Torah Portion:	Vayikra
Synagogue:	South Caulfield Shule (traditional orthodox)
Walking time from home:	1 hour
Reason for going:	A guest speaker
Kiddush:	Large and lively

There are some shules that are a bit further afield from where I live, but they are still very vibrant and happening places. One such shule is South Caulfield, which has been around for many decades, but has had somewhat of a revival in the last decade with its latest two rabbis. The previous one was so popular that he has moved on to bigger things, whilst the current one is just as dynamic.

I knew of the current rabbi before, but really got to know him when both of us participated in the Launchpad Leadership program last year. Since then he has been encouraging me to come to his shule, and though I have been there for numerous communal dinners of late, this week was the first Shabbat morning there in a few years.

The portion of this week was Vayikra (Leviticus), which was also the beginning of the third book, but in essence even the rabbi admitted that it is quite a boring, tedious and unexciting portion. However, he focused on one thing which was quite interesting. Part of the portion is about the bringing of sacrifices, and that everyone should bring according to their means. There is in fact a hierarchy of animals for this purpose, and whilst the bigger and more expensive animals are preferred, the smaller ones are just as welcomed, if that is all that one can afford.

The process after the animals are brought is that they are put / cooked on the alter. Towards the bottom of the hierarchy are fowls, and though they are normally cooked with their feathers removed, the practice was to cook them with their feathers attached. Without feathers they look scrawny and unappealing. With feathers they look bigger and fatter, especially compared to the cows or other large livestock, but they smell much worse when cooked. Nonetheless, that section ends with a phrase that says it is ‘a satisfying aroma to Hashem’. Naturally the rabbi asked how could a foul smell (pun intended) be so satisfying? The answer of course is that although it may smell bad, the intention is pure, and that is what interests God more.

Ultimately, each of us has our own stories. Sometimes we may look full on the outside but feel very scrawny on the inside, and sometimes vice versa. Outside appearances do not always indicate what is happening on the inside or between people. In many ways, this is very much in line with Infertility Awareness Shabbat, which was observed across a number of shules this week. During the service, the rabbi read out a special prayer which was composed by a couple of rabbis from Sydney. Then after the service, the rabbi introduced a member of the shule who courageously told the intriguing, heart-breaking, harrowing but ultimately inspiring journey of her fertility struggles, and though she now has three healthy kids (including a set of twins), getting to this point was a major endeavour.

As it happens, she is not alone. According to the statistics, 1 in 6 Australian couples (17%) struggle with infertility, and 1 in 17 babies are born through assisted reproduction. As the Australian Jewish Fertility Network (https://www.ajfn.org.au/) says, infertility is often a silent struggle, but it needn’t be. Across the community there are supports and networks to ease the pain and to help the couples going through it.

After all, although each of us always has our own stories, sometimes it is better to go through some of the negative experiences with people you can trust and with a supportive network.