Torah Portion:	Ki Teitzei
Synagogue:	Hamerkaz (Chabad, Israeli)
Walking time from home:	A little over 30 minutes (in the rain)
Reason for going:	Bar Mitzvah
Kiddush:	Sponsored large kiddush

This week, unlike some weeks, I knew well in advance which shule I was going to go to because I had been invited to the Bar Mitzvah of the son of family friends. And since they are partially Israeli, it was at Hamerkaz where many established but not particularly religious Israelis go. Just like them.

I arrived soaked from the rain a little after the starting time of 10am, along with most of the family, and the service had only just begun. The shule however was already three quarters full, and it was only going to fill up more as the morning progressed, so much so that at some point more chairs were brought in and almost every available seat was taken. There was surprisingly some space towards the end of the service because some people left soon after the actual Bar Mitzvah, ie; after the Torah reading, but most stayed. There was also a temporary exit about two hours into the service because some people had to move their cars, but those people returned soon after.

It was clear from the outset that this is a shule that takes its time. They don’t intentionally dawdle, but they equally don’t rush. Some people who were coming specifically for the Bar Mitzvah, turned up an hour late on purpose and walked in around the time that the Torah was being removed from the ark thinking that the boy would be called up soon, but since he was the last to be called, it took almost another hour for that to happen. After all, for Hamerkaz this was a busy Shabbat. Not only the Bar Mitzvah of course, but the shule was as full as it was because quite a number of regulars had upcoming Yahrzeits, and in this shule, everyone who has an upcoming commemoration or celebration gets called to the Torah for an extra blessing. I actually lost count, but I suspect there were at least 9-10 men called to the Torah before we even got to the Bar Mitzvah boy. Some of course were his family members.

Eventually the Bar Mitzvah boy got called up and read both the Maftir and Haftarah, but because of the time taken to get to that point, it almost felt like an anti-climax. He read beautifully and the shule was at its quietest as he read, but in a service that dragged on, his efforts were almost lost. The rabbi’s sermon however kept everyone’s attention. He has a reputation for speaking long but speaking well, and he kept that reputation fully intact. Ironically, he didn’t focus much on the portion of the week, though during the Torah reading itself, before a number of the readings he did inform the congregation in just a few words what the upcoming reading was about. During the sermon he instead addressed the Bar Mitzvah boy and also spoke a lot about perspective and the current conflict in Israel. Overall it was a well thought out speech that was also very inspiring.

After the sermon, when it was clear that most people were feeling a little antsy, the rabbi announced that Musaf and concluding prayers would only take ten minutes. He would have been accurate had the Chazan not sung some of the songs with cantorial flair, but that only added a minute or two. Then after the service, just before the doors were opened to the kiddush, the rabbi invited the family of the Bar Mitzvah boy to the stage and specifically asked the boy’s mother and younger sister to say a few words. Whilst the mother thanked everyone for coming and told the crowd how proud she was of her son, the sister simply said it was time to eat, and given that it was 1pm by then, no one disagreed. The doors were then opened and a large kiddush presented itself, with numerous plates of sushi added as people quickly devoured them, and with a number of cholents set up on the tables too. It was a little chaotic, but a nice end to a lovely service.