Teen developer launches app to centralise Sydney Jewish events

For Sydney’s Jewish community, finding out what’s on can often mean scrolling through countless WhatsApp groups, Instagram posts and email newsletters. Joseph Moshal, a Year 11 student at Moriah College, hopes to simplify that.

After noticing how difficult it was to keep track of communal events, Moshal created ConnectJew – a new app that brings Jewish events from across the community into one easy-to-use platform. Just launched this month, the app has already attracted more than 130 sign-ups.

“I heard my dad speaking to someone, and he and the other person said there’s no centralised platform for Jewish events in Sydney. There are lots of isolated WhatsApp chats and such,” Moshal told The Jewish Independent.

“But it's a big community, it's a big city, and there are parts of the community that are cut off. So, the goal of ConnectJew is essentially to bring these smaller communities together and create a more cohesive unit.”

Open the app and you’ll find a scrollable feed of events, each displayed as a post with a description, date, and time. Tap the register button and you’ll be taken directly to the event’s booking link. Each post also includes tags – such as "cultural," "social," and young adults," which users can explore separately to discover similar events.

The app is already attracting attention from various Jewish organisations, who have reached out to Moshal about potential parternships. “I've had some conversations with some organisations that want to partner with me, but I'm really trying to keep it equitable, in the sense that I don't want any organisations to have a huge advertising priority over others,” he says.

“I think to maintain the spirit of the app, it should be a bit a level playing field for the small organisations.”