Russians in the house
Australia will soon have its first-ever Russian-speaking Moishe House, which will play host to various events for young adults in a bid to unite the Russian-Jewish and mainstream Jewish communities in Melbourne.
AUSTRALIA will soon have its first-ever Russian-speaking Moishe House, which will play host to various events for young adults in a bid to unite the Russian-Jewish and mainstream Jewish communities in Melbourne.
Called Kangarusski Moishe House, the initiative will see three young Melburnians – Gabi Hodge, Eman Banakh and Ariel Singer – living together in a share house and organising fun and exciting events to offer the community.
The trio are alumni of the Kangarusski Birthright program, which saw young Russian speakers from around Australia explore Israel. They are now keen to engage fellow Russian Jews in a relaxed and social environment in their new home.
“Our aim is to make a house where everyone will always be welcome, even if it’s just to join us and enjoy a Shabbat dinner,” Hodge told The AJN this week.
“We have had many ideas for some fun events and classes that could be hosted by our Moishe House, including fire twirling lessons, challah baking sessions and even a Shabbat weekend away.”
Other plans include barbecues, Limmud-style events with different speakers and High Holy Day parties.
Hodge said Kangarusski Moishe House will be “a fantastic opportunity to unify the Russian Jewish community as well as the mainstream Jewish community in Melbourne, and hopefully in the future, all of Australia”.
“We are very excited to find a place to move into so we can start putting our awesome plans into action,” she enthused, adding that the first major event will be a housewarming party.
Jewish Agency shaliach to the Zionist Federation of Australia Rami Teplitskiy said Kangarusski Moishe House is “one of the most exciting initiatives” for the Russian-speaking Jewish community in Australia.
“It shows that our community rises to the occasion, and we are now having a full set of events, from Limmud FSU (former Soviet Union) to Kangarusski Birthright, and we are excited that the young adult community is growing bigger and bigger,” he told The AJN.
EVAN ZLATKIS
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