This is our gathering space for thoughts and ideas as we respond to Melbourne’s Jewish community’s changing needs and opportunities. Join Gersh and Tammy as they explore and discuss innovative approaches to maintaining and enriching Jewish identity in today’s world. Stay connected, stay inspired.
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy: Layers of history, faith and family A Reflection By Rabbi Gersh Lazarow This photograph has stayed with me. I took it while walking through the archaeological excavations at Tel…
The Banquet, the Wall and the Gates of Return
The Banquet, the Wall and the Gates of Return Op-Ed By Rabbi Gersh Lazarow We are not approaching Tisha B’Av. We are still in Iyar, only weeks from Shavuot, moving…
Yom HaShoah
When the Witnesses Are Gone A Yom HaShoah Reflection By Rabbi Gersh Lazarow Tonight, as Yom HaShoah begins, I find myself holding memory in a different way. Not only as…
Leaving Mitzrayim in an Uncertain Time
Leaving Mitzrayim in an Uncertain Time Erev Pesach — Rabbi Gersh Lazarow On the eve of Pesach, we set our tables. The matzah is unpacked. The wine is chosen. There…
Three Years In: Still Building from the Heart
Three Years In: Still Building from the Heart A Reflection By Rabbi Gersh Lazarow I haven’t written here for a little while. Not because there hasn’t been anything to say,…
We Will Not Let the Light Go Out
We Will Not Let the Light Go Out A Reflection By Rabbi Gersh Lazarow There are moments when the world fractures without warning — when violence erupts in the middle…
Not by Might
Not by Might A Reflection By Rabbi Gersh Lazarow December always draws me into a particular frame of mind. Part of that is simply how life in Australia shifts at…
Why the Chanukiah Matters
Why the Chanukiah Matters A Reflection By Rabbi Gersh Lazarow As Chanukah approaches, I’ve been sitting with a mix of emotions that I know many in our community are feeling…
Give What You Can
Give What You Can A Reflection By Rabbi Gersh Lazarow Something shifted for me last Friday. Not dramatically, not loudly, just enough to unsettle the heart in a way that…
Organising Hope
Organising Hope A Reflection By Rabbi Gersh Lazarow It’s not my nature to comment from the pulpit or from this page on political matters, whether state or federal, national or…
Climate Shabbat
Steps Toward Resilience A Climate Shabbat Reflection By Rabbi Gersh Lazarow Lech Lecha begins with disruption. God speaks, and suddenly familiarity loosens its grip. Abram and Sarai are called away…
Light from One Another
Light from One Another This week, two calendars – two worlds – overlapped in a way that caught my attention. On one hand, we entered the Jewish month of Cheshvan,…
Hearing The Shofar
Hearing the Shofar This blog is adapted from the Rosh Hashanah sermon I delivered at Shtiebel. We live in an age of noise. Not the background hum of the city,…
A Good Year
Preparing for a Good Year This past weekend, our community took a beautiful step together as we opened the pages of Machzor Lev Shalem for the very first time. This…
When Words Are Not Enough
When Words Are Not Enough There is a story told about a boy who came to synagogue on Yom Kippur. He wanted desperately to pray, but he did not know…
Shana Tova
Shana Tova: A Radical Act of Hope I was recently reminded of a story about a student who came to his rabbi in despair. His shoulders were heavy, his voice…
A State or A Statement?
A State or A Statement? We choose to see the Australian Government’s move toward recognising a Palestinian state as an act of care for the dignity and rights of the…
I’m That Jew
I’m That Jew This past Sunday night, just after Tisha B’Av, we welcomed Eitan Chitayat to Shtiebel—the creative force behind the I’m That Jew campaign that’s now being worn as…
Two Things
Two Things Last week, my daughter sent me an article that’s been sitting with me ever since. Ezra Klein’s latest piece in The New York Times, “The Israel Debate is…
Memory and Meaning
Memory And Meaning This Shabbat brings with it Rosh Chodesh Av, the beginning of the Nine Days — the final and most intense period of mourning in the Jewish calendar.…
The Face Of Our City Has Changed
The Face Of Our City Has Changed Last night, in our beautiful city of Melbourne, something happened that demands clarity and courage. A rally was held, ostensibly a protest, but…
Finding Your Place In Tradition
Finding Your Place In Tradition Not long ago, I sat across the table from a young person preparing for their B’mitzvah. They looked up at me, wide-eyed and a little…
Shalom Rav
Shalom Rav There are weeks when the news feels like a constant drumbeat of dread, when each alert or headline chips away at our sense of safety and certainty. And…
Bedtime Prayer
Bedtime Prayer There is a time for commentary, and there is a time for kavod, for reverence. Over the past several days, the world has witnessed events that will no…
Of Service
Not Just Services – But Service Why the Shtiebel Isn’t in the “Services Industry” In many Jewish settings, “services” are the centrepiece. The community gathers, prayers are led, sermons are…
Fire & Fury
Fires and Fury: Holding Zionism in a Time of Grief and Grit by a heartbroken but unshaken Zionist This is meant to be a sacred week in the rhythm of…
New & Holy
Harnessing AI to Deepen Jewish Life: Shtiebel’s Approach At Shtiebel, we are deeply committed to honouring the traditions that…
Ha Lachma Anya
Another Year, Another Seder: A Reading for Those Still Held Captive As we gather this Pesach to celebrate our people’s journey from slavery to freedom, we are reminded that the…
Marrying In
Marrying In – Building A More Inclusive Jewish Future! Recently, my father, who just celebrated his 80th birthday, shared that he had discovered three first cousins he had never…
Light on the Shoreline
Tilly’s Bat Mitzvah: Light on the Shoreline Last weekend, just as the sun began to sink behind the horizon, we gathered on the St Kilda promenade—just in front of…
Adding Joy in Times of Uncertainty
Adding Joy in Times of Uncertainty: Embracing Adar, Purim, and the Beauty of Tradition The month of Adar arrives with an ancient Jewish prescription: “Mi’shenichnas Adar, marbin b’simcha”—“When Adar enters,…
Weeping for Us All
Weeping for the Bibas Children, Weeping for Us All I cannot stop crying. The news that the remains of Kfir and Ariel Bibas—two innocent children who should never…
Holding Onto Joy in Troubling Times
This morning, as the first light of Shabbat peeked through the window, I sat in quiet stillness. The birds were chirping, their song rising above the hum of a new…
Complexity In Complex Times
At Shtiebel last night, I spoke about the importance of facing complexity—particularly in times of conflict and division. I reflected on the need to hold two conflicting emotions or opinions…
Jews Love Freedom
As we stand at the crossroads of darkness and light this Chanukah, we are painfully reminded that the struggles of ancient days persist in our modern era. The hateful rhetoric…