(lubavitch) After opening a mikvah last February, Chabad in Canberra is working at a steady clip, building a strong infrastructure for Canberra’s 2,000 Jewish residents. Last Wednesday, Rabbi Dan and Naomi Avital, directors of Chabad in Canberra secured a disused childcare center just a stone’s throw away from the new mikvah.

“Many families in the community have expressed interest in a Jewish school,” said Rabbi Avital. As the capital city of Australia, most foreign embassies including the Israeli embassy are located in Canberra, so “Jewish families who work for the government and observant families who live here will be able to enroll their children at the school.”

Renovations on the 23,000 square foot building are due to begin shortly. In February 2012, the school will open with some twenty children from eighteen months to five years old.

“The preschool will form the base of the school, and we will expand and grow the school every year,” Rabbi Avital said.