Pesach (first days and Chol Hamoed Shabbat) Day 1: Caulfield Shule; Day 2: Hamerkaz; Shabbat: South Caulfield Shule Generally for all festivals, but particularly for Passover, I usually arrange meals out or get invited out to families. As such, I tend to go to the shules where my hosts go even if I have been to those shules before or recently. This year for the first days of Pesach that was definitely the case, and will be the case for the last days too. Despite the first days of Pesach falling on weekdays this year, the two shules I went to for the first days were relatively full and with a lot of positive vibes. Most people probably had late nights at their Seders but came to shule in the morning energised and invigorated. If this festival is about freedom, then this year more than most, that sense of praying for our freedom was on greater display than I have ever seen before. Not only were there extra prayers added to the service, but there was...
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Torah Portion: Metzora Synagogue: Elsternwick Jewish Community, modern Orthodox Walking time from home: 35 mins Reason for going: A speaker and a lunch Kiddush: Catered lunch This week, with Pesach just around the corner, many shules had pre-Presach Friday night dinners. Although I only went to one, since I subscribe to many synagogue newsletters, I knew of at least 11 communal dinners across the Melbourne Jewish community. But whereas many shules had dinners, almost none had communal lunches. So as soon as I found out that one shule was advertising not just a lunch but a speaker at the lunch, I booked immediately. When I last came to Elsternwick shule (on the campus of Yavneh College) over a year ago, it was a little disappointing. Not the shule itself, but I happened to have come on a week when almost all the regulars were at a celebration elsewhere. The minyan...
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 web...
Torah Portion: Shemini – HaChodesh Synagogue: Kedem (lay led, reform) Walking time from home: Almost 20 mins Reason for going: To join their monthly service Kiddush: Plentiful kiddush with Challah There are some shules that I have known about for a while but had never had the chance to visit. Since starting this blog, as well as the larger, better known shules, I have tried to seek out the ones that are niche, small or away from the mainstream. Kedem is all those things, and it was great to finally see it in action. Kedem actually started about 30 years ago, but without the fanfare of many other shules. Since the beginning it has been intentionally lay led, small and diverse. Although officially under the auspices of the Progressive movement, and with the official siddur of the Progressive movement in use, lay leadership means that it doesn’t always follow ...
Torah Portion: Tzav – Parah Synagogue: Shira Chadasha (Partnership Orthodox) Walking time from home: 25 minutes Reason for going: My sister and I sponsoring the kiddush Kiddush: Lots of variety For the last twelve years, my sister and I have sponsored a kiddush in memory of our mother at the Shira synagogue, and I have given the sermon, partly connected to the portion of the week, and partly to our mother. What follows is the highlights of the edited speech. ------------ I want to start by thanking this shule because this continues to be the place our family comes to for special occasions. Last year my niece celebrated her Bat Mitzvah here, and today we are all back again for this milestone – the 32nd Yahrzeit and the 11th drasha for our mum’s Yarzheit in 12 years. This week is the first Shabbat after Purim. For me this is significant because I always a...
Torah Portion: Vayikra Synagogue: Jewish Care Windsor Walking time from home: 30 mins Reason for going: To be with my grandparents Kiddush: Small kiddush with Hamantaschen In September of last year, my grandparents moved into residential aged care at Jewish Care Windsor. And not a moment too soon. At around that time my grandfather also turned 100 whilst my grandmother turned 98 a few months earlier. They had been planning to move into care for quite some time, but what finally precipitated the move was that in the weeks leading up to it, they both had quite severe falls and finally realised that they couldn’t stay home any longer. They moved into the new building at Jewish Care Windsor, which only opened during the pandemic. It was cheaper for Jewish Care to construct a new building than to refurbish an old one to modern standards, so my grandparents and all the...
Torah Portion: Pekudei Synagogue: Kollel Menachem at Yeshiva (Chabad) Walking time from home: 10 mins Reason for going: I woke up late Kiddush: N/a This week, though I had thought about which shule I might want to go to, I hadn’t yet decided by Friday. I set an early alarm for Saturday morning to maximise my options, but slept through it. By the time I woke up after 9:30am, there was only really one type of shule I could go to: a Chabad one. With not a lot of time till the start of shule, I wanted to find one that was close, but also one I hadn’t been to before. I ended up at the Kollel at Yeshiva. As I had discovered on a previous visit, the Yeshiva campus has up to half a dozen services on a Shabbat morning, but some of them are very niche, like for high school students and the like. The Kollel Menachem Lubavitch, as it is officially known, is theoretically for...