Melbourne set to host world’s largest Shabbat
Albanese Government commits $167,000 to landmark Jewish community event
A re-elected Albanese Labor Government will provide $167,000 to fund what organisers hope will be the World’s Largest Shabbat dinner in Melbourne.
The funding commitment, announced by Labor Candidate for Goldstein Nildhara Gadani, will support the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) in hosting the landmark event, expected to break the current Guinness World Record set in Berlin 11 years ago.
Federal Member for Macnamara Josh Burns MP emphasised the significance of the event for Australia’s Jewish community.
“The Jewish community I grew up in has always been welcoming, kind and collaborative, and have contributed so much to broader Australian life,” Burns said.
“To be able to host the World’s Largest Shabbat right in the heart of Melbourne’s Jewish community represents the best of multicultural Australia.”
The initiative was conceived by Ash Rosshandler following the events of October 7 and afterwards.
“The idea came about since October 7, just a lot of bad news in the paper regarding Josh Burns’ office being firebombed, the Adass Shule being firebombed [and] my school, Mount Scopus Memorial College, being graffitied,” Rosshandler explained.
“So I was pretty despondent about all the bad news, and thought, how can we get a good news story happening for Melbourne, city we love?”
The current world record stands at 2,330 participants, set in Berlin approximately 11 years ago, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
“We should absolutely tear ourselves a new record,” Rosshandler said.
Planned for November or December to take advantage of longer daylight hours, the event aims to be truly inclusive.
“A group of us have got together and are just excited about bringing to life the world’s biggest Shabbos and inviting the whole community in to be a part of it, and showing Australia what it is to light up the darkness,” said Rosshandler.
“And so it’s everyone, Orthodox, Progressive, secular, non-Jewish, Jewish, atheist, liberal, everyone – an open tent.”
Ms Gadani highlighted the event’s importance for Goldstein’s multicultural community.
“We are proud of our multicultural community in Goldstein and this event is a wonderful opportunity for people of all faiths and backgrounds to come together to share Shabbat,” she said.
“This event hopes to bring over 3,000 people together to emphasise our shared humanity and to strengthen the bonds between interfaith communities.”
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