It may be a long way from the busy streets of Brooklyn, New York, to the streets of Bega, but two newly ordained rabbis are used to a life of travel.
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Twenty-two-year old Shmuel Hurwitz and 21-year-old Menachem Schmukler are in Australia working with not-for-profit organisation Chabad of Rural and Regional Australians caring for the needs of Jewish men, women and children living outside populated metropolitan centres.
“We grew up in a Jewish community, it was our lifestyle, so we feel it is the right religion and the right way,” Rabbi Hurwitz said as the pair took a break under a tree in Littleton Gardens.
“We want to share what we know with the world and the best way to do that is to be a rabbi.”
The duo who come from a long line of rabbis have just completed their arduous seven years of study, made a stop in Bega on Friday as they travel from Melbourne to the Queensland city of Toowoomba.
Chabad Lubavitch is a 200 year old Chassidic movement originating from the Russian city of Lubavitch, over time becoming the largest Jewish outreach organization in the world.
“The knowledge is even important to run a house because if I had to call a rabbi every five minutes it just wouldn’t be possible,” Rabbi Schmukler said.
They said there lessons have taught them to analyze everything around them.
“I love the study,” Rabbi Schmukler said.
“It makes you sharper as a person.”
Rabbi Hurwitz said the Talmud, a central text of text of Rabbinic Judaism, is now included on the curriculum for primary school children in South Korea, as a way of fostering ingenuity and innovative thinking in the natural resource free nation.
“If it comes from the heart it goes into the heart,” Rabbi Schmukler said.
He said that while a peaceful Middle East was a “difficult” issue, it will only come through acts of kindness.
“You never know when a small thing will blossom into something beautiful,” Rabbi Hurwitz said.
“People love to feel people are listening to them.”
Coming from a large Jewish community in New York the pair, who spent a year living in Melbourne in 2015 working with high school students, have enjoyed traveling to small towns where there may only be a single Jewish family.
“They feel they are the only Jew of the town and are holding the fort,” Rabbi Huwitz said.
Rabbi Huwitz is from a family of cantors, who lead people in singing and sometimes in prayer, with a passion for music.
“My family all have great voices and when I was a little boy I used to sing all the time,” he said.
“It’s something I love doing.”
The singer has collaborated with Israeli producer YUC, even inviting Rabbi Schmukler to appear in a music video for the track Mercy, released in July and filmed in the streets of Jerusalem.
“The lyrics were all YUC’s and he’s singing about feeling far away from the religion and wanting to become closer to it,” he said.
“I would love to progress with music further if I had more opportunity to spend time on it.”
The pair will spend Friday night in Narooma which just happens to be Shabbat, otherwise known as the Sabbath or day of rest.
“We don’t use electronics and celebrate the day of rest by making kiddush,” Rabbi Huwitz said.
