Torah Portion: Eikev Synagogue: Blake St Early Minyan Walking time from home: 40 minutes Reason for going: Speaker (sort of) Kiddush: Two kiddushes with cholent For the second time in as many months I was at an early Shabbat service, but this time intentionally. This week at Blake St shule, after the main service, there was a speaker from overseas who I wanted to hear, but having been to the main service previously, I decided to go to the early service. During the height of the pandemic, when only small groups were allowed to gather for services, to maximise the number of people who could come to shule on a Shabbat morning, Blake St decided to stagger their services, with the first one starting at 7:45am, and then two more later. Once things settled down, some people had gotten used to the idea of coming to shule early on a Shabbat morning, and it stuck. Officially
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Torah Portion: Va’etchanan Synagogue: Temple Beth Israel Walking time from home: Just over 15 minutes Reason for going: Special occasion Kiddush: Large, festive kiddush This week I revisited another previously visited synagogue, but again for a very good reason: the 90 th birthday of Rabbi Dr John Levi AC, an icon of the progressive Jewish movement. Apart from simply celebrating Rabbi Levi’s birthday, I was there in an official capacity, as Co-chair of the Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) – an organisation Rabbi Levi founded, but more about that later. Temple Beth Israel (TBI) is the largest progressive shule in Melbourne and one of the largest in the country, but by no means the only one. There are several other progressive institutions across Melbourne, and similar institutions across much of Australasia. I mention this because according to the speakers at
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Torah Portion: Devarim Synagogue: St Kilda Shule, traditional orthodox Walking time from home: A little over 20 mins Reason for going: Multicultural Shabbat Kiddush: Very large, catered For the next two weeks I will be revisiting shules that I have already been to, but for good reason. This week one of the previously visited ones was St Kilda shule for their annual Multicultural Shabbat, which has now become a tradition. Even in tough times like the ones we are currently living through, it attracted a large crowd of non-Jews, along with many Jews who don’t usually come. The guest speaker this year was the Anglican Archbishop, and like most of the non-Jews, he arrived on time or even a little early. Learning from last year, I also arrived on time, about the same time as him, and as the service was beginning, the president of the shule and I showed him and his delega
Torah Portion: Matot-Massei Synagogue: Jewish Care Carnegie Walking time from home: One hour and 25 minutes Reason for going: A lunch not too far away Kiddush: N/a As I have discovered previously, there are some shules inside other buildings that are small, functional and out of the limelight. The beautifully designed synagogue room at Jewish Care in Carnegie is one such service. The Carnegie site of Jewish Care only opened in early 2020 in the midst of the pandemic and as such, although it looks gorgeous and is well appointed with ultra-modern facilities, it has struggled a little to find an audience. There are residents to be sure, but it is not full. Nonetheless, the building was designed with a multi-purpose room that also doubles as a synagogue, and later in 2020, they appointed a part-time rabbi to look after the Jewish needs of the residents. I had been me