Perth Hebrew Congregation

The Perth Hebrew Congregation (often shortened as the PHC) is synagogue located in the Perth suburb of Menora, Western Australia. Established as an organization in 1892, it is the oldest of three shul serving the Jewish community in Perth. The synagogue includes facilities for daily services, educational programmes, child care, a library, a mikveh and a bookshop.^[1][2][3][4] In July 2004, the shule was heavily defaced with anti-Semetic vandalism.^[5][6]

The first two scrolls in the possession of the Perth Hebrew Congregation were gifts from members of the Montefire clan.^[7]

The synagogue received a grant of A$100,000 (WA) as part of the National Community Crime Prevention Programme (NCCPP). The project was to "design and erect a perimeter security fence complete with access controls around the premises of the Perth Synagogue". The rationale was for protection of the premises and population in the event of a potential attack on PHC.^[8][9]

History

The first Jewish congregation in Western Australia was founded in Fremantle in 1887, when Benjamin Solomon organised the necessary fundraising and construction of the synagogue on the corner of South Terrace and Parry Street.^[10] The Reverend Abraham Tobias Boas came to Fremantle from Adelaide to lay the foundation stone of the new building, in 1891.^[10] It was opened in 1897, but did not last long as a place of worship because the congregation was absorbed into the Perth Hebrew Congregation in 1907.

For the more orthodox Jewish settlers, the more Anglicized services of the Perth Hebrew Congregation had no appeal. They formed the Perth Jewry Association and built a synagogue known as the Palmerston Shule. Possible conflict between the two congregations was avoided thorough the leadership of Perth Jewry's first minister, Rabbi D. I. Freedman who served in the Perth Hebrew Congregation for 42 years from 1897 up until his death in 1939.^[11]

List of Rabbis

• Rabbi David Isaac Freedman (1897–1939)^[12]
• Rabbi Louis Rubin-Zacks (1939–1964)
• Rev Emanuel Fischer (1964–1967)
• Rabbi Dr Shalom Coleman (1965–1985)^[13][14][15]
• Rabbi Michael Orelowitz (1985–1986)
• Rabbi David Freilich (1988 - Current) ^[16][17]

Further reading

• "The Perth Hebrew Congregation 1892–2002" by Dr David Mossenson (ISBN 095959812X - paperback, ISBN 0-9595981-3-8) ^[18][19]
• Hebrew, Israelite, Jew: the history of the Jews of Western Australia^[20]
• Holocaust remembrance in Australian Jewish communities, 1945–2000 ^[21]
• The Jews in Australia ^[22]
• Parliamentary debates, Volume 94 ^[23]
• PHC on APAIS ^[24]

References

External links

• Home page of Perth Hebrew Congregation

Coordinates: 31°54′50″S 115°51′54″E / 31.91377°S 115.8649°E / -31.91377; 115.8649