Torah Portion: Achrie Mot – Kedoshim Synagogue: Kotel (Western Wall) Walking time from hotel: 15 minutes Reason for going: Where else? Kiddush: N/A JERUSALEM, ISRAEL: According to the vast majority of Jews around the world, there is no place more holy these days than the Kotel (Western Wall), the closest remnant we have to the Temple. It is the place people travel to from all over the world to have their lifecycle celebrations and to feel closer to the Almighty. For me, though the place feels significant and special, it has never quite felt holy, though I do understand why so many people come to Jerusalem for their special occasions. This blog is generally about my Shabbat morning experiences, and though I will get to that, I want to focus the first part of this week’s writings on our collective experience at the Kotel on Friday night. Within our March of t...
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Torah Portion: Tazria-Metzorah (Rosh Chodesh) Synagogue: Nozyk Synagogue Walking time from hotel: 12-15 minutes Reason for going: Main shule in town Kiddush: N/A WARSAW, POLAND: As we have learned all week in Poland, this country used to be filled with Jews, synagogues and institutions of the Jewish community. Jews have been in Poland for nearly a thousand years, and at one point, this was the centre of the Jewish world, with up to a third of the entire population Jewish. Since so many of the Jews were religious, there were plenty of synagogues, and in Warsaw alone, close to 400. Today, after the annihilation of 3.3 million Polish Jews during the Holocaust, there are many remnants of Jewish life, but few functioning synagogues. Yet despite that, in the last few decades there has been a revitalisation of sorts, and some people feel comfortable to show and practi...
Torah Portion: Shemini Synagogue: Chabad of Krakow Walking time from hotel: 5 minutes Reason for going: Main shule in town Kiddush: Sit down kiddush with hot kugel KRAKOW, POLAND: In the old Jewish quarter in Krakow where I am staying, there are probably at least 12 old synagogues, maybe more. But most of them have opening hours during the day and are more like museum pieces than functioning houses of prayer. There are one or two that operate as shules as well as museums, but generally only for certain services. One of those is the Synagogu Remu, which is right in the middle of the Jewish square and is a very Charedi shule. That is where I went Friday night, followed by a communal dinner at the JCC, which organises dinners for tourists and locals every Shabbat. But even at the JCC they said that locals and touri...
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Last days of Pesach Day 1: Chabad Berlin; Day 2: Or Tzion Joachimsthaler Strasse BERLIN, GERMANY: Normally I write this blog just about my experiences on Shabbat, but the last days of Pesach were so special in Berlin that I believe they deserve a special blog entry. Before arriving, I had contacted the main Chabad Centre and through several email exchanges, they assured me that I would be welcome to eat with their community, but no further details were forthcoming. On Tuesday evening, when I walked through the doors, the shule’s senior rabbi made a beeline for me and before I knew it, he was giving me a big bearhug. Then in his American English told me that he had spent two years in Melbourne as a student and felt very fondly about my country or anyone visiting from there. He then invited me to his family’s home for lunch the following day and as promised, introduced me to a Russian-speakin...
Pesach (first days and Chol Hamoed Shabbat) Day 1: Gandel Besen; Day 2: Chabad Glen Eira; Shabbat: Caulfield Shule Ahead of my overseas adventure, I arranged to go out for all meals of the first three days of Pesach, not just the Seders, but Friday night and all the day meals as well. As such, I re-visited shules that I have been to before because those are the shules where I met my hosts. Pesach in general has always been my favourite festival. Though I am not the biggest fan of Matzah, I don’t mind it – unlike some people – and I have no issue putting up with it for a week. I do however find the lengths that some people go to in order to make their homes Kosher for Passover somewhat tedious, but more than anything I love the Seder. If it were up to me, there would be one day of Yom Tov even amongst the orthodox even in the Diaspora, but there would be at least three Seders. I always leave Seder wanting more, even though I go to two of them each ...
Torah Portion: Tzav – Hagadol Synagogue: Sassoon Yehuda (Sephardi orthodox) Walking time from home: 10 minutes Reason for going: To check it out Kiddush: N/A The majority of synagogues that I go to, be they orthodox, reform or otherwise, are familiar in the sense that they are of Ashkenazi origin and have similar tunes and similar styles of prayer. This week however I decided to go to one that is unfamiliar to me. There has been a Sephardi synagogue in Melbourne since the 1960s at least, but for the last 20+ years the main Sephardi synagogue has been in a very prominent location, surrounded by numerous other shules. Before one goes in though, it is clear that it is Sephardi due to its architectural design, and this very much extends to the inside as well. It has Sephardi murals and artwork, and specific Sephardi prayer books produced by Artscrcoll – the only place in Mel...