
to prepare a child fully for the complex world outside the family
unit.
-3
That is why a school such as this is important. Not only is it
small enough for every child to have the scope and opportunity
to contribute to its life. But also, because schools must
offer young people a stance for life, it is important for
children to absorb at school values and standards which complement
those they lea x~ n at home.
I know this happens here and I commend particularly the efforts
of the staff, some of which are voluntary, all of which provide
a stimulating and enriching environment in which the attitudes
arnd values of those in their care are nurtured and developed.
This occasion is an especially happy one, because this successful
building project has come from past disappointments. Today's
opening serves as a reminder that schools such as this cannot
operate without the support of an active, caring community, and
the very welcome generosity of philanthropists.
Just as the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Rabinovitch in earlier
years enabled a dream to become a reality, so the generosity
of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Brender and Mr. Sam Moss now enables
Yeshiva to continue anid to grow. The substantial donations from
Mr. and Mrs. Brender and Mr. Moss, together with the Government's
grant of some $ 200,000 made through the Schools Commission, have
enabled this school to be built.
And it is indeed a tribute to your community that through the
individual and parental involvement of its mnembers, this . I
Yeshiva college is now-a reality. Too often, some members of
our coimmunity expect everything to be provided by governments,
at the taxpayers' exp-ense-. Yet today is proof that it is through
community effort, and through involvement and hard work from
individual people that progress in society is most often achieved
and rewards we gain in life are often the most satisfying.
Of course, here, where commnunity effort has been clearly
demonstrated, the Government has been pleased to help
Yeshiva Primary School to be built. Where government assistance
Promotes diversity, it confirms the Government's commitment to the
concept of choice in education, and to the diversification in range
and type of educational institutions available to the community.
In 1970, the Government initiated Federal involvement in the
funding for non-government schools through the principle of
direct Commonwealth per capita grants. Since that time the
operating costs of Rabinovitch Yeshiva College have been
significantly offset by grants by the Commonwealth Government.
This support has continued and extended through other Commonwealth
programmes administered by the Schools Commission. Rabinovitch
Yeshiva has also benefitted, for example, since 1975 from library
and equipment grants.
The young people who are already enjoying the benefits provided
by this school and its facilities are well placed to face, along
with others of their age, a future of challenge and change.
That is why, in developing a capacity in our young people to
respond adequately to both of these, we need always to keep in
mind what we are seeking to achieve through eduacation., / 4
-4
Certainly, expertise in science, or maths, or literature,
are valid objectives of our educational prograrmme, but they
are merely rungs on the educational ladder, not the ladder itself.
An educated person is someone who has benefitted from what he
has been taught. He has a knowledge and a sense of a role In
society for all of life, not just of adolescence or vocational
And if modern education is to weather the attacks against
it, its products must be able to demonstrate rationality,
skills, knowledge, attitudes, spiritual strength and principles,
and the ability to put all of these to the right use.
Education then, is not a mass of learning, but an understanding
ofL' the use that can be -made of the learning that takes place
in our schools. Because that is so, we need to replace blind.
t1-rust in any sort of education by a search for the best kind of
education.
This will involve an understanding that our children must encounter
training which will enable them to live in our community; to
recognise their responsibilities; to widen their symnpathies;
and to find out what their duty is towards their neighbour.
This school is uniquely placed to contribute to this process.
I that it is inspired by the principle that a responsible
citlzen is not one who single-mnindedly pursues his own interests
al~ one; but ra t~ rr one who shows a concern for the well-being of
others in his attempts to make the world a better place,
While such values guide what you do at Yeshiva
Sc'-ool, schools of this kind will serve well the community of
the fEuture and help impart to young people the living traditions
of the Jew . ish culture and faith. The traditions are some of
the oldest, warmest and deepest in our society, being based on
the family, on tolerance and on community service.
The preservation of these traditions builds, maintains and
strengthens the legacy of our ancestors. It is all too often
forgotten that our national identity, our drive for a secure
place in the world, lies in the lessons all our peoples have
acauired in their histories.
To ensure our future, we must draw on the experience of all those
how have chosen to make Australia their home. I congratulate
our Jewish schools on their important contribution to the vital
task of the preservation of your heritage.
This school's strong ties with time-tested traditions, coupled
to the support you have from all sections of Sydney's Jewish
community, well enable Yeshiva Primary School to prosper while
meeting the educational challenges of the 80' s and beyond.
It gives me great pleasure to declare Yeshiva Primary School open.