Torah Portion:	Bereishit
Synagogue:	Beit Chabad for Israelis (Dudu’s)
Walking time from home:	Almost 25 minutes
Reason for going:	To show solidarity
Kiddush:	A nice sit-down lunch

For Jews the world over, it has been a tumultuous week. We have seen our brethren in Israel slaughtered, mutilated and tortured in new and unimaginable ways… and this is coming from a hardened people. Every Jew in our community and in all communities, is no more than two degrees of separation away from a victim, a family member in Israel or a defender of the country.

It has been heartbreaking for all, yet is has also brought our community together in ways that just a week ago would have seemed preposterous. At gatherings all week, culminating in a large one on Friday, Jews from across the political, religious and social spectrums came together, united in grief and solidarity. These events prove – if it needs proving yet again – that when faced with tragedy and uncertainty, Jews are more united than ever.

With that in mind, for the first Shabbat of the year – which would otherwise have been a joyous event and the anniversary of this blog – I decided to go to the one shule in Melbourne specifically for Israeli travellers to express that solidarity. There are many shules in town where Israelis go, but those Israelis have settled here, some having been here for many years. But Beit Chabad for Israelis, colloquially known simply as “Dudu’s” because it is run by Rav Dudu, is specifically for itinerant Israeli travellers. As such, the building which houses the shule, also has multiple bedrooms for short-term accommodation, and the accompanying website of the Chabad House lists jobs and other resources for Israeli visitors. Most come for several months after their army service, often enroute to or from India, Nepal, Thailand or other places on the way. They are young and enthusiastic.

Rav Dudu himself came to Australia from Israel two decades ago to complete his rabbinic studies, and discovered that there was a gap in the market: Travelling Israelis had nowhere to gather and no-one to assist them in a way that made them feel comfortable. So he built up a following and eventually set up a shule and a centre for his compatriots. Sometime ago they moved to a larger, more impressive building, but the essences of the initiative never changed: to provide itinerant Israelis a safe place to gather and to be together.

In a sense, having a shule seemed like an afterthought. Whilst the building is clearly a shule and a Chabad House, the service regularly attracts a number of people who are neither Israeli nor Chabad. Some come because they used to live in Israel and it brings back happy memories, but others come simply because it is closer to home than other shules. As such there were numerous families, women and children at the service, but whilst the lunch that followed the service was attended almost exclusively by these itinerant Israelis, very few of them were there for the prayers. Some came towards the end, especially this week because they wanted to participate in the recitation of psalms and memorial prayers, but most of those at the service were not Israelis. So much so that even Rav Dudu spoke almost entirely in English during the service, but almost entirely in Hebrew during the lunch. The lunch however was a beautiful and gastronomically heartening experience.

The first Torah portion of the year is said to be a portent for things to come, and since it comes so soon after the end of a month of festivals, some rabbis suggest that it is one of the most important Shabbat services of the year, similar to the first Shabbat after a Bar Mitzvah. Whilst many boys don’t come to shule the week after their celebration, those that do apparently have extra merit. This week the world over, Jews were encouraged to light Shabbat candles and come to shule as a sign of solidarity with our fellow Jews in Israel and around the world, and for our own merit. I was glad to be able to do so with suffering but optimistic Israelis in Melbourne.