A Kaddish in Kalgoorlie, a Mission Completed

Kalgoorlie sits 370 miles east of Perth, the closest large city in Western Australia. A dusty and forgotten mining town with no landmarks for hours in either direction, Kalgoorlie boomed during the gold rush of the 1890s, when it was briefly home to a Jewish community substantial enough to warrant two synagogues and its own section of the local cemetery. The synagogues are gone, but the Jewish burial section, marked by a modest sign reading “Hebrew,” is still there.

By the last census, six people in the entire region, where the population totals a little more than 30,000, identified as Jewish.

While Kalgoorlie—some 370 miles from Perth, the nearest metropolitan area—may be remote, the handful of Jews there are not forsaken.

One of them was Dr. Avron Moffson, who spent decades as a physician in Kalrooglie. When the doctor passed away in October 2022 at the age of 85, Rabbi Shalom White, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Western Australia in Perth, and Mike Gomer, president of the Perth Chevra Kadisha (Jewish burial society), led a small group of volunteers on the 14-hour round trip to ensure Moffson received a proper Jewish burial.

They performed the traditional taharah, conducted the funeral and laid him to rest in the cemetery’s dedicated Jewish section. They had hoped to find enough Jews in Kalgoorlie to form a minyan for Kaddish, but alas, it was not to be.

Before leaving, they resolved to return to unveil the tombstone—this time with a minyan to ensure Kaddish could be recited for Moffson’s soul.

The small Jewish section in Kalgoorlie’s cemetery is marked by a sign reading “Hebrew.” From left: Perth Chevra Kadisha President Mike Gomer; Rabbi Shalom White, director of Chabad of Western Australia; and Perth community member David Ninio.

A number of years went by, but no progress was made on Dr. Moffson’s memorial. In recent months, Gomer, now 74 and retired from the chevra kadisha in Perth, fell ill and wished to wrap up his affairs in the earthly realm.

“Mike couldn’t pass away before kaddish was said for Dr. Moffson,” White told Chabad.org.

Gomer worked on getting the tombstone made—paid for by the Perth Chevrah Kadisha—and arranging a minyan to travel to Kalgoorlie on May 3, 2026, to fulfill his promise to the late doctor. A group of volunteers agreed to join the sacred mission and set out on the seven hour journey into the interior of the vast state.

The group spent two hours in Kalgoorlie, dedicating the headstone and reciting Kaddish at Moffson’s graveside.

Rabbi White leads the unveiling and dedication of Dr. Avron Moffson's headstone.

They also took the time to visit the Jewish section of yet another distant cemetery, this one in Coolgardie, some 30 miles from Kalgoorlie. Rabbi Yosef Chaim Meizlish of Hebron, the first Chabad Chassid to settle in Australia (and a great-grandson of R’ Moshe Meizlish, a renowned Chassid of the founder of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi), had once led the Jewish community of Coolgardie, serving as a mohel, cantor and conducting Jewish funerals—including in Kalgoorlie. Known in Australia as Josef Hyman Myslis, this colorful figure later became a bailiff of the court in Coolgardie and a district constable with the local police force.

The group took a few minutes to recite Kaddish in Coolgardie’s Jewish cemetery as well, a place that had not heard the ancient prayer in many years. They then headed home.

“We left Perth at 5 a.m. and returned at 11 p.m.,” says White.

Laid up in his Perth hospital bed, Gomer couldn’t join the group, but was deeply invested in their success. Four days after his unfinished business was completed, and now at peace, Gomer passed away on Thursday, May 7.

May the memory of Michael Gomer (Michoel ben Chanan) be for a blessing.