Torah Portion:	Tazria
Synagogue:	Mifgash Centre (independent Chabad)
Walking time from home my sister’s:	Almost 15 minutes
Reason for going:	Close and different
Kiddush:	Sit down kiddush with two Cholents

There are some shules that make themselves known; there are others that stay away from the limelight and are therefore hidden in plain sight. Mifgash (lit. meeting) Centre in Bentleigh is one of those. I first encountered Mifgash a few years ago when I was invited to a Bar Mitzvah at a place with a Hebrew sounding name in an industrial park in Bentleigh. I had no idea it was even a shule. Initially I had just assumed it was a Jewish-owned meeting hall that had been set up as a shule for the celebration. But since then I have discovered that Mifgash was actually founded in 2017 as the ‘Bentleigh Synagogue & Jewish Hebrew Centre’, according to its website.

It is away from the limelight in more ways than one. Even finding it is a bit of a mission. It is in an industrial area that during the week is undoubtedly teeming with trucks and forklifts, but on Saturday mornings is relatively quiet. Although some of the other factories are inevitably Jewish-owned, this is likely the only one that has a welcome sign in English and Hebrew on the front gate and a large permanently affixed Menorah in front of the entrance. The centre itself is on the top floor of a two storey office building and despite the sign at the front, doesn’t look very welcoming or inviting from the outside. But once you climb the stairs, it is an entirely different experience.

Although the centre has a an Israeli Chabad rabbi at the helm, it doesn’t feel or operate like a traditional Chabad House. In fact, for a moment I felt like I had been transported to northern Israel because almost every congregant was Israeli or a Hebrew speaking Bukharan. I spotted one friend who was neither, but he, like me, was a standout. As a result, the Sephardi influences were everywhere. To start with, even before there was a Minyan, the service began with the leader reading every word aloud. Eventually the rabbi took over and the latter part of the service felt more traditional, but still very Sephardi with some unfamiliar tunes. Even the Torahs were in cylindrical cases covered in gold leaf.

One of the older gentlemen told me why he particularly liked this place. He tried most of the shules when he first arrived in Melbourne, but eventually chose Mifgash as his regular because it is friendlier than any other shule he had been to. I noticed this almost immediately. Not only was I welcomed as a visitor, but almost every single male that walked in shook every other man’s hand, or in some cases hugged or kissed them too. Then after my call up, I think I shook everyone’s hand again. This may just be the Sephardi way, but it definitely conveys an underlying sense of friendliness and intimacy.

When the service began, there were eight people on the men’s side. By the end of the service there were over 25, with about half a dozen women too, and bunch of kids. The rabbi spoke about the leprosy of the portion, but said that an affliction or even a catastrophic situation, like the one Israel is experiencing now, simply means that better things are coming. At the very least, that is the hope that we all need to keep in mind, especially as we approach Pesach. The rabbi then continued on this theme during kiddush, which was set up in the large hall next door. Whilst the food was on one table, all the men, women and kids together were encouraged to sit around the other large table where there was great, friendly banter, and a sharing of drinks and stories. There were also two Cholents, and since they looked the same, I filled my plate from one of the hotpots but very quickly discovered that it was way too spicy for me. This of course was the ‘hot’ Cholent as opposed to the other one, and when some of the guys laughed at me, I came back for the second one but it was almost all gone. It was nonetheless great to be in such a friendly and welcoming place where laughing at a guest for such an innocent mistake seemed entirely appropriate.