A V I S I O N F O R
ב''ה
IN RECOGNITION OF O U R PA S T
I N P R E PA R AT I O N for OUR FUTURE
We began here in
1986
Many thanks!
To say these words is to say nothing. Our family came to Melbourne after 10 years being refuseniks in Leningrad. Within the first weeks, we came to the Jewish-Russian Centre. This was like a miracle; no need to fear, no need to hide. Rabbi Gorelik, his assistants and his family cared for us. He introduced us to a Jewish world and helped us build ours. We had to start literally with Alef Bais and the alphabet in English. Their warmth and support was endless and invaluable and they extend it to the entire Jewish Russian community.
—Rita Rabinovitch 
Rabbi Elozor Gorelik founded Chabad on Carlisle–Jewish Russian Centre (formerly F.R.E.E.: Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe) in 1980, bringing friendship, assistance and tradition to Jewish Russian immigrant families. Chabad on Carlisle is the only organization actively caring for the material and spiritual needs of Russian Jews in Victoria.
We grew here in
1989
In the former Soviet Union, I was a proud Jew and expressed my Jewishness openly, I looked up to the Zionist movement and my knowledge of our heritage was limited to fasting on Yom Kippur and wearing a Magen Dovid. Here with the help of FREE, I can not only proudly show myself as a Jew but I have become fully versed in our laws and culture, part of a wonderful community.
—Moshe Kesser 
Coming from a society that persecuted its Jews, many Russian parents feared identifying themselves as Jewish. Others observed what they knew, but knew very little. Through the welcoming programs of the Chabad on Carlisle, hundreds of families have opened themselves and their children to their beautiful heritage.
We built here in
2011
I have been extremely inspired by the Centre’s dedication to giving JewishRussian immigrants the opportunity to become acquainted with their heritage, especially through Jewish rituals such as circumcisions, marriages and bar and bat-mitzvahs. To enable the Centre to expand its positive impact even further, I dedicated the synagogue To the memory of my dear late father (z''l) in 2011 and I am dedicating the new crèche to the merit of my mother, may she be well and healthy.
—Albert Dadon AM Businessman, philanthropist and musician. Executive Chairman of Ubertas Group.
Thirty-five years after it opened, the Jewish Russian Centre is home to the extended families of immigrants. But many thousands of young Jews of Russian descent remain unaware of and unengaged in Jewish tradition. Jewish childhood education is sorely lacking in this community. So we are educating families through programs, such as
Adult Education Synagogue Bar/Bat Mitzvah Programs Jewish Holiday Programs Grand Seder Programs Life Cycle Events Programs א
Sunday School
I
t is indeed a measure of the distance
friendships and relationships that have
travelled by members of Chabad on
been formed over the years.
Carlisle that from religious obscurity,
The fact that this community exists is
apathy and imposed atheism of the
proof that it takes endurance to make
former Soviet Union they come together
good fortune and it is a overwhelming
in what is now Chabad on Carlisle to
wish that this community will continue
celebrate Jewish culture, traditions and
to thrive through the circle of life of
religion.
its members—from its young, being
It took a good idea, a shared vision,
nurtured by caring hands and hearts
years of financial support and emotional
in its day care; to young adults, coming
commitment to create something that
to use its library and resources to
is bigger than the sum of its parts in
learn about their religion, culture
Chabad on Carlisle.
and traditions; and to all that come
Chabad on Carlisle is a community; it
to engage in their place of worship,
welcomes not only the generation of
celebration of their Jewish identity and
its founders, but also their children
culture.
and their families, as well as people
Commu with no immediate connection to the
Soviet Jewry other than the personal
—Naum Feynberg  Managing Director, Milleni Leathergoods Inc.
“
The fact that this community exists is proof that it takes endurance to make good fortune and it is a overwhelming wish and hope that this community will continue to thrive
�
unity
YOU CAN SHAPE THE
FUTURE
Now we are launching a magnificent Crèche for children,
refurbishing the synagogue and building a spacious new multipurpose hall. Chabad on Carlisle will be the home for the Jewish Russian community for generations to come.
Our
CRÈCHE will provide children with: An outstanding educational foundation led by experienced, caring and imaginative teachers An exceptionally warm and family-like interaction with the Jewish community The warmth of their rich Jewish heritage
SYNAGOGUE upgrades will benefit members with: A dedicated place for prayer, with exquisite synagogue furniture A Shabbos elevator to give seniors, mothers with children and disabled members access to the synagogue and social functions
A new
MULTI-PURPOSE
HALL
will serve our community with: A spacious social hall to host weekly functions The ability to easily expand programming and host more than one program at one time
“
A TRUSTWORTHY PARTNER
When a Jew makes a good decision to give
a large amount of Tzedakah…it is immediately
decreed in Heaven that he will have Parnasa in
large amounts and that he will be able to fulfill his
”
good decision…
—T H E R E B B E
366 Carlisle Street | Balaclava, Victoria 3183 613 9527 6341 | www.chabadoncarlisle.com