Chabad of RARA's first Mitzvah Tank, circa 1977.

 

From Cairns to Caboolture, Darwin to Deniliquin, there are few places that Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia hasn't visited. Bram Presser spent two days in rural Victoria with the outreach organisation, where he discovered Jewish life in the unlikeliest of places. 

In the summer of 1977, three Monash University students, barely a year out of Yeshivah, hired an old campervan and embarked on a jour-ney that would inspire a revolution in Chabad's outreach philosophy. Led by Saul Spigler, the boys spent two months shlepping through the Outback, finding Jews in remote cor-ners of the country and helping them reconnect with their Judaism. It was a unique, albeit short-lived project, which was put on ice for 20 years, except for the occasional trip whenever Spigler could gather a posse and venture out.

But nine years ago, he realised that it could not continue in the same ad-hoc manner. Outback Jews needed regular visits. And so Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia (RARA) was born. The organisation grew quickly, and in 2004 they took on Rabbi Dov Oliver and his wife Shevy as full-time directors.

More Chabad Mobile Home than Chabad House, RARA now stands as a project unlike any other in the world. It has built outpost communities throughout Australia and, in the trademark "Mitzvah Tank" - a brightly-painted Winnebago - makes regular extended cross-country trips, often manned by young international shlichim.

From Cairns to Caboolture, Darwin to Deniliquin, Newcastle to Nowa Nowa and Alice Springs to Alexandra, no corner has been left unexplored. With Rabbi Oliver at the wheel, I have hopped on board the newest Mitzvah Tank, decorated in native Australian colours and plastered with bold Jewish symbols including the Lubavitcher Rebbe, for its maiden voyage around rural Victoria. 

We hit the highway to the bemused stares of passing truckles. Our first stop is Gisborne which, being an hour out of Melbourne, only just meets the RARA criteria. 

We make a quick stop to visit Susie, who has unfortunately been unwell. She is going into hospital soon, so Rabbi Oliver wants to wish her well and drop her one of his trademark kosher care packages - Glick's chal-lah, chocolate coins, rugalach and a small bottle of grape juice. He then gives Susie a stunning Judaic litho-graph, made by his father-in-law, before we set off for Woodend, home of the infamous Hanging Rock. 

More Chabad Mobile Home than Chabad House, RARA now stands as a project unlike any other in the world. 

Half-an-hour later, we roll into Woodend on some two-year-old infor-mation that there was a Jewish man named Ron who might be working at the local BP service station. The story goes that two RARA shlichim had spent a fruitless day in the area and went to fill their car before setting off home. They asked the attendant whether he knew any-one who was Jewish. He paused and 

Ron, as expected, is not in. We pre-pare to head off, when the lady behind the counter tells us that he lives just around the corner and that she could call him if we wanted. Rabbi Oliver jumps at the chance to finally meet the elusive Woodend Jew. A few minutes later, a station wagon pulls up next to the Mitzvah Tank and there he is. Initially reluctant to speak, and clearly sceptical of this black-hatted man handing him a bag of kosher goodies, he asks who sent us.