Torah Portion:	Ha’Azinu
Synagogue:	Torah Centre (Orthodox, Yeshivish)
Walking time from home:	25 minutes
Reason for going:	Appropriate for the season
Kiddush:	Nice, but not like I remember

The portion of this week is the penultimate one of the Torah, but is the last one that is read as a stand-alone portion. The final portion is only ever read on Simchat Torah in a couple of weeks, so given this was effectively the last portion of the year, what better place to hear it than at a shule called the Torah Centre! The Torah Centre has been around for many years, but still feels like some kind of secret society operating under the motto of ‘if you know, you know’. Its address is on a main street in the heart of Caulfield, but the only sign of its existence from the street is an unmarked door straddled between shops on either side. Most people probably walk past without noticing or without giving a second thought as to what is behind that door. Once you go through, there is a long corridor that leads to a staircase, which then takes you to the shule upstairs. It is housed on the first floor above shops in a space that was probably once used for corporate offices, but is now a large and well maintained library on one side, with a kiddush hall / secondary prayer area on the other, and then the main shule space.

The sule is not accessible for anyone who can’t climb the stairs, but for everyone else it is a large space, well maintained and beautifully presented. I think I was the only one on the men’s side not wearing suit, though most didn’t wear a tie with their suit. On the men’s side, I was also the second last to arrive despite the fact that I only got there less than half an hour after the starting time. This is clearly a shule where the congregants take their praying and attendance seriously, and where decorum is paramount. Unsurprising I guess, given the name. There was no extraneous noise during the sermon or during the service itself, though there were a young boy who very loudly and cutely squeaked some of his responses.

The separation curtain between the men’s and women’s side runs more or less down the middle, with chandeliers on both sides. And though all the action takes place on the men’s side because it is clearly a very orthodox community, since the women have space and the curtain is transparent enough for them to see what is going on even though everyone probably looks like a silhouette, there was quite a substantial crowd of women in attendance. The curtain was fully opened during the sermon, which was delivered before the Torah reading. Though this is unusual by traditional standards, it actually makes a lot of sense since it is nice to know what is about to be read. In this case, the rabbi who has been there since the shule’s inception, spoke about not just the substance of the reading, but the structure as well. This portion is the swansong of Moses, as the rabbi said, and is written as a song or poem. However, what it is really about is gratitude or the lack thereof. At the end of his life, Moses says to the people that they need to show and feel more gratitude, both for God and for each other. That is the only way his legacy will be continued.

For me, coming to this shule was also an act of gratitude. It was nice to re-connect with some people I haven’t seen for years, and it was nice to reminisce. Quite a number of years ago, when a friend of mine used to live relatively close to the Torah Centre, I would often come and meet him there. In those days, the shule had a reputation as having one of the best Kiddushes in town. Every week, even if there was no special occasion, the Kiddush would be exceptional. This week I discovered that the shule no longer has such a reputation. The Kiddush was absolutely fine, which herring, salads, dips and sweets, but it was not to the standard that I remember, and I am not even a foodie. The vibe of the shule was nonetheless exactly as I remembered: friendly, inviting and warm, which was a lovely prelude to Yom Kippur.