Rabbi Yossi Rodal leads the Jewish community in the Hunter region, two hours north of Sydney. He recently returned from an Israel solidarity mission along with 25 others rabbis from NSW. Hear some of his first-hand accounts of the details of his trip.
Tonight and tomorrow we celebrate Lag B'omer!
Almost 2,000 years ago, the great Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai—teacher, mystic, and fearless defender of Torah—knew the exact day he would leave this world. He gathered his closest students and requested that they celebrate instead of mourning:
“This day is my hillula. With one bond I am bound to the Holy One… on this day, there is no sadness.” — Zohar
The Talmud says a “great fire” surrounded his home that night. His students sang. They danced. And they passed on his charge: Every year on this date, rejoice.
Are you around Fremantle, WA? Please join our volunteers, Yaakov and Nochum, for a BBQ in the park, this Thursday!
Jewish people across Australia were able to celebrate Pesach this year, thanks to the efforts of a large team of volunteers that travelled far and wide to ensure that no Jew is without a Seder, or Matza, for Pesach.
Headed by Rabbi Menachem Aron at Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia (RARA), a multi-faceted approach was taken, with people being engaged in a variety of different ways.
RARA oversaw Public Pesach Seders being coordinated in four different locations around the country, and for hundreds of other families, Matza, grape juice, and other Pesach staples were made available on the RARA online store, and shipped around the country.
First up was Darwin, a city of 120,000 people in the north of the country. Home to about 200 Jewish people, Chabad of RARA has been visiting and hosting Pesach Seders there for more than 20 years. This year, Eli Selek and Shneur Gurevitch, as well as three rabbinical students from Yeshivah Gedolah - the Rabbinical College in Melbourne - made the trip up, spending one week in the area, and hosting a Seder for 40 people on the first night of Pesach.
Jessica, who has lived in Darwin for the past 3 years, shared, “I really appreciate the Chabad crew coming to Darwin. The rabbis explained everything that was happening during the Seder and what page of the Haggadah we were up to.”
Oliver, who attended the Seder with his wife, related that he most enjoyed everyone getting together to share a meal and celebrate Pesach.
Moving back 3,000 kilometres down towards the coast, another group of volunteers visited the inland city of Toowoomba, a two hour flight and 1.5 hour drive from Melbourne. This quite city is home to the site of the very first Shul ever built in Queensland in the late 1800’s, and today, a small but vibrant Jewish community. The Seder was coordinated by Sruli Shapiro and Tzvi Levitin and a group of rabbinical students from the Yeshivah Gedolah in Melbourne. Yossi Matoci, a long-time local in Toowoomba hosted the Seder at his house, which was attended by 30 people from all different age groups and backgrounds.
Crystal and her young daughter attended the Seder, and shared “This year the Seder was smaller, which gave me a chance to meet and talk to the other people. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Rabbi did an excellent job. He was funny and engaging and ran the Seder very well.”
Down in New South Wales, two hours from Sydney is the beautiful Blue Mountains. This year, just meters from the world famous Echo Point - Three Sisters Lookout, a very large Seder was hosted that saw over 100 people attend across both nights. A team from Melbourne led by Yeshivah College Shluchim Maish Geisinsky and Nechemia Herson made the trip up, and were assisted by Mendel Hoffman from Sydney. Arriving just over 48 hours before the Pesach weekend began, they worked tirelessly to ensure that everything was ready for the grand Seder night.
Becky joined the Seder had a great time, and shared, “The boys were so warm and inviting. They really made us feel comfortable and they were so talented in the kitchen- all the food was delicious! Avraham and Rabbi Moshe engaged with all the guests so nicely. Thank you!”
And lastly, Levi and Dina Rosenbaum from Melbourne headed up to Chevron Island, a neighborhood in Queensland’s Gold Coast, where they hosted 30 people for the Seders, including holiday makers from Melbourne, locals, and Israeli travellers. One of the Melbourne visitors shared, “I really enjoyed meeting such diverse people. Levi and Dina were so warm, and it was great to connect over the Haggadah and share new insights into the Pesach Seder.”
For those unable to make it to a community Seder, Chabad of RARA offered a “Seder at home” kit with the essentials for making a Seder in any setting, as well as an online store with a large selection of Pesach items.
Over 250 such packages were shipped all over Australia, enabling Jewish people to celebrate wherever they were. Shana from Port Macquarie in New South Wales shared, “this is an incredible service to the Jewish community of rural and regional Australia. Well done!”
Margaret, who lives in Ballarat, hosted her own Seder and ordered Matza and other items from Chabad. “I really enjoyed just everything! I am so very grateful for the Pesach supplies! It made celebration and observance so much more meaningful. Thank you.”
One notable story took place in collaboration with Rabbi Dudu Lider from the Beit Chabad in Melbourne. A package had been sent to Lavi, an Israeli traveller working on a cattle station some 10 hours from Brisbane. Although the package did arrive at the local post office a week before Pesach, widespread flooding in the area meant that the two-hour drive from the station to the post office was impossible. Rabbi Lider used his contacts, and was able to coordinate a private plane to pick up the package from the post office, and land on the farm where Lavi was working. In a video of the package arriving, Lavi’s eyes light up at the sight of a Kippa, matza, and a bottle of grape juice.
