The Syna-blogue

  Torah Portion: Toldot Synagogue: St Kilda Shule, traditional orthodox Walking time from home: A little over 20 mins Reason for going: International guest speaker Kiddush: Large, plentiful There are certain people you meet in your life who are special, and there are others who are truly remarkable. This Shabbat morning I went to St Kilda shule. It is one of the old traditional shules in town, has had a recent renovation making it even more beautiful than before, and has very eloquent and pleasant rabbi. But the reason I went was because the guest speaker this week was introduced as being a truly great individual, and it quickly became evident that this was true. Dr Rick Hodes is a Jewish American medical doctor who first travelled to Ethiopia in the late 1980s. He was instrumental in looking after many of the Jewish Ethiopians who went to Israel as part of Ope...

  Torah Portion: Chayei Sarah Synagogue: Or Chadash, Orthodox, moderate Walking time from home: 15 minutes (from my accommodation) Reason for going: Sydney favourite Kiddush: Sit down kiddush SYDNEY: Unlike in Melbourne, where I try to go to a different shule every week, when I come to Sydney I usually go to the same shule – Or Chadash, a synagogue that can very positively and lovingly be described as ‘no frills’. It started many years ago in a different guise, and since then there has been a proliferation of different shules across Sydney (including one literally next door). Through it all, Or Chadash has stayed true to its values, which is about having a nice, tuneful and participatory service, a thoughtful or thought-provoking sermon, and a simple but sumptuous kiddush. I have been going there for many years on various visits to Sydney, and these have been the...

  Torah Portion: Vayeira Synagogue: Central Shule Chabad, Orthodox Chabad Walking time from home: 50 minutes Reason for going: Shabbat Project Kiddush: Full sit-down lunch The Shabbat Project is an annual Shabbat in November that is designed to bring people together to celebrate Shabbat. Many shules around Melbourne had events either Friday night or Saturday to mark the occasion, and I went to Central Shule on Shabbat morning for two reasons. Firstly because of the rabbi, who is one of a cadre of young, modern Chabad rabbis in town. Rabbi Karnowsky only started at Central recently, but I have known him for a while and have always admired because he is lovely, friendly and comes across as very intelligent. I wanted to see him in his new environment and her impressed me by making a point of coming over to almost everyone to have a chat, and seemed genuine. The seco...

  Torah Portion: Lech Lecha Synagogue: Beit Aharon (Gandel Besen), Orthodox, modern Walking time from home: Less than 20 minutes Reason for going: Rabbi and people Kiddush: Cholent and cake There are some shules I go to because they don’t have a rabbi – as was the case last week, but there are many others I go to specifically because of the rabbi. For me, the best rabbis are the ones who know Judaism and Jewish law, but more importantly, are also well versed in modern culture and know how to apply Jewish law.  Rabbi Shamir Caplan and his family from the shule that is colloquially known as Gandel Besen, are exemplars of that. He is steeped in Jewish understanding, a man of the modern world and universally referred to across Melbourne as a nice guy, which I have always found to be true. In fact, I think because of this and the fact that he doesn’t blow his own...