Volume 31 Issue 16 03 Jun 2022 4 Sivan 5782

I Am My Prayer

Maya Balkin – Year 7

On Tuesday, the Year 7 students and their Jewish Studies teachers went on an interesting excursion called Tiyul Ani Tefillati, the I Am My Prayer excursion, to explore four different synagogues in Sydney.

We learnt all about the different denominations of Judaism and how the different synagogues express the Judaism they represent.

The four synagogues we went to were: The Great Synagogue in the heart of the city, Coogee Synagogue, The Sephardi Synagogue Sydney and Emanuel Synagogue.

The Great Synagogue had truly beautiful architecture, it was really quite grand and felt very established. 

It was interesting to hear from Rabbi Chriqui at the Sephardi Synagogue and see what Sephardi Jews do differently and what their customs are.

Coogee Synagogue was nice and small, the Rabbi was very humorous and welcoming. It is a nice Chabad Orthodox shul in our local neighbourhood.

Emanuel Synagogue has a few different congregations under the one roof. We were warmly welcomed by Rabbi Ninio and Rabbi Kaiserblueth and the Rabbi Cantor Mordecai, who explained to us about Renewal, Reform and Conservative Judaism.

We are lucky that in Sydney that we have many options to choose from to express Judaism in many different ways. Thank you to Morah Gaida, Morah Becky, Mr Hajun and Mr Peacock for taking us on this excursion.