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 whom are either business owners or are senior enough that they can take time off to travel as they please. As one of the congregants said, ‘the members of this shule tend to travel more than others’. In the sermon, the rabbi acknowledged this phenomenon and asked why so many people like to travel? Since I only arrived home on Friday, this was a good question for me as well. The rabbi’s response was that we travel to both expand our spirituality – based on this week’s portion – and to expand our understanding of the world. In a sense, both of these were true for me. I came back to a city and a country that hasn’t changed very much, but I know that I have changed, both spiritually and mentally, and that was the point.

Or Chadash is only one level above the main shule at Caulfield, but in some ways feels like a world away. It runs quickly, without pretension and has a loyal following – very much in contrast to my experience last week at the Kotel, which was chaotic and disorganised. It starts 15 minutes later than the main shule, but finishes 5-10 minutes earlier, such is its no-nonsense approach, and apart from me, everyone seemed to know everything about everyone. For my first week back, it was actually the perfect place to be and with a very appropriate sermon, since I wanted to be somewhere quiet and quick. Moreover, it was warm and dry – just what was needed on this cold, rainy day.

After the main shule finished, everyone from Or Chadash joined the main kiddush where there was a speaker from Israel. The speaker – who looked like an ultra-orthodox Jew – began by saying that at age 20 he immigrated from Mea Shearim (a very religious neighbourhood in Jerusalem) to Israel. The point was that until his 20s, despite living within the land of Israel, he lived a very cloistered and isolated life, with little command of Hebrew, English or basic maths. Most of his contemporaries were similarly educated in Torah but not in many other subjects. He has since gone on to get a double degree from Hebrew University and has founded a network of schools for kids from ultra-orthodox families so that the ones who don’t stay in Yeshiva all their lives can have a fighting chance in Israel in terms of job prospects.

Israel is in many ways a land of contrasts, and hearing a speaker who was so erudite and inspiring about the prospects of his people was wonderful to hear. For me, it came on the back of a nearly month-long trip that included fascinating shules, intriguing places and inspiring moments, as well as a wonderful group of people. Now that I’m back, a Shabbat service in a small shule followed by a large kiddush and a great speaker was the best way to reintegrate back into normal life. Now it’s time to find a new shule to visit next week.