Torah Portion:	Vayekhel-Pekudei – HaChodesh
Synagogue:	Mizrachi (Modern Orthodox)
Walking time from home:	20 minutes
Reason for going:	A new rabbi
Kiddush:	N/a

The Mizrachi synagogue in Melbourne is part of a worldwide network and as such, for the last 30 years at least, the senior rabbi has been an overseas recruit. The newly arrived rabbi – whose first Shabbat in Melbourne was this week – has a long connection to Australia, despite having visited for the first time only about six months ago.

In the 1950s his parents came here from the UK and during that time he and his sister were born. But before they started school, the family went back to England before soon moving to Israel. The younger brother – who was born in England but grew up in Israel – was my high school teacher and someone I became very close with during my time at school. He has since returned to Israel but I still see him whenever I visit.

The older brother meanwhile became a rabbi in London and was at his previous shule for 30+ years. In fact, when I lived in London, because I knew his brother, I often went to his shule with a friend of mine who was a regular there. A few years ago he retired and moved to Israel, and then finally, for the first time since he was two years old, returned to Australia several month ago. Now he has returned to be the senior rabbi of Mizrachi.

Mizrachi is not always my favourite shule, because although I know what is going on in the service, I wonder how someone with limited knowledge about a Shabbat service would feel, since there isn’t a word of explanation or commentary throughout the service, except for the sermon. Then again, the vast majority of people who regularly attend Mizrachi like the no nonsense approach and don’t want extraneous commentary during their service.

When it came time for the sermon, the new rabbi began by saying how comfortable he already feels in Melbourne and the fact that some people remember his parents. He then talked about the two elements of this weeks’ Torah portion – the final double portion of the book of Exodus, and the section of HaChodesh, which is read on the Shabbat before the beginning of the month of Nissan. Whilst the first set of readings deal with the mundane but necessary elements of the tabernacle, the separate reading ahead of the new month deals with renewal.

For a newly arrived rabbi, renewal is very much at the top of his thoughts. Although a synagogue can function without a rabbi – and Mizrachi didn’t have one for close to a year – a new rabbi, like a new CEO or president, brings a vibe with them that necessarily changes the nature of the place, ideally for the better. But at the same time, like the mundanity of the first part of this weeks’ readings, the goal is to grow and change in positive ways without losing your way and keeping to the traditions of old. At least that is the way at Mizrachi.

The new rabbi spoke like a seasoned pro, which he is, but because of the nature and length of the readings, the service still ran long. Nonetheless, I was able to visit a kiddush at another service sponsored by a friend of mine who was commemorating the Yahrzeit of his father, and a kiddush at another shule where a visitor from Israel spoke about the current protests and precarious political tensions there at present. It was a busy Shabbat morning, and continued with another presentation by another guest later in the afternoon, and then a multicultural dinner in the evening after Shabbat went out. All in all, a thought-provoking a fun-filled day.