Scene Four: The Kindness of Rabbis
Posted at 10:30 AM, Sunday, January 4, 2009
"She's really spoiling us," Yonatan whispered to me. We were at the home of Rabbi Aviva Kipen, who was serving us a lavish morning tea of delicious cannolis from the local Italian bakery, personal plum puddings for the kids, and even a Lindt chocolate ball for each of them! Aviva was the eighth and last rabbi of our Melbourne visit. She asked Bobby if he was all "rabbi-ed out," although I must commend him on his good behaviour during our trip! And it didn't hurt that all the rabbis were such warm and welcoming hosts.
We attended services Friday evening at Temple Beth Israel in St. Kilda--the mother of all progressive synagouges in Melbourne. I was amazed at the crowd of people who had gathered for the only Shabbat during Chanukah. Yonatan and Nadav were handed tin chanukah menorahs as we entered and rushed to the front of the sanctuary to light candles for the sixth night. Within a few minutes, the front of the sanctuary was blazing with the light of at least a hundred chanukiot (which, we later learned, scorched one of the tablecloths rather badly!). We were welcomed with big hugs by senior Rabbi Fred Morgan, and by the husband-and-wife team of Gersh Zylberman and Rayna Gevurtz, along with their adorable daughters Adira and Noa. Fred and his wife Sue had invited us to their home for Shabbat dinner, where we spent a lovely evening.
We spent part of Sunday afternoon at the home of Rabbi Ehud Bandel, who heads of the sole Conservative-affiliated synagogue in all of Australia, Kehilat Nitzan. This was a high point for the boys, because Ehud let them play on his kids' Wii for an hour. I was enormously relieved when we returned to Adelaide that Yonatan and Nadav didn't report this to be the best thing they did in Melbourne: they still considered the museum visits to be superior!
The big reason for our voyage to Melbourne was to attend the bat mitzvah of Naomi Keren-Black, daughter of Rabbi Jonathan and Sue Keren-Black. The bat mitzvah celebration took place on Saturday morning at the Leo Baeck Centre in East Kew--a bit of a travel adventure, but one that ended happily at this lovely little synagogue. Naomi sang like an angel, chanted her Torah portion beautifully, and gave a lovely speech. (As an aside, one of the really terrific things Naomi did was to request donations in honour of her bat mitzvah to Nothing but Nets, a project of the United Nations to provide mosquito nets in areas of the world plagued by malaria. By the time of her bat mitzvah, almost 200 nets had been donated through the website!) All during this moving service, Yonatan and Nadav were bouncing off their seats and demanding, "Is it almost over?!" I often think my kids take great price in being the worst behaved children attending services; it seems to be an occupational hazard for the children of rabbis. I find myself increasingly thinking about Yonatan's bar mitzvah, which is a mere three years away. It was very easy to put myself in Jonathan's shoes and imagine myself guiding my own son through the process I've facilitated for so many dozens of other kids. At the lunch afterwards, I met up with Rabbi John Levi, the emeritus rabbi of Temple Beth Israel who is something of a legendary figure--he was the first Australian-born Jew to be ordained a rabbi. I also met his grandchildren Joshua and Amy, and looked forward to seeing them again at the reception the following evening.
The bat mitzvah reception was quite a treat, since it was held on the observation deck of the Rialto Towers, 823 feet off the ground. Nadav was absolutely bewitched by the spectacular views, and he quickly found someone else equally interested in gazing out at the scenery: Rabbi Levi's granddaughter Amy. Nadav and Amy spent the entire evening together, noses pressed to the glass, eating dinner together, and talking very seriously. Of course, Nadav was operating at reduced energy because of his injured elbow, but this somehow improved the charm factor. Amy's mother and I are already planning the wedding in 16 years or so, but we realise there might be a bump or two along the road to true love!
It was at the reception that I finally had a chance to talk to Jonathan's sister-in-law Helen Freeman, who is also a rabbi. Helen is one of three rabbis serving the enormous West London Synagogue--2000 families, or about 5000 members. (By contrast, Beit Shalom has perhaps 150 adult members!) It was an absolute pleasure to meet her and have just a bit of time to share experiences.
We've now been back in Adelaide for nearly a week, and life is settling back in to its normal summer routine. We celebrated the new year at Brighton beach, with a modest fireworks display at 9:30 p.m. We have enjoyed an unusually cool summer so far, although for sure that won't last. More news will follow shortly, since Nadav's birthday party is this afternoon!