The Syna-blogue

  Shavuot (2 days of Yom Tov) Day 1 (morning): Mizrachi; Day 2 (morning): Sassoon Yehuda Sephardi Across the two days of the Yom Tov of Shavuot (which included Shabbat), I went to four different synagogues for four different services (Thurs night, Fri morning, Fri night and Sat morning). Each was very different, but in their own right interesting and inspiring. I started at South Caulfield shule, where I went to support my friend who was on a panel later in the night, but in the meantime we had a lovely dinner, listened to a fascinating speech by a convert to Judaism, then a comedy routine and then there was a panel about organ donation from a Jewish perspective. It turns out that in most cases, it is allowed and is even encouraged. My friend was then on a panel about the upcoming referendum on the Voice for Indigenous Australians, and despite the potential controversies that such a topic often induces, it was lovely to discuss it in such a lovely and...

  Torah Portion: Bamidbar Synagogue: Young Yeshivah, Chabad Walking time from home: 10 mins Reason for going: Close to home in the rain Kiddush: Large sit-down Kiddush with multiple courses It is said that there are 61 synagogues in Melbourne, but that belies the fact that there are actually a lot more Minyanim on a Shabbat morning. Within some of the complexes there are 2, 3 or even more services, often simultaneously.  This week, on a rainy Saturday morning, I wanted to go somewhere close and somewhere a little nostalgic, so I went to Yeshivah, which is actually an umbrella term for all the services that are on the complex of the Yeshiva Centre. Many years ago, whilst still in high school, I would occasionally go to the Yeshivah main shule, so I intended to go back there for a bit of nostalgia. But when I arrived, I discovered that Young Yeshivah – one of ...

  Torah Portion: Behar-Bechukotai Synagogue: Gary Smorgon House Walking time from home: 40 minutes Reason for going: Invitation by the rabbi Kiddush: Sit down kiddush with big birthday cake This was my second Shabbat home after my trip overseas, and though physically I am here, my mind is still not quite back. My shule experience this Shabbat made me confront the issues of my trip yet again, but in a cathartic kind of way. I was invited to attend the shule at Gary Smorgon House, one of the institutions of Jewish Care, where one of my co-participants on the March of the Living is the rabbi. He also became the quasi rabbi of our program and our group. It was great to see him in his home environment, taking on most of the roles in the shule, from leading the service, to reading from the Torah and making the announcements, and somehow in between, he managed to say he...

Torah Portion: Emor Synagogue: Or Chadash @ Caulfield Walking time from home: Under 10 minutes Reason for going: Close in the rain / Kiddush speaker Kiddush: Reasonable It seems that the weather of last Shabbat in Jerusalem has followed me back to Melbourne. Whilst I may have come to Caulfield shule anyway after the service for the speaker at the Kiddush, I came early because it is close to home. Though rather than go to the main shule, I went upstairs to Or Chadash, a shule I am not very familiar with. As it happens, it was a fortuitous choice. The rabbi at Or Chadash is currently the longest serving rabbi in Melbourne, and though the shule regularly only has 30 or 40 people on a Shabbat morning, this week there were half as many, partly due to the rain but mostly due to the fact that many are travelling. The demographic of the shule is mostly older white males, most of...