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 second reason was because Central Shule’s Shabbat Project program was advertised as a full sit-down lunch, with a speaker and a theme that intrigued me. Whilst the lunch was a little chaotic with everyone trying to get food all at the same time and then vying for a seat at one of the tables, the theme and the speaker were actually very good.

Central Shule, by the standards of some of the older established shules in Melbourne, is considered relatively new. It was established more than 20 years ago, but was renovated a decade ago and is now considered one of Melbourne’s most beautiful synagogues. From the outset it was under the auspices of Chabad, but was founded to be one of the main shules for the South African emigree community. Whilst clearly not everyone is of South African descent, the South African accent is probably still the most common one heard within its walls, and often many of the references need to be explained to those of us who do not originate in South Africa.

The Shabbat Project theme was about the connection between wellbeing and Shabbat. In his sermon, the rabbi spoke about the connection from the perspective of the Torah: that there is a prescribed time each week to switch off, whilst the guest speaker was member of the congregation. Dr Shalya Hirschshon is a psychologist with a South African accent who works with both adults and kids. She reiterated how important Shabbat is in terms of wellbeing, especially in our modern world, and spoke about her connection to both Shabbat and the idea of switching off. She provided some examples and also some useful tips for improving one’s wellbeing,

Overall, the Shabbat Project is a great idea, though it is often criticised for only focusing on orthodox shules and for preaching to the choir. In previous years there were large pre- and post-Shabbat gatherings in parks and in synagogues that genuinely brought people together and brought in people who otherwise would be unlikely to participate in a Shabbat service. In this case, though the lunch attracted people who don’t normally come to Central (like myself), most people do generally go to shule most weeks so it probably didn’t have the same impact. Nonetheless, wellbeing is a topic that should be talked about often, so if people heard something new, then that was worth it.

For me, it was a nice experience to be in a beautiful building, sitting and chatting with lovely people and hearing an important topic. And it was the Shabbat Project that brought me to this shule, so for that I am grateful. Next week will be a whole different experience when I will have Shabbat in Sydney!