History of the Jews in Australia
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The history of the Jews in Australia began with the transportation of several Jewish convicts aboard the First Fleet in 1788 when the first European settlement was established on the continent in present-day Sydney. Today, an estimated 120,000 Jews reside in Australia, the majority being Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern European descent, with many being refugees and Holocaust survivors who arrived during and after World War II. The Jewish population has been swelled more recently by immigrants from South Africa and the former Soviet Union. According to the 2001 Commonwealth census, only 93,459 people identified themselves as Jews, but this understated the size of the Jewish population as it did not count those overseas (i.e., dual Australian-Israeli nationals) and many non-practicing Jews who preferred not to disclose their religion. In addition, the community proportionally has a high percentage of Holocaust survivors and their descendants and thus it is widely believed that many prefer not to be counted on the census. The largest Jewish community in Australia is in Melbourne with about 60,000, followed closely by Sydney with 45,000 members. Smaller communities are dispersed among the remaining capital cities.
Since the days of British colonialism, Jews have enjoyed formal equality before the law in Australia and have not been subject to civil disabilities or other forms of state-sponsored antisemitism which exclude them from full participation in public life. They assisted in the development of the country and in the raising of sheep and cattle they were particularly prominent. In science, art, and literature Jews have been active contributors, and in the government of the colonial and Commonwealth eras, they have had an honorable share, with a number having attained prominent public offices.
St Kilda in Melbourne is home to the Jewish Museum of Australia.
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[edit] Colonial period (1788-1901)
[edit] Earliest Jewish Congregation
As European settlement began only in 1788, it was not surprising that the formation of the earliest Jewish community was not accomplished before the end of the first quarter of the 19th century. Sydney, the capital of the mother-colony of New South Wales, contains the oldest Hebrew congregation. Its early history was recorded in "Sydney in 1848," which states that there were about twenty Jews in the colony in 1817, and that these were "little versed in the faith of their ancestors."
Nevertheless, they were sufficiently attached to their religion to form themselves into a Jewish burial society. In 1820 the Jews obtained their own "bet chayyim" or burial-ground by applying to the Rev. Dr. Cowper, who allotted to them the right-hand corner of the Christian cemetery. The death of one Joel Joseph prompted the application; and he was the first Jew buried there. During the next ten years there was no great increase in membership; and the services of the society were not called for more than once a year.
The account continues: "In 1827 and 1828 the worldly condition of the Hebrews in the colony improved considerably, in consequence of the great influx of respectable merchants; and this, with other circumstances, has raised the Hebrews in the estimation of their fellow colonists. About this period Mr. P. J. Cohen having offered the use of his house for the purpose, divine worship was performed for the first time in the colony according to the Hebrew form, and was continued regularly every Sabbath and holiday. From some difference of opinion then existing among the members of this faith, divine service was also performed occasionally in a room hired by Messrs. A. Elias and James Simmons. In this condition everything in connection with their religion remained until the arrival of Rev. Aaron Levi, in the year 1830. He had been a dayyan, and, duly accredited, he succeeded in instilling into the minds of the congregation a taste for the religion of their fathers. A Sefer Torah [scroll of the Law] was purchased by subscription, divine service was more regularly conducted, and from this time may be dated the establishment of the Jewish religion in Sydney. In 1832 they formed themselves into a proper congregation, and appointed J. B. Montefiore as the first president."
In the same year the first Jewish marriage was celebrated, the contracting parties being Moses Joseph and Miss Nathan. Three years later a Mr. Rose came from England and acted as the chazzan, shochet, and mohel. He was succeeded by Jacob Isaacs. The condition of the Jews improved to such an extent that in 1844 they erected their first synagogue in York Street, Sydney, in which they continued to worship for more than thirty years.
