Preschool plans for Canberra community

FOR the first time, children in Canberra will soon be able to access full-time Jewish education.

Chabad of ACT last week purchased an unused government pre-school and is set to establish the first Jewish early learning centre in the nation’s capital. The pre-school, set to open in 2012, is the first step in plans to eventually set up a Jewish primary school in Canberra.

“It’s a historic moment,” Chabad of ACT’s Rabbi Dan Avital told The AJN.

The heritage-listed building in the northern suburb of Giralang was designed in 1975 by award-winning architect Enrico Taglietti.

Chabad of the ACT hopes to open the new facility at the beginning of next year, depending on planning approvals, repairs and hire of staff. Rebbetzin Naomi Avital will serve as curriculum director, responsible for the centre’s Jewish ethos.

Rabbi Dan Avital of Chabad of ACT said: “It is important to have an educational facility, not a childcare place. The goal is education.”

He said he hopes to start with a minimum of 15 children from about 18 months of age.

“All will be welcome to apply on a case-by-case basis, but it will be a Jewish education facility,” he said.

The ACT Jewish Community has run cheder classes and school holiday programs for many years at its National Jewish Memorial Centre in Canberra’s inner-south, but costs have prevented the establishment of additional educational facilities.

Canberra Jewish Community president Manny Waks, who was at the auction when the building was purchased, congratulated Chabad of the ACT on its acquisition.

“It will enhance the services and opportunities currently on offer for the entire Jewish community in Canberra,” Waks said.

Despite having only been part of the community for a couple of years, Rabbi Avital has been a succesful contributor to Jewish life in Canberra, with the help of Melbourne’s Rabbi Aharon Seryabranski and Eliezer Kornhauser, he has already opened the city’s first mikveh.

SYLVIA DEUTSCH

Rabbi Dan Avital

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