Books
Rabbi Raymond Apple is the author of a number of monographs and books. His books include:
Let’s Ask the Rabbi
London: AuthorHouse. 2011. pp. 316 ISBN 9781456772697.
Freemasonry: Studies, Speeches and Sensibilities
Sydney: The Museum of Freemasonry. 2010. pp. 181 ISBN 9780980758405.
Episodes and Eccentrics: More tales of The Great Synagogue
Sydney: The Great Synagogue. 2010. pp. 79 ISBN 9780959240436.
To Be Continued: Memoirs and Musings
Sydney: Mandelbaum Publishing. 2010. pp. 222 ISBN 9780980472219. The Great Synagogue: A History of Sydney’s Big Shule
Sydney: UNSW Press. 2008. pp. 342 ISBN 9780868409276.
The Jewish Way: Jews and Judaism in Australia
Sydney: The Great Synagogue. 2002. pp. 72 ISBN 095924042X.
Francis Lyon Cohen: the Passionate Patriot
Sydney: Australian Jewish Historical Society. 1995. pp. 88
The Jews
West Melbourne: Thomas Nelson Australia. 1981. pp. 112 ISBN 0170055663.
The Hampstead Synagogue 1892-1967
London: Mitchell Vallentine. 1967. pp. 120
.We profile here some of Rabbi Apple’s most recently acclaimed books:
Let’s Ask the Rabbi (ISBN 9781456772697) is a compendium of Rabbi Apple’s popular “Ask the Rabbi” features from his weekly OzTorah emails. Rabbi Apple explains:
“People constantly asked when I was going to make a book out of selections from OzTorah – and finally I have done it: over 300 pages of ‘Ask the Rabbi’ answers listed from A (‘Abortion’) to Z (‘Zionism’).
“I think it’s a good piece of writing, but then I’m biased. I believe it’s a moral voice in an uncertain society, bringing Jewish wisdom to bear on dozens of issues of current concern. Readers often ask, ‘Are they real questions you deal with in OzTorah, or do you make them up?’ The answer is, ‘Some of each’. But all are real questions in the sense that they show what has exercised thinking minds over these two decades – climate change, cloning, politics, whistleblowing and many more.
“None of the answers are pontifications from a papal chair. They arise out of real problems and though I do my best to apply my Jewish and general knowledge and experience, I am still agonising over many issues and am not always able to find definitive answers.
“How good I am as a spiritual and ethical guide, others will have to judge. (A Christian journalist once told me he wished I was an archbishop!) Readers of Let’s Ask the Rabbi will decide for themselves whether I have brought them help, comfort and inspiration.”
Let’s Ask the Rabbi is Available from the publisher, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and The Book Depository.
To Be Continued: Memoirs & Musings (ISBN 9780980472219) offers a light-hearted look at aspects of Rabbi Dr Raymond Apple’s life and career spanning 45 years as a congregational rabbi in the UK and Australia and as a spokesman for Jews and Judaism in the community at large.
Rabbi Apple introduces the book with the comment, “If there is one subject on which everyone is an expert, it is the rabbi. Ask a person what Torah portion is read this week or what Hebrew date it is, and they probably don’t know. But ask about their rabbi – his looks, his books, his wife, his life, his faults and failings – and you’ll get a detailed analysis that would do credit to a Royal Commission.”
The book outlines some of the incidents and issues – be they funny, aggravating, joyous, solemn or contemplative – that Rabbi Apple was party to during his lengthy time in the rabbinate. It is a book that thoroughly entertains while offering its readers an insight into the life of one of Australia’s most prominent religious leaders.
To Be Continued: Memoirs & Musings is available from Mandelbaum Publishing. Click on the image of the book for the order form.
The Great Synagogue: A History of Sydney’s Big Shule (ISBN 9780868409276) is a beautifully designed illustrated history of Australia’s oldest synagogue and its congregation. Written by Rabbi Apple and members of the congregation, it spans the fascinating history of the Jews in Sydney, from their arrival on the First Fleet – sixteen of them as convicts – through to the construction of the synagogue in 1878 and up to the present day. Illustrated with numerous historical documents, paintings and photographs, this book brings to life the history of the most visited and visible Jewish building in Australia and its congregation.
The Great Synagogue: A History of Sydney’s Big Shule is available from the UNSW Press by clicking on the image of the book above.
