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 to leave my friend so I joined him in the main shule.

I have been to Mizrachi many times over the years. The other services across the complex are smaller or are at least in smaller rooms and therefore always feel a bit more intimate, but the main the service in the main shule – despite it not being in a particularly large sanctuary compared to other shules – feels a little aloof. In fact, the whole service feels like it is for insiders. Apart from the sermon and the announcements at the end, there are no interruptions to the service, which is good in a way, but it means that outsiders don’t always know what is going on. For instance, in other shules, the name of the portion of the week is announced just before the Torah reading, along with the page numbers in the various books, but here the service just continues. More than that though, after a few people were called up for various readings, there were chants of Mazel Tov, but without a newsletter in front of us, we had to wait for the announcements at the end to learn why.

My friend was there because out of all the shules in Melbourne, Mizrachi is probably where he knew the most number of people, so during various lulls in the service or between Torah reading sections, he and I had chats with people we knew. In that sense it was nice for both of us, though I still felt like a bit of an outsider and I don’t know how someone who knows no one in the place would feel if they happened to stumble into the shule on their own. There was actually someone near us who was standing at the back at one point a bit lost until one of the regulars spoke to him and showed him to a seat, but that was on an individual level. Organisationally, it still feels a little less accommodating than some other shules, though at the same time, it equally feels welcoming if you’re an insider.

The last time I was at the Mizrachi main shule, less than a year ago, the new rabbi had just arrived. Now he sounds and feels very much at home, so much so that he knows when and how to shoosh the congregation, and what to say to give them strength and inspiration, especially during these difficult times. Though the sermon was about the portion of the week – about Joseph, his brothers and Pharoah’s dream – there were subtle references to  the current war in Israel, to some international responses, and even to some local politics. The rabbi has certainly found his groove and knows how to talk to his audience. He finished by saying that Joseph interpreted Pharoah’s dream, but did it not because he was powerful or gifted, but because he was doing the work of the Almighty, in the same way that the soldiers in Israel are doing G-d’s work too. He then led the recitation of psalms and for a moment at least – especially in such a Zionist and passionate shule – everyone felt good and inspired. This feeling lasted for the rest of the service, and thus though there were more people than food at the kiddush, the atmosphere felt very festive and I even got a lovely and unexpected invitation to a lunch. All in all, my friend enjoyed the experience of the service and the kiddush, and this was the beginning of an enjoyable day for all of us.