Melbourne shules back together

Members of the Jewish community who visit any number of Melbourne’s beautiful shules will notice an inviting billboard in front, welcoming the community to engage meaningfully in this year’s High Holydays celebrations with the theme of “Back Together.”

Throughout the pandemic, the Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) coordinated a community wide campaign called “Project High Holydays” aimed at bringing the festivals to life in people’s homes, in a meaningful way. This year’s campaign, “Project High Holydays – Together”, celebrates the fact that after a three year hiatus, the community can now return to Shule in person and participate in spiritually uplifting services in our warm and welcoming shules.

 

The latest offering of the new campaign is a fun rapping Rabbi video where the rabbis and rebbetzins encourage everyone to get into the spirit of the Yom Tov festivities. The video rap song, produced with the assistance of a professional rap artist coach, was described by the Russian community’s Rabbi Sholem Gorelik as “a very different and enjoyable way to express myself, and I and my colleagues hope it will inspire the community to join the rabbis in getting into the spirit of returning to Shule joyfully.”

Planning for the video, Rabbi Moshe Kahn of Daminyan noted that “ ….the silver lining of Covid was the unity of the Rabbis and Rebbetzins who all worked together and supported one another to bring Project High Holydays to Melbourne’s Jewish community. This sense of unity is something we felt should definitely continue.”

Chabad of Dingleys’ Rabbi Mendel Haller, who assisted on the steering committee, noted that “we want the whole Community to know how valuable it is for us to celebrate the Chagim together and how important it is to come to Shul no matter which community one belongs to. Shule is what keeps us inspired to connect to Hashem and continue the incredible Jewish way of life.”