Shneur Chaim (HaKohen) Gutnick (1921 – 25 October 2003) ()was a prominent Orthodox Judaism Chabad rabbi in Australia.
Early life
Gutnick was born in
Zolotonosha,
Ukraine; soon afterwards his family moved to
Tel Aviv, and then in 1927 to
London, where his father, Mordechai Zev Gutnick, a graduate of the
Tomchei Temimim yeshiva, served as a Chabad Rabbi and Dayan. After his father's death, on 29 November 1931, Gutnick came under the influence of Yehezkel Abramsky. He was educated at the Jews' Free School in London,
[ Speech by Steve Bracks on 19 November 2000, at a JNF dinner in Gutnick's honour.] and then at the
Telshe yeshiva in
Lithuania.
When the Second World War broke out, he escaped with a small group of refugees, including the wife and daughter of Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, which eventually found its way to Australia in 1941. On the instruction of the
Rebbe of
Lubavitch, Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn he remained in Australia,
["Man's steps are ordained by God, and since Providence has guided you to Australia, this is your place ... Prepare the ground for the arrival of so that it will be a place of Torah, where God can be found."] and joined the
Australian Army. He applied for a position as a chaplain, but was turned down at that time.
[ Speech by Rabbi Gutnick on 20 April 2003, at Kollel Beth Hatalmud.]
Australia
After the war Gutnick's stepfather Osher Abramson accepted a rabbinic position in
Sydney,
Australia, and moved there together with Gutnick's mother and his brother, Sholom Gutnick. Gutnick married Rose Chester, and they had six children together. Their son
Joseph Gutnick is a well-known Jewish
philanthropy; their sons Mordechai Gutnick and
Moshe Gutnick are prominent Orthodox Jewish rabbis in Australia. His son-in-law is Rabbi
Pinchus Feldman, and a grandson,
Moshe Hecht, is a singer/songwriter and is the lead singer of the Jewish
folk rock group Moshe Hecht Band.
In 1958 Gutnick was offered the rabbinate of the newly constructed Elwood Talmud Torah Hebrew Congregation, in Elwood, Victoria;[ Elwood Talmud Torah Hebrew Congregation, by Yossi Aron] he served in that position until his death in 2003.
In 1967, Gutnick founded the Rabbinical Council of Victoria,
Gutnick received the honour of unusually long private audiences with The Lubavitcher Rebbe,
One such area was the construction of the Eruv. Gutnick along with Yitzchok Dovid Groner were instructed to fiercely oppose the construction.
Gutnick also served as a chaplain in the Australian Defence Force.
