Bringing the community together, one app at a time

Moriah College student Joseph Moshal has launched the first ever Sydney based Jewish community events app, fittingly named ConnectJew. Inspired by former Australian Jewish events app Tribe: Let My People Know, which ran from 2015 to 2019, 16-year-old Moshal has chosen to continue the legacy. Meanwhile, in Melbourne, 33-year-old software engineer Daniel Brazil is pursuing a similar goal through the development of Shalom Melbourne.

While a high school student and a software engineer may not appear to have much in common, both have spent the better part of the last six months independently and passionately building apps designed to make Sydney and Melbourne Jewish community events more accessible.

“I think it’s important for all the Jewish community to be connected to one another because it has so many benefits and it’s just a net positive thing in your life that you’re connected to the community,” Moshal told The AJN.

Shalom Melbourne and ConnectJew launched in April and May 2026, respectively, and have received largely positive feedback from community members and organisations thus far. In only a few short weeks, ConnectJew has amassed over 200 users and Shalom Melbourne has featured events from over 70 Jewish organisations.

Both apps were built with accessibility in mind, after both Moshal and Brazil saw a need for a centralised platform listing the diverse range of Jewish events across each community. Moshal told The AJN that while he has been fortunate enough to grow up in the Jewish community, many Jews aren’t afforded that same opportunity.

“It’s more for people who don’t have the same access to the community infrastructure, who aren’t invited to these WhatsApp or Facebook groups or newsletters. When all the events are channelled through that, it kind of isolates them,” Moshal said.

Since taking a coding class at school, Moshal has developed a keen interest in coding and software, spending many hours outside of school singlehandedly developing and designing the app. Moshal plans to continue improving the design and function of the app while keeping the focus primarily on sharing community events.

For Daniel Brazil, his motivation for developing Shalom Melbourne came from a more personal search for connection after moving frequently between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane following the COVID-19 pandemic, and eventually settling in Melbourne.

“Coming here it was actually kind of difficult to understand what the lay of the land was, to understand where the community events were and how I can get involved. So, I had the will, but I didn’t have the means…I’m Jewish, so I have the privilege to have access to a community and so why not be involved in it?” Brazil said.

In addition to being an active member of the Melbourne Jewish community, Brazil is also a proud Zionist and hopes that the organisations represented on the Shalom Melbourne app will reflect the kind of Jewish community that he wants to be a part of.

“I want to support the state of Israel. I want to support the Jewish community and the best position, I believe, is to create a community. I know what I want from my community and I know what I don’t want…The vision of this app isn’t just for events, it’s for a Jewish way of life,” Brazil said.

Shalom Melbourne uniquely features in-app prize draws and raffles where users can win a prize, say for example, a photoshoot or a pair of sunglasses, by sharing their unique invite link with new users. Prizes have so far been generously donated by local Jewish businesses wishing to support the venture. When speaking to The AJN, Brazil said that this was a way to, “give back to the people using the app”.

Naturally, for both ConnectJew and Shalom Melbourne, security was a top priority when designing the apps. Currently, ConnectJew requires users to complete a basic sign up and await approval by Moshal. For Shalom Melbourne, the vetting process is slightly more complex with users required to sign up using an invite code from someone already on the app, followed by a series of questions that must be answered before approval by Brazil.

Additionally, Shalom Melbourne only features events that are already publicly available on social media platforms or organisations’ websites. When collating public event data, ConnectJew is the same; however, organisations are welcome to contact Moshal if they wish to promote private events on the app as well.

Both Moshal and Brazil recognise their privilege in having access to thriving Jewish communities, and for Brazil it is just another way to “contribute back to the community that [he] grew up in.”

Download ConnectJew here.

Download Shalom Melbourne here. Use code ‘AJN’ when signing up.

If you wish to promote your events or support their work, you can contact Joseph at joseph@connectjew.com and Daniel at info@shalommelbourne.com.au