Public announcement:
Ask any Russian Jew living in Melbourne for a short list of people who have profoundly changed their lives, and inevitably you will find Rabbi Gorelik’s name somewhere at the top.
Rabbi Gorelik’s monumental impact on Russian Jewry is deep and profound. In 1980, with the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s strong encouragement, Rabbi Gorelik moved to Melbourne with his wife Reizl on shlichus and established FREE (Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe) in the back room of the Yeshivah Shule.
FREE has since moved and expanded, and today it is a bustling synagogue and community hub known as Chabad on Carlisle — Jewish Russian Centre. Over the last four decades, Rabbi Gorelik has helped immigrants find proper housing and employment, set up assisted living arrangements for elderly people, led communal Shabbos and Yom Tov meals, officiated at Chupahs, organised education for children and adults, provided people with counselling, established a library in the Shule, and distributed the TOPA CBET Jewish Russian newsletter throughout Melbourne and Sydney. To avoid classes on Shabbos, he established a registered Language school for students who wished to take Russian as a high school subject.
Thousands of children and adults today have had a bris because Rabbi Gorelik facilitated it. Many girls have received Jewish names and many boys have had a Pidyon Haben. Hundreds of Russian Jews have celebrated their bar and bat mitzvahs because Rabbi Gorelik felt personally responsible to give them that opportunity. Innumerable hospital patients have been visited and cared for because Rabbi Gorelik would not have it any other way.
The sheer number of people whose lives have been dramatically and positively influenced by Rabbi Gorelik is astounding. The vast number of ways in which he has been able to enhance the quality of Russian Jewish life is extraordinary.
But 18 months ago, all that suddenly changed.
Rabbi Gorelik suffered a stroke which left him comatose and paralyzed on his right side. At the time, he was unable to perform basic functions that we take for granted every day — such as walking, talking, and eating.
Extensive therapy, however, and his astounding willpower have helped Rabbi Gorelik’s communication and mobility improve remarkably. In the face of adversity, Rabbi Gorelik has shown great determination and it is clear that Rabbi Gorelik has every intention of returning to as much independence as he can.
Today, we turn to you. The costs of Rabbi Gorelik’s rehabilitation — including speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and Feldenkrais therapy — are upwards of $75,000 a year.
The goal of the campaign is $225,000, which will cover Rabbi Gorelik’s medical costs for a few years.
You can help Rabbi Gorelik receive the medical care he requires by contributing towards the Charidy campaign on Sunday 2 September / 22 Elul.
Help Rabbi Gorelik regain his position as an icon of faith and Jewish life in the community.
Forty years of giving, now it is our turn.
VIDEO:
A man who gave up his life to help Jewish people physically and spiritually, a dedicated shliach of the Rebbe. I’ve known him for many years and he’s a real role model, PLEASE DONATE!
I know this extremely special man
and thank you for the zechus of allowing so many of us to be mishtatef in this important project!