Torah Portion:	Vaeira
Synagogue:	Kollel Beth HaTalmud (Chareidi)
Walking time from home:	10 mins
Reason for going:	Something different
Kiddush:	N/A

There are some shules in Melbourne that are essentially hidden in plain sight. Kollel Beth HaTalmud is one of those. It is on a prominent corner but most people who see it likely don’t venture inside. In a way, it is for insiders, though they do welcome visitors. In truth though, Kollel Beth HaTalmud is not actually a shule. It was found in 1981 as the Yehudah Fishman Institute and is actually a seminary and adult education centre. It offers Bachelor degrees and tertiary education in Torah law, and was the fist overseas outpost of the well-known, New Jersey based Lakewood Yeshiva. It is housed in a converted and renovated old house, and though the study hall and main sanctuary look like a shule, with a Torah ark at the front, most of the room is lined with Jewish books and tables. When it is not Shabbat, it is a hive of activity and sound. But on Shabbat, the mood and atmosphere is very different.

To start with, the main service starts earlier than in most shules. I arrived about 20 minutes after the advertised start time of 8:30am, and was close to the last person to enter. I was also one of the only ones without a black hat or kippah, and one of only a few without a dark suit. It was quite hot so even a number of the men in suits weren’t wearing their jackets, but they all had them. When I walked in however, I was immediately greeted by a gentleman near the door who without words, showed me to a seat, gave me the relevant books and showed me where we were up to. It was very welcoming and pleasant. Once I sat down, I realised immediately that this is a serious place for serious people. There wasn’t an exchange of words when I was greeted because this is a shule that has a reputation as being quiet, so much so that during the silent prayers, the only noises that can be heard are that of the human breath, and even during other times, there is no talking whatsoever. People wordlessly smile or shake hands to greet their friends, but there is no sound except for the Hebrew words of the prayers or the Torah. A few people told me after that although this isn’t their favourite shule in terms of its style, pace or philosophy, they still regularly come because they know they won’t be disturbed during their praying and meditation time.

For the first few minutes, I actually enjoyed the silence and enjoyed the atmosphere, but then some of it started to bother me. The complete silence and slow pace were different and difficult to accept initially, but I guess those things work for some people and I can see why they would be an attraction. However, not seeing any women at all was harder to accept. There is no separation of any kind and the entire sanctuary is taken up by men: close to 80 on this occasion. However, the main sanctuary has a double height ceiling over one half of the room whilst above the other part of the room there is a second floor where the women sit. From the men’s side, if you can see that balcony, all you see is one sided glass. Men cannot look into that section at all, so I have no way of knowing if there were none, ten or fifty women behind that glass. It definitely felt like a shule mostly for men.

The portion of this week was about Moses, but being the place that this is, the sermon was not about the broad brushstrokes of the portion. It was actually about a number of liturgical intricacies from the portion that in truth, went partly over my head. The sermon was in English, but there were so many Hebrew words thrown in and it was so specific about Torah syntax and grammar, that I couldn’t really follow, though I suspect most people lapped it up and learned something interesting and new. As for me, I was more excited to see that the Haftarah – a section usually read from a book – was actually read from a scroll kept in a different ark to the side and brought out just before the reading. I haven’t seen such a scroll for a long time. At the end, as is common in this shule, there was no Kiddush, but because there was a circumcision (Bris) that happened straight after in the main sanctuary, there was a whisky and a few crackers. All in all, a different and eye opening experience for me.