Joseph Gutnick, an ordained Lubavitch rabbi and mining magnate, emerged last week in a new role as the potential savior of an Australian professional soccer team, the Melbourne Demons.
Gutnick, who appeared last year in the Top 20 in the Business Review Weekly annual list of wealthy Australians, is the chairman and director of nine public companies.
The 44-year-old Gutnick described himself as a “loyal emotional supporter” of the Melbourne Demons, though he rarely watches the team play because nearly all the games take place on the Sabbath.
In the past, this father of 10 has come to the aid of his old school, Yeshivah College in Melbourne, and is known as a generous benefactor of Jewish community concerns in Australia and abroad.
Gutnick said he could run gold mines without being present and therefore is sure he could play a leading role in an Australian soccer club without attending matches on the Sabbath.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
