Duo of American rabbis travelling through Pilbara to connect with region’s Jewish community

Far from their home, a duo of American rabbis are touring Australia’s North West to provide support and engage with the Pilbara’s small Jewish community. Rabbi Menachem Manssouri from LA and rabbi Mendel Junik from New York are part of Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia, a Jewish organisation that provides support to Jewish people living in places far away from larger Jewish communities. Rabbi Manssouri said they were travelling to places where the Jewish community was small, isolated and had a deficit of religious services. “We have a vehicle and we drive from small towns across Australia to visit Jews in towns where the community is too small to contain the Jewish needs for them,” he said. Rabbi Manssouri said given the transient population of the Pilbara, there were more Jewish people in the region than most people realised. “Every person that we meet has been so excited because they think they are the only Jew in town,” he said. “But they realise they are not the only Jewish person in town because we have been able to connect people. “A lot of people come in for mining and we are able to help with their needs while they are here.” They said they had already met three Jewish people in Port Hedland. They believe no part of the community should be left behind and wanted to reach out to Jewish people in the furthest reaches of Australia. They started in Melbourne earlier this month before flying to Broome and making their way to Port Hedland. Their next stop is Karratha before going to Perth, which has the synagogue closest to the Pilbara.