Torah Portion: Terumah Synagogue: Elwood Shule (traditional, orthodox) Walking time from home: 30 minutes Reason for going: Nostalgia / new rabbi Kiddush: Small but plentiful This week was my birthday and as part of that, I decided to go to the shule where I had my Bar Mitzvah many years ago. Though my actual Barmi was delayed by a few weeks and was thus in mid-March, it still felt right to go back to Elwood for some nostalgia. It has been at least a year since I was there last, and in that time, the previous rabbi left and a new, young rabbi has started his tenure. Though Elwood used to be a vibrant congregation in its heyday, that time was several decades ago. Since then, because of gentrification and other factors, most of the Jews have either died or moved away. The shule still functions because there is a committed core and a sizeable membership that turns up on festi...
Posts
Torah Portion: Mishpatim Synagogue: Malvern Chabad Walking time from home: 40 minutes Reason for going: Shabbat Together Kiddush: Sit down lunch with lots of variety Sometimes I go to a synagogue for no particular reason, but sometimes I go for a very specific reason. This week was very much for the latter. A couple of decades ago in America, to coincide with disability inclusion month, a few synagogues launched Shabbat Together. Four years ago, Malvern Chabad brought the concept to Melbourne, and now it is embraced by the Rabbinical Council of Victoria, so much so that more than a dozen synagogues participated this week, each with their own speaker or event. Malvern Chabad however is still considered the originator, so as I have done for the last few years (lockdowns notwithstanding) I went to Malvern Chabad for their annual Shabbat Together lunch, with t...
Torah Portion: Yitro Synagogue: KOD@Mizrachi (Modern Orthodox) Walking time from home: 20 minutes Reason for going: A call up Kiddush: N/a After a wonderful celebratory Friday night communal Shabbat dinner at a very welcoming shule, I decided to go to Mizrachi on Shabbat morning. It is said that there are about 60 shules in Melbourne, but the truth is that there are actually quite a few more because that is the number of synagogue buildings, and doesn’t take into account the various congregations within each one. On the Mizrachi campus alone, on a Shabbat morning there are 4 services. One for early risers and then three more simultaneously. I went to Kehilat Ohr David, named after a young man who died, and mainly attended by young people in their 20s and 30s. On this occasion, one of these young people was being called up ahead of his wedding, and though I don’t really ...
Torah Portion: Beshalach Synagogue: Temple Beth Israel (Reform/progressive) Walking time from home: Just over 15 minutes Reason for going: Something different Kiddush: Big kiddush, lots of variety As I alluded to last week, the summer season as far as synagogue attendance, is well and truly over. All shules are now back and regular services have re-commenced, so much so that on Friday night I went to a communal Shabbat dinner at a synagogue, and in fact I am actually going to a communal Shabbat dinner every Friday night in February. But for Shabbat morning I wanted to try something different. I had been to TBI for Friday night services a few times recently, and mid-last year attended a Bar Mitzvah, but I haven’t been to a regular Shabbat morning service at TBI for a long time. Neither it seemed had many others. For quite a few people, this was their fir...
Torah Portion: Bo Synagogue: Hamerkaz (Chabad, Israeli) Walking time from home: 30 minutes Reason for going: Air conditioning and sit down kiddush Kiddush: Big lunch with at least 3 cholents This week was the final week of the summer holiday period, for shules and for other institutions alike. From Monday, everything re-opens to full capacity, including schools, communal organisations and large offices. As such, from next Shabbat, all regular activities resume, but in the meantime, for this final Shabbat of the holiday period, I chose to go to a shule on a hot summer day that I knew would have good air conditioning and a hearty kiddush. Hamerkaz was initially set up largely for Israeli émigrés, though the community has grown since and like most shules in Melbourne, it is now full of diversity, though Hebrew is still a dominant language amongst many of the...
Torah Portion: Vaeira Synagogue: Spiritgrow (Chabad lite) Walking time from home: 25 minutes Reason for going: Late start and sit down kiddush Kiddush: Hearty lunch with lots of variety After nearly two weeks in New York, it was good to be home, although it is still the summer break and some shules have not yet re-opened or are not yet back to full capacity. As such, I chose to go to a shule that I knew would have a decent crowd, and also promised a sit down Kiddush lunch. Moreover, it started at 10am, which gave me an opportunity to sleep in. Spiritgrow is unique in the landscape of Melbourne synagogues. Though nominally Chabad, and with a Chabad father and son rabbinical combination as the spiritual leader and director, it has established itself as a place of meditation and spiritual nourishment. Services on Shabbat or during the week are just one small eleme...
Torah Portion: Shemot Synagogue: Riverdale Jewish Centre (modern orthodox) Walking time from home: 5 minutes (from my accommodation) Reason for going: Shule of my friends Kiddush: Large and plentiful NEW YORK: After a hectic, exciting and fun week in New York, I wanted a relaxing Shabbat, so I organised to stay with an American friend in Riverdale in the Bronx, who I first met 25 years ago in Melbourne, and have seen every time I have been in the US. As it happens, there is an Australian in his community too who I also know and who has been here 20 years, so I arranged to go to his family for Friday night dinner and was with my American friend and his family for Shabbat day. My American friend is a former president of the Riverdale Jewish Center (RJC), so naturally we went there for shule, even though there are at least half a dozen other shules in...