Torah Portion:	Bechukotai
Synagogue:	Spiritgrow (Chabad lite)
Walking time from home:	25 minutes
Reason for going:	Lunch and guest speakers
Kiddush:	Hearty lunch with cholent

After a lovely Friday night dinner at another shule, it was time to decide where to go on Shabbat morning. There are still a handful of shules in Melbourne that I am yet to visit, but this week, with a lunch on offer and guest speakers, I decided that it was time to revisit Spiritgrow, which in some ways is a bit of an unusual shule. It is probably fair to say that Spiritgrow’s purpose is mindfulness education. Most of the centre’s programming is about growing the spirit, mentally and physically, and in a sense the shule is an add on. But the elements of mindfulness are on display even during the service.

One of the most iconic prayers during any morning service in shule is the Shema. It is one of the only lines that is said in unison by the whole congregation and is a line that is drilled into children from a young age, such is its importance. But at Spiritgrow, before saying that line together, the rabbi stopped the service, told everyone to put down their books and close their eyes, and did a meditation and a mindful activity of the spirit; in essence, a grounding activity before such an important prayer. Whilst this was the only meditation on this occasion, it set the mood for other activities of the mind.

In this shule there is no sermon per se. Instead, during the Torah reading – before almost each of the seven readings – the rabbi steps in and either elucidates one of the elements of that reading, or more likely, engages in an interactive discussion, and in a shule like this there are lots of opinions and lots of people wanting to partake in the discussion. This week, the rabbi asked if the ultra-orthodox in Israel should serve in the army, essentially asking everyone to make a binary choice, and then explained certain verses from this week’s portion which say that defending the land of Israel is important, but other things are also important. The rabbi not only related the Torah reading to an issue of relevance today, but ultimately said that whatever the decision is, it needs to be backed up by Torah precepts and liturgy. It was a fun, interactive and sneakily educational part of the service.

The rest of the service proceeded as expected, though because of the interaction earlier, and because of the nature of this shule, the atmosphere felt casual and the few side conversations that took place didn’t seem out of place and didn’t seem to disturb anyone. In fact, the rabbi engaged in some of them too. It was clearer in this shule than in most that the majority of the people come to the service because they want to and because they feel a genuine sense of belonging or connection. This feeling was greatly enhanced during the lunch in the room next door, when people shared stories and enjoyed interacting with the people they were sitting with. A lovely catered lunch with a warm cholent certainly helped, but the atmosphere was definitely sincere.

The guest speakers on this occasion were not exactly guests. They are a local couple who often come to this shule, though this time they were invited to share their story of a recent trip to Israel and their time volunteering on an army base. The tales of their trip were at times harrowing and at times joyful, but certainly interesting to hear. Whilst they explained that most of their volunteering efforts felt mind-numbing and very mundane, they also realised and saw for themselves that the tasks were necessary when so many other people are engaged in other efforts on the warfront. It was definitely interesting to hear, and it was particularly interesting to hear these revelations in such a fascinating setting and in such an unusual shule.