Welcome to the Chabad of RARA base in North Queensland!
Based in Cairns we service the needs of all the Jews in the North Queensland area. We travel to Townsville constantly and based from those two cities we try to reach every single Jew in the area. We are also heavily involved in servicing the needs of the many jews who visit the area as well as the students who study here. Contact us for more information.
What is Chabad of RARA?
Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia is committed to providing for the spiritual, emotional and material needs of Jewish people living away from Jewish centres.
One of the cardinal tenets of Judaism is that are all Jews are one regardless of geographic distance. Irrespective of ones background, standard of observance or depth of knowledge every Jew belongs to Am Yisrael, the Nation of Israel. Every individual has a right to learn and participate in their living heritage.
Chabad of RARA seeks to educate and demonstrate real Judaism; an unbroken chain of tradition going back three millenia. Bringing Judasim into the 21st century by the fusion of technology and religion, social media and Bible study, Sabbath dinner and science improves the rich traditions and modern behaviour alike.Our Rabbis are equally proficient in ancient Jewish law and Twitter; we are open, understanding and friendly.
Chabad of RARA operates a fully equipped kosher campervan to serve as a synagogue on wheels. It is a mobile library and bookstore stocked with all the traditional and recent Jewish books; it has a kosher kitchen and pantry and serves as the rabbis vehicle, home and meeting place while they are on the road.
If you see the decorated campervan on the run feel free to hail it down or give us call to arrange a visit.
Our services include:
- Visits to Jews living in rural and regional Australia
- Provision of Jewish books, tapes, software programs
- Holiday events, Sedarim
- Provision of Mezuzahs, Teffillin, Shabbos candles and other Jewish items
- Seminars and lecture series in regional locations
- Communication via internet, phone and letters
- Circumcisions, Bar Mitzvahs, weddings, and funerals
- Mobile lending library
- Educational resources- for children and adults
- Information and arrangements for Kosher food
- Summer and winter camps for youth
- Counseling and family services
By filling out the inquiry form, you can help us give you the opportunity to meet other Jews living in your rural neighborhood. Together the Jews in your area may chose to run holiday or Shabbos programs, social events, or just become friends! Shalom!
Contact us for more information.
A Little History
Over thirty years ago, three young rabbis spent their summer holidays travelling around Australia in a campervan equipped with nothing more than a couple of maps and a desire to meet the Jews of the outback. The trip was an incredible success and they met hundreds of people some of whom they still keep in contact.
Out of that trip long ago grew Chabad of RARA, a non profit organisation that caters to the 7,500 Jewish men, women and children living in remote, rural and regional areas. The RARA mobile covers tens of thousands of kilometres a year and our volunteers come from afar afield as the United States and Europe. The mobile home is equipped with GPS, computers, cameras and everything one could need for a stint on the road.
The personnel may have changed and maps given way to GPS but the passion and love remains the same.
What is Chabad?
Chabad Lubavitch is a 200 year old Chassidic movement originating in the Russian city of Lubavitch. Under the leadership of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the movement has become the largest Jewish outreach organization in the world devoted to improving the spiritual and material conditions of Jews wherever they are.