[edit] Jewish settlement outside New South Wales
Tasmania, being the second oldest settlement in Australia is most likely the second Jewish settlement in Australia. The oldest surviving synagogue is in Hobart, and it was consecrated on 4 July 1845. Jews also began to assemble in Victoria in the 1840s and congregations sprang up in Melbourne, when in 1847 the first synagogue opened. This was followed by St Kilda, Geelong, Bendigo, and Ballarat (1853). By the 1850s, during the time of the Victorian Gold Rush, Melbourne had become the largest Jewish settlement in the country. In South Australia, Jews settled considerably later than in Victoria; and it was not till 1871 that they were numerous enough to erect a synagogue in the capital city of Adelaide. Somewhat later still, the Brisbane (Queensland) congregation took form. For more than twenty years (1865-1886) they continued to hold services in the Masonic Hall; and at the end of that period they were able to build a commodious synagogue in Margaret Street, with a seating capacity of 400. The youngest of the Australian communities is that of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, the formation of which in 1892 was due to the great influx of people into the western colony after the discovery of gold in the 1890s. The Jewish congregation grew rapidly; five years after the first minyan, a synagogue was built and consecrated in Brisbane Street.
Each of the colonies has witnessed the rise and decline of a congregation. In New South Wales there was at one time a flourishing community in Maitland. A synagogue was built there in 1879; but owing to adverse circumstances most of the Jews left for other parts. The same fate befell the congregation of Toowoomba, Queensland, where in 1879 the Jews built a beautiful house of worship on their own ground, and under such favorable conditions that within a few years the synagogue was entirely free from debt. It was used only on the High Holidays by the few living at Toowoomba. Rockhampton, also in Queensland, has suffered similarly.
Perhaps the shortest career was that of the Coolgardie community in Western Australia. In 1896 a number of Jews, attracted by the rich gold-fields, were in that city. They at once obtained a grant of land from the government, collected subscriptions, and forthwith proceeded to build a synagogue. Within three years, however, such a thinning-out had taken place that the remaining members were unable to pay the debt on the synagogue; and the building was sold by the creditors to a Masonic body and converted into a Masonic hall.
 East Melbourne Synagogue (1877) |
 St Kilda Synagogue (Melbourne City Shul) (1903-04), designed by Nahum Barnet |
 Melbourne Synagogue (1929) also by Nahum Barnet is located in South Yarra |
[edit] Jews in public life
Jews have been mayors of nearly all the capital cities of Australia, as well as of many smaller towns. The Hon. H. E. Cohen is on the judicial bench in Sydney; and the appointment of chief justice was offered to, accepted and held by, Sir Julian Salomons. The agent-generalship of New South Wales, the premier colony, has been administered by two Jews, Sir Saul Samuel, Bart., K.C.M.G., one of the most prominent and successful Jews in Australian politics, and Sir Julian Salomons. Numerous Jews have sat in the State and Commonwealth parliaments; and, in proportion to the population, a large percentage have held ministerial portfolios.
The foremost among the Jews who have figured as pioneers in Australia was Jacob Montefiore, a cousin of Sir Moses Montefiore. South Australian history records him as one of the founders of the colony; and he was selected by the British government to act on the first board of commissioners, appointed in 1835 to conduct its affairs. His portrait hangs in its National Gallery, and his memory is perpetuated by Montefiore Hill, one of the leading thoroughfares of Adelaide. J. B. Montefiore's activity was not confined to South Australia. With his brother Joseph Montefiore he gave an impetus to, and left his impress upon, the progress of New South Wales. Jacob owned one of the largest sheep-runs in the colony, and founded and for many years acted as director of the Bank of Australasia. The firm that the two brothers established in Sydney in its early days ranked among the first of the business houses of that city. The close connection of these brothers with the colony is further evidenced by the township of Montefiore, which stands at the junction of the Bell and Macquarie Rivers in the Wellington valley. Joseph Montefiore was the first president of the first Jewish congregation formed in Sydney in 1832.
The Hon. V. L. Solomon of Adelaide is remembered for the useful work he achieved in exploring the vast northern territory of his colony, the interests of which he represented in Parliament. M. V. Lazarus of Bendigo, known as Bendigo Lazarus, also did much to open up new parts in the back country of Victoria. The coal industry of Victoria received a great impetus from the persistent advocacy of the Hon. Nathaniel Levi, who for many years urged the government of Victoria to develop it. The cultivation of beetroot for the production of sugar and spirits likewise owes its existence as an industry to Levi's ceaseless efforts. In his labors on behalf of this industry he published in 1870 a work of 250 pages on the value and adaptability of the sugar-beet. In western Australia the townships of Karridale and Boyanup owe their existence to the enterprise of M. C. Davies, a large lumber merchant.
