Chabad = Jewish outreach movement
RARA = Rural & Regional Australia
Chabad of RARA provides Jewish connection and support to people living all over rural and regional Australia.
If you’re in a place where the only Jewish thing there is you, we’d love to get in touch and make a connection.
Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia (affectionately known as “Chabad of RARA”) is dedicated to the spiritual, emotional, and material needs of Jewish people living away from established Jewish centres.
One of the cardinal tenets of Judaism is that all Jews are one, regardless of distance. Irrespective of background, level of observance, or knowledge, every Jew belongs to Am Yisrael – the Jewish people – and has the right to learn about and participate in their living heritage.
Chabad of RARA aims to share authentic Judaism – an unbroken chain of tradition going back three millennia – in a way that feels warm, relevant, and accessible. By blending tradition with modern tools like technology, social media, and travel, we bring Jewish life into the heart of rural and regional Australia.
Our fully equipped kosher motorhome is a synagogue on wheels. It serves as:
- a mobile library and Jewish bookstore,
- a kosher kitchen and pantry, and
- home and meeting place for our travelling rabbis and volunteers.
If you see the decorated campervan on the road, feel free to wave us down or give us a call to arrange a visit. We’re always happy to stop, say hello, and share a moment of Jewish connection.
Our Services Include
- 🚐 Visits to people living in rural and regional Australia
- 📚 Provision of Jewish books and media
- 🎉 Holiday celebrations and events
- 🥯 Passover Seders
- 🕍 Provision of Mezuzahs, Tefillin, Shabbos candles and other Jewish items
- 🎓 Seminars and lecture series in regional locations
- ✡️ Circumcisions, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Weddings and Funerals
- 🚐 RARA Jewish Mobile Public Library
- 📖 Educational resources for children and adults
- 🍽️ Information and arrangements for kosher food
- 🤝 Counselling and family support services
- 🚨 Emergency disaster relief
Use the “Contact Us” link above to get in touch and meet other Jews in your region. Together, you may choose to run holiday or Shabbos programs, organise social events, or simply become friends. Shalom!
To get a really good idea of the work that we do, head over to our watch page and check out our documentaries.
A Little History
Over forty-five years ago, three young rabbis spent their summer holidays travelling around Australia in a campervan, armed with little more than a couple of maps and a deep desire to meet the Jews of the outback. The trip was an incredible success, and they met hundreds of people – many of whom they remained in touch with.
Out of that journey grew Chabad of RARA, a nonprofit organisation that now serves an estimated 5,000 Jewish men, women, and children living in remote, rural, and regional areas. The RARA Mitzvah Mobile Library, a specially fitted motorhome, covers tens of thousands of kilometres each year. Volunteers come from across Australia and from overseas.
The faces may change, and paper road maps have given way to GPS and Google Maps, but the passion and love for every Jew remain exactly the same.
What is Chabad?
Chabad-Lubavitch is a major movement within mainstream Jewish tradition, with its roots in the Chassidic movement of the 18th century. In Czarist and later Communist Russia, Chabad leaders fought for the survival of Jewish life, often facing imprisonment and harsh persecution for their efforts.
After the Holocaust, under the leadership of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, and his successor, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, Chabad developed into a worldwide network dedicated to the spiritual and physical wellbeing of Jews everywhere.
Today, more than 3,500 Chabad centres operate in over 85 countries. In South Africa, South America, Russia, Australia, Asia, the UK, and across the USA, Chabad has become one of the most dynamic and active forces in Jewish life.
In Australia, Chabad centres can be found in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, the Sunshine Coast, Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast – and, through Chabad of RARA, in countless towns and communities in between.