Yeshivah Gedolah Melbourne Welcomes CTeen Director for Grand Shabbos Achdus

Rabbi Shimon Rivkin, Executive Director of CTeen International at Merkos 302 and Mashpia in Oholei Torah Mesivta, heads to Melbourne this weekend to lead a grand Shabbos Achdus program ahead of Shavuos, marking forty years since the Rebbe’s call for Shabbos Achdus.

The program will bring together bochurim from Yeshiva Gedola, Melbourne High School, and a group of fifty from Sydney for a grand Shabbos Achdus. Rabbi Rivkin will headline the program and farbreng throughout Shabbos. He will also speak at the Young Yeshivah shul and lead a Rosh Chodesh farbrengen on Sunday at DaMinyan, a shul for young professionals and families.

The trip was organized by the shluchim of Yeshiva Gedola, who invited Rabbi Rivkin to address the bochurim at the yeshiva where he once learned. In 2006, Rabbi Rivkin was among the group of talmidim hashluchim sent to the Rabbinical College of Australia, known as Yeshiva Gedola, in Melbourne’s S. Kilda East. Twenty years later, he returns.

“It’s a real treat for the bochurim,” said Sholom Brummel, a shliach at Yeshiva Gedola. “The bochurim don’t get to hear from Crown Heights mashpiim very often down here. Rabbi Rivkin brings a fresh energy and a different style. We’re looking forward to a Shabbos of farbrengens and achdus.”

While in Melbourne, he will also meet with CTeen shluchim from across Australia to hear about the growth of local chapters and the opportunities ahead for teen engagement across the continent.

Rabbi Rivkin and his wife Leah direct CTeen International, which operates over 900 chapters in more than 60 countries as part of Merkos 302. His visit to Australia follows a record-breaking year for the network.