Torah Portion: Va’etchanan Synagogue: Shaarei Tefilah (Orthodox, Yeshivish) Walking time from home: 15 mins Reason for going: Something different Kiddush: Not very diverse but plentiful Melbourne has such a variety of shules that sometimes even I forget how diverse our community is. There are shules to fit all needs and styles, and shules that are both large and fancy as well as small and relatively private. Shaarei Tefillah is surprisingly a mixture of the two. It started quite a number of years ago as a little shteibel (synagogue in a house) in a suburban home with makeshift furniture and a homely feel. Though it still has that charm and that look, at least from the outside, it is now an altogether different affair. The house where it began has now been completely remodelled and fully fitted out to be a shule. It has synagogue-specific furniture imported from Isr
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Torah Portion: Devarim Synagogue: Shira Chadasha (Partnership Orthodox) Walking time from home: 25 minutes Reason for going: My niece’s Bat Mitzvah Kiddush: Large, diverse and plentiful For over a year, my nearly 12-year-old niece has been anticipating her Bat Mitzvah. Since the start of this year she has been participating in two programs related to the milestone – one organised by a synagogue where she is learning about the traditional Jewish elements of becoming a Bat Mitzvah girl, and the other about what Jewish responsibility means in the modern world. Her party is also well into the planning stages since it is only two weeks away. But until fairly recently she and her family hadn’t really planned on doing any more than that. The truth is that unlike for boys, where there are specified rules and precepts connected with becoming a Bar Mitzvah boy, there are no su
Torah Portion: Matot-Masei Synagogue: St Kilda Shule, traditional orthodox Walking time from home: A little over 20 mins Reason for going: I was the guest speaker Kiddush: Diverse, plentiful The goal of this blog is to allow me the opportunity to visit as many shules as possible and to experience the diversity of synagogue practices, particularly in Melbourne. Each week I try to go to a different one, unless I have a compelling reason to come back to one that I have already been to. This week there was such a reason, which was that I was invited to be a guest speaker – to talk about my recent March of the Living experience in Poland and Israel. St Kilda shule is one of the old, traditional ones in town. Though it has a large membership and beautiful, updated facilities, it has a relatively small crowd on Shabbat morning when there is no simcha. On such rare occas
Torah Portion: Pinchas Synagogue: Or Chadash, Orthodox, moderate Walking time from home: 15 minutes (from my accommodation) Reason for going: Sydney favourite Kiddush: Sponsored kiddush SYDNEY: If I lived permanently in Sydney, this blog and my constant shule-hopping would not exist. I keep coming back to Or Chadash in Sydney because that is where the friends that I usually stay with go, but more than that, it is intimate, friendly, moderate, makes women feel as comfortable as possible within an orthodox setting, always has a nice kiddush, and though there are sometimes serious talks, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. In other words, a nearly perfect combination of all the things that excite me and entice me about the synagogue experience. In Melbourne, I haven’t yet found a shule that is quite on par. There are many that have a lot of those features, but bec
Torah Portion: Chukat-Balak Synagogue: Shnei Ohr Chabad Walking time from home: 15 mins Reason for going: Guest speaker Kiddush: Small but lovely sit-down kiddush Before I started this blog, I had been to probably every shule in Melbourne, but sometimes only for Friday night or for other special services. One of those was Shnei Ohr, which has been around for 15 or so years in the middle of Caufield, but I first discovered it about a decade ago in another context. The rabbi at Shnei Ohr started a shule, but more importantly, also started an organisation called Smile on Seniors, which brings Judaism to Jewish residents at non-Jewish old age homes. They don’t compete with Jewish Care or Emmy Monash. Instead, they work only with residential aged care facilities in and around Caulfield where they know Jewish residents also reside. About a decade ago I volunteered to help o