Torah Portion:	Vayishlach
Synagogue:	Daminyan, Chabad lite
Walking time from home:	10 mins
Reason for going:	Close to home, special kiddush
Kiddush:	Sit down and a little chaotic

This week, by the time Saturday morning came along, I was quite tired. I was at a late dinner on Friday night, didn’t get home till quite late and even though I slept well, I was still somewhat fatigued when I woke up. So before Shabbat even started, knowing that I would be home late, I decided to go to a Chabad shule, largely because most of them start at 10am – 30 or 45 minutes later than most others.

Chabad is mainstream in Melbourne. Even a number of synagogues that aren’t nominally Chabad and don’t have a lot of Chabad congregants, still have Chabad rabbis. On top of that, there are a number of different kinds of Chabad shules.

Daminyan is one of my favourites of the Chabad shules. It is Chabad to be sure, but it is known as being Chabad lite, which means that although many of the congregants are proponents of the Chabad ideology and wear the appropriate garb to match, they are also very much part of the modern world and aren’t fundamentalist in their practices or beliefs, unlike some of their fellow Chasidic comrades. In fact, some are very progressive in certain areas.

Nonetheless, it is a Chabad shule, with a very dynamic, articulate and enthusiastic rabbi, who is also relatively young, like most of the congregants. He, and the fact that it is Chabad lite, are the reasons why it is my favourite of all the Chabad shules. This week the rabbi spoke about balance. He said that while Jacob and Esau were generally at odds with each other, in this week’s portion they reconcile because when presented with the option to run or negotiate, this time Jacob stays.

Each of us has a tendency or personality trait that we usually favour, but depending on the circumstance, sometimes we need to train ourselves to do the opposite. For instance, some parents only ever shower their children with goodness, whilst others are natural disciplinarians. But a child needs both elements to live a balanced life, and so do all of us.

Balance is something that I think about often, and it is part of the reason why I go to a different shule every week – so that I experience different religious perspectives and opportunities without one type of ideology taking over. On this occasion, not only was the experience a little different to what I am used to because I don’t go to Chabad shules so often, but I also had a unique opportunity. Towards the end of shule and later at the kiddush, I bumped into an old friend of mine. He and I went to school together, but he has been living in Israel for many years. He is only in town for a couple of weeks, but happened to be at this shule on this day. In fact, he was so excited to see me that he invited me to his parents’ house for lunch, and it was nice to reminisce about days of old, and modern life in Israel.

But before we went to lunch, we sat at the kiddush, which in a Chabad shule always feels to me to be a little chaotic and disorderly. Nonetheless, the kiddush on this occasion was sponsored to mark the first anniversary of the passing of Eli Kay – a young South African man who spent a few years in Australia before moving to Israel. Last year he was killed in a terrorist attack, so on this solemn day, his Australian friends used the opportunity to talk about his life and his achievements. Given that I was going to lunch with a friend who has lived in Israel for a long time, we spent part of the time reflecting on that, and on the sometimes fleeting nature of life in general.

It was a great opportunity to catch up with an old friend, to experience something a little different, and to ponder the need for balance. Next week for something a little different, I will be back in Sydney.