Torah Portion:	Noach
Synagogue:	South Caulfield Shule (traditional orthodox)
Walking time from home:	1 hour
Reason for going:	Afternoon plans in South Caulfield
Kiddush:	Impressive and tasty

The goal since the end of the festive season has been to get to shules that I haven’t yet been to since I started this blog, but that objective has already been broken because this week I had afternoon plans in South Caulfield, just up the road from the shule, so I went back to a shule I had already visited.

As it happens, I was glad to have been at this shule this week, considering that the situation in Israel is still as bad as it is and continues to dominate everyone’s mind. Before one even enters the sanctuary, on the doors leading in, there is a list of names of the Israeli hostages that are currently being held in Gaza. This was particularly powerful and moving because just on Friday, in Tel Aviv, Sydney and other cities around the world, an empty Shabbat table of about 200 seats was set up in public places to show the plight of the hostages.

Those whose names are known (over 160) were on this list in shule, which was also plastered around the room. Moreover, each of the names was printed on its own card with a psalm under it, and just before the reading of the Torah, the service was essentially stopped, the cards were handed out, and many of the psalms were read out. This was on top of the fact that after the prayer for Australia, prayers were also said for the safety of Israel, for the IDF and for the hostages in captivity. It was very emotional and palpable, and though some of those prayers have been said in most shules for years, they now take on a new meaning.

The rest of the service proceeded as normal, but I discovered that some people who usually rarely come to shule, have been coming more often in the last few weeks because of what is currently going on. They feel – like many others across the world – that a few extra Mitzvahs, even in the diaspora, might make a difference. And even if they don’t, it makes them feel like they are contributing in their own small way, which in itself is a positive.

It is said that the portions of the week are always somehow connected to the activities of the week. This week I heard multiple rabbis point out that the word ‘Hamas’ is in the portion, where it means thievery or robbery, and was one of the last straws that caused the flood that Noah and his family in the ark escaped from. I think it is a long bow to draw that the ‘Hamas’ of the Torah is somehow connected to the terrorist group in the Middle East in our times, but others have gone even further, suggesting that the mythical flood of this week’s portion should somehow smite our enemies like it did in the Torah.

Personally, I am very much a pacifist and I believe that every death, even of an assailant, is tragic because no one grows up wanting to kill and do evil. What we really need to do as a society is to find the root causes of such activity and do what we can to prevent it. In the Middle East, many smarter minds than I have failed to find a solution and root out the causes of hatred, and thus for more than 75 years, there has still not been sustainable peace in the region. As communities in the diaspora, the best we can do – which is what South Caulfield Shule and all the others around the world have done for a few weeks and will no doubt continue to do for as long as it takes – is to pray, to mourn, to recite psalms and other supplications, and to do all we can to try to make even a small difference. No doubt next week, with this conflict likely still going on, the shule I go to will also have its own way of dealing with this, but in the meantime, I was glad to be in such a respectful and emotive place.