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 Israel, including benches and seats, as well as a very ornate Torah ark and bimah (table). Moreover, it has fancy light fittings, and it is the only home shule that I have ever seen with a chandelier hanging over a part of the room which has a double height ceiling.

The structure existed before the house was converted into a shule. As such, though they could change the internal layout, they couldn’t really rebuild the house when they converted it into a shule and therefore the ladies section, whilst somewhat expansive and equally as nice, is not really connected to the men’s section. There is a balcony so that the ladies in the front row can see, but anyone behind them has restricted viewing, and anyone even further back cannot see at all and probably can’t hear vey much either, since the back of the ladies section is also where the kiddush is usually being set up. As such, unsurprisingly, during the service I only saw three women in their section, but at the end during kiddush there were probably four times as many, but I suspect most of them arrived just before the kiddush began. Most of the women in this community are happy with this kind of arrangement.

Nonetheless, on the men’s level, the service was fairly brisk and generally joyful. It seemed like most people (men) who attend the service genuinely want to be there. There is a positive vibe which is hard to describe but I still somehow noticed it. Maybe I was just more attuned to it since I spent a bit of time in the back of the room looking around. What struck me immediately – apart from the beautiful surroundings – was the fact that I didn’t see a single male without a kippah that was black in colour. Granted, some were knitted, some were felt and some were leather, but all of them were the same shade, which for me at least is quite striking. Then again, it is probably the kind of shule where there is an unwritten rule about what people wear, since I also noticed that every male, including most of the kids, wore a dark suit and a white shirt. Some had a tie, most didn’t, and some had a patterned white shirt, but they were the exception. Clearly this is the kind of shule where people respect the rules, even if they aren’t prescribed, and maybe that stems from the fact that this shule models itself on similar shules and Yeshivas from around the world. In fact, this week there were some visiting students from a Yeshiva abroad, who have been brought out to study with, and provide inspiration, to many of the congregants.

As for the sermon, though the portion of the week contains the Ten Commandments, the rabbi – who has been there in part-time capacity since the shule began – spoke about the power of prayer, which comes from the first words of the portion. Although prayer may sometimes seem repetitive, it should not be seen that way. If a random stranger for instance, continually asked you for something, it might seem repetitive and annoying, but if your child did the same, it would be less annoying and you would eventually give in or at least answer the request because it is coming from your child. The same goes with Jewish prayer, since we are G-d’s children. I’m not sure that I entirely agree with the analogy, but I am certainly grateful that there is a shule where people appreciate it and feel comfortable hearing it.