The Syna-blogue

Torah Portion: Veyechi   Synagogue: Etz Chayim, aka Bentleigh Progressive Walking time from home my sister’s: About 20 minutes Reason for going: Something different Kiddush: Small kiddush but with a birthday cake     Of all the shules in Melbourne, only three are progressive (reform), and of these, one happens to be quite close to my sister’s new house. So after a lovely Shabbat dinner with my sister and her family, I stayed over and in the morning went to Etz Chayim. I had been to Etz Chayim previously on many occasions for events and lectures, but had never attended a service. Moreover, when I told people later in the day where I had gone, all of them had some vague recollection that there is a progressive shule on a main road somewhere in Bentleigh, but none had ever been inside or knew exactly where it was. In a sense, this is how the shule ope...

  Torah Portion: Vayigash Synagogue: Kehilat Nitzan, Conservative Walking time from home: 25 minutes Reason for going: Visiting guests Kiddush: Small but hearty There are some shules that I don’t go to very often, but each time I do, I feel welcome and comfortable. Kehilat Nitan – Melbourne’s only Conservative shule – is one of them. I hadn’t been to a Shabbat morning service there since this time last year, though I had been a few times recently for Friday night services and dinners, and other various guest speakers. I first went to the shule nearly two decades ago when it was in temporary accommodation and when even it wasn’t quite sure of itself. Today by contrast, it is in a very elegantly converted warehouse on a main road in a prominent location, and is one of the most structured and well organised shules in town. As an example, there is only one type of si...

  Torah Portion: Miketz Synagogue: Mizrachi main shule (Modern Orthodox) Walking time from home: Almost 20 minutes Reason for going: A friend in town Kiddush: Crowded, nice This week, for the first time in a few weeks, I had no Shabbat plans and genuinely no idea where I was going to go on Saturday morning. But I did have a friend in town from interstate who goes to Mizrachi Sydney, so we met in the morning and together decided to go to the Melbourne equivalent.  For the purposes of counting synagogues, Mizrachi Melbourne is just one of 61. But in reality, on a Shabbat morning, there are actually five services on the campus – an early service in the main sanctuary and then four other simultaneous services scattered throughout the complex. I had previously been to two of them and had intended to go to another one this time, but once we walked in I didn’t want t...

  Torah Portion: Veyeshev – Chanukah Synagogue: Carnegie Chabad House Walking time from home my sister’s: Less than 10 minutes Reason for going: Close by Kiddush: Sit down kiddush with cholent & donuts For many years, every month or two, various members of our family get together on a Friday night for Shabbat dinner, and we usually do it at the home of my sister and brother-in-law because they have kids and a big house. For a long time they lived in South Caulfield, but a few months ago they moved a little further afield, and this week for the first time since the move, we finally got together again for a Shabbat dinner. The upshot is that I used the opportunity to try out their new guest bed for the first time, and thus on Saturday morning I was just streets away from Carnegie Chabad House, so naturally that is where I went. Unlike many of the other...

  Torah Portion: Vayishlach Synagogue: East Melbourne Hebrew Cong (Orthodox) Walking time from home: 1 hour and 25 minutes Reason for going: Something different Kiddush: Sit down kiddush with a cake! As I have said many times, there are over 60 shules in Melbourne these days, with the vast majority of them in the south eastern suburbs (within 2 km or so of where I live). But the oldest shule in town is surprisingly nowhere near that existing centre. In every capital in Australia, the initial Jewish community was generally established in or close to the CBD, and then with gentrification and other factors, the community moved further into suburbia. But in most cities, the original shules still stand and are often still active, as is the case with the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation. The synagogue was founded in 1857, and after two decades it moved into its...