In 1931 Sir Isaac Isaacs was appointed the first Australian born Governor-General; he was the first Jewish vice-regal representative in the British Empire. Sir Zelman Cowen also served as Governor-General, between 1977 and 1982. Sir John Monash, a distinguished Australian Lieutenant-General during World War I, was also of Jewish descent. Monash University, Australia's largest university, is named after him. Malcolm Fraser, the Prime Minister of Australia, 1975-1983, was also of Jewish descent.
[edit] Jews in the arts
Barnett Levy founded the first theater in Australia. A record of that fact is found in the following entry in "Sydney in 1848," a work published in that year: "In the late twenties His Excellency Sir R. Bourke granted Barnett Levy a license for dramatic performances, with a restriction that he should confine himself to the representation of such pieces only as had been licensed in England by the Lord Chamberlain." Levy was at that time the owner of the original Royal Hotel in George Street; and he fitted up the saloon of that establishment as a theater, where the first representations of the legitimate drama in the colony were given. The encouragement that this undertaking received induced the enterprising proprietor to enlarge his sphere of action. He built a theater called the Theater Royal, which was opened in 1833.
In the course of the half-century of communal life in Australia, four important Jewish journals appeared: "The Australian Israelite" was issued from 1870 to 1882 in Melbourne, and was edited by S. Joseph, a practised journalist, who also conducted "The Tamworth News"; "The Jewish Herald" of Melbourne has been published, first weekly and then fortnightly, from 1885 onward, under the joint editorship of Rev. E. Blaubaum and Maurice Benjamin; "The Australian Hebrew," conducted by Jacob Goldstein, appeared for only eighteen months in 1895-96; "The Hebrew Standard" was first published in 1897, under the directorship of Alfred Harris.
In the domain of art two Jews, E. P. Fox and Abbey Alston, have achieved distinction. Paintings by both these artists have been hung in the Melbourne National Gallery. In the Adelaide Gallery hangs a tribute to the memory of H. Abrahams for the services he rendered to the progress of art in Australia. Two Jews of Australian birth have attained to some distinction as writers, S. Alexander and Joseph Jacobs.
[edit] Early 20th century (1901-1939)
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[edit] World War II and the Shoah (1939-1945)
Australia was a safe haven for Jews throughout World War II. With the notable exception of the exclusionary policies of several "gentlemen's" clubs, there was no systemic or organised persecution of (or discrimination against) Jews during this period.
- See also: Kimberley Plan
[edit] Late 20th century (1945-present)
Today, Australia's Jewish community thrives in all the major cities. Jews are especially prominent in the legal profession; for example, in Melbourne alone, the Hon. Michael Rozenes sits as Chief Judge of the County Court, Justice Redlich sits on the Court of Appeal, while Justices Ray Finkelstein, Alan Goldberg, Mark Weinberg and Ron Merkel have all sat in recent years in the Federal Court.
In May 2004, the great art collector and dealer, Dr Joseph Brown (artist) AO OBE, donated his substantial collection of Australian art of the 20th Century to the National Gallery of Victoria. It was the most generous single gift of works of art ever made to a public gallery in Australia. Dr Brown, who until recently lived in one of Melbourne's greatest mansions in Caroline Street, South Yarra, was born in Poland in 1918 and migrated to Australia in 1933. He was awarded an Order of Australia, Australia's highest civilian honour, for his services to the arts.
In recent years, many South African Jews and some Israelis have immigrated to Australia. The community in Sydney mainly was comprised of Jewish people from Europe and many Holocaust survivors. In later years there has, however, been an iflux of South Africans.
[edit] Anti-Semitism
ASIO documents revealed that Palestinian terrorists planned to kill high profile Jewish figures including the Australian ambassador in 1975. Prominent Jewish supporters such as former Prime Minister Bob Hawke were also targeted. [1] Since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Jews in Australia have seen a rise in attacks on synagogues and violence against persons of Jewish descent. [2] However, Australia has seen a relatively lower amount of Anti-Semitic incidents than Western Europe and North America.
[edit] See also
[edit] Article references
- Jewish Encyclopedia
- Sydney in 1848, by Joseph Fowles, Sydney 1848 (Facsimile reprint 1973, Published by Ure Smith in Association with The National Trust of Australia (NSW))
[edit] External links
- AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND JEWRY: Discovering Jewish History Down Under Jewish community then and now
- Chabad centers in Australia
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This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