Thanks to RARA, over the Pesach season well over 1,000 people were engaged in celebrating the Passover holiday, whether they live 20 minutes from Melbourne, or across the country.
In addition to the Seders that Chabad of RARA coordinated themselves, Rabbi Menachem Aron was also instrumental in placing young Yeshiva student volunteers around Public Pesach Seders around Australia. Some 40 young bochurim headed out to 17 different locations, from as far as Margaret River in Western Australia to Cairns in Queensland, and lots of places in between, to ensure that Chabad Rabbis around Australia would have the help they needed to bring Pesach to the masses.
Chabad of RARA and the RARA Foundation would like to thank our donors, supporters, and friends for ensuring that Pesach this year could run so smoothly, and that so many Jewish people had access to what they needed, no matter where.
As we look ahead, RARA is as busy as ever, with a new group of travelling rabbis last week making the trip 3,500km from Melbourne to Perth via road, (that's Yaakov and Nochum above, halfway across the Nullarbor!) where they will be spending the next two months visiting families in the south of Western Australia. And over the coming months, five more such trips will be taking place, ensuring that no Jew is left behind.
The Seder table is all set for the 2025 Pesach Seder in Toowoomba, QLD
The view from our campervan this week, as our volunteers Yaakov and Nochum travel from Melbourne to Perth
Over 250 boxes of Pesach supplies were shipped out all over the country
Our team of volunteers getting ready to head up to the Blue Mountains to host a Pesach Seder
Yaakov and Nochum make it across the Nullarbor
Over 40 young rabbinical rabbis headed to 17 different locations around Australia to assist with Passover events
Shipping out supplies all over the country in time for Passover
We shared hand made Matza with people from Margaret River to Mullumbimby
Over 500 individual boxes of Matza were sent out this season
Our volunteers getting ready to head up to Darwin to host a Pesach Seder
Our volunteers on the way to Toowoomba
The Blue Mountains Pesach Seder table is all set
Have you driven down this road? Our volunteers did yesterday!
Have a good Shabbos, and be sure to light the Shabbat candles before sunset tonight.
You might have noticed that the motorhome in our recent posts is not our usual one that goes around Australia. That's because our RARA Mitzva Mobile Library is undergoing some very exciting upgrades... stay tuned for the stunning results!
And a very special thank you to all those that have made this project possible.
Some pictures coming in of the beautiful outback South Australia from our volunteers on the road.
Have you been to Australia's longest wooden jetty?
Our volunteers visited it today, in Port Germein in South Australia. They are well into their cross-Nullarbor journey.
Still lots of extra stock matza available!
Head over to our online store for our clearance sale - Matza and our other Pesach products taste great year-round.
Some under-the-hood stuff for this morning: Without going into too much detail, we noticed last night that certain posts of ours had been removed from certain platforms. Which got us thinking that if the only way you get your updates from us is via one platform, if that platform goes down, we might not hear from each other any more! And we would certainly miss you. So you may want to bear that in mind, and consider signing up to receive email updates from us as well.
Have a great week ahead!
Yaakov and Nochum are getting ready to hit the road next week.
You might recognise them - that's because this is their second RARA stint. They spent two months last year in NSW and Queensland, and they can't wait to get back on the road again.
Will you be up in Darwin in May?
We will be getting together for a communal Shabbat meal, joined by a very special guest: Rabbi Justice Marcus Solomon, who will be visiting from Perth.
Rabbi Justice Solomon has had an incredible career path, and in 2021 became the first Rabbi to be appointed as a Supreme Court justice in Australia.
We'll have some great traditional Shabbat food, as well as an intriguing and interesting talk to listen to.
I hope you can join!
As we commemorate ANZAC day today, we pay tribute to the many Jewish service men and women that have helped shaped our country.
Presented here are a collection of photos of Jewish people on the front lines. Interestingly, even while on deployment, there have been, and continues to be, many opportunities to engage in Judaism, from a Torah reading, to a Pesach Seder, and beyond.
Click on each picture to read the caption describing what is taking place.
Whether in Gallipoli, in Egypt, or here in Australia, thousands have made the commitment to protect us, and we thank them, and remember them.
Photo Credit: Australian Jewish News and Australian War Memorial
Chaplain Reverend David Freedman raises a Torah given to him by a congregation in Alexandria, Egypt, at a service in the field circa 1917. This scroll has become known as the ‘Anzac Torah.’
Sir John Monash and General J. J. T. Hobbs passing the saluting base outside Buckingham Palace during an ANZAC Day March, April 25, 1919.
Captain John Einfeld at the bima (dais) in the synagogue at headquarters, New Guinea Force, in August 1944, assisting Chaplain Goldman (right) with a Rosh Hashana service.
Australian, British and American soldiers and sailors raise their cups at a Passover Seder at the YMCA’s Jewish Hut, April 1919
Sir John Monash being knighted by English King George V.
Lieutenant General (then Colonel) Sir John Monash and Lieutenant Colonel Granville John Burnage on board the HMAT Ulysses, taken on voyage to Egypt.
French prime minister M. Georges Benjamin Clemenceau on his only visit to the Australian front, walking with Major General E. G. Sinclair-MacLagan and Lieutenant General Sir John Monash (right, foreground). At far right is Lieutenant Colonel J. D. Lavarack.
We're getting ready to hit the road again.
Where do you think we should visit next?
