Perth Hebrew Congregation

Last updated

Perth Hebrew Congregation
Religion
Affiliation Judaism
StatusActive
Location
Location Menora , Perth, Western Australia
CountryAustralia
Australia Perth location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Perth, Western Australia
Geographic coordinates 31°54′50″S115°51′54″E / 31.91377°S 115.8649°E / -31.91377; 115.8649
Architecture
Date established1892;131 years ago (1892)
Website
www.theperthshule.asn.au

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 shuls and one temple serving the Jewish community in Perth. The synagogue includes a child care - namely Ruth Landau Harp Early Learning offering education to children aged from 6 weeks to 5 years, educating children on the Jewish calendar of events and Jewish values, with all meals being kosher. The synagogue offers facilities for daily services, educational programmes, PHC also houses a library, a mikveh and a bookshop. [1] [2] [3] [4] In July 2004, the shul was heavily defaced with anti-Semitic vandalism. [5] [6]

Contents

Overview

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

The synagogue received a grant of A$100,000 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 Fremantle 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.[ citation needed ]

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

See also

Related Research Articles

African-American Jews are people who are both African American and Jewish. African-American Jews may be either Jewish from birth or converts to Judaism. Many African-American Jews are of mixed heritage, having both African-American gentile and non-black Jewish ancestors. Some African-American Jews may identify as Jews of Color.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Synagogue</span> Union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues

The United Synagogue (US) is a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues, representing the central Orthodox movement in Judaism. With 62 congregations, comprising 40,000 members, it is the largest synagogue body in Europe. The spiritual leader of the union is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth – a title that bears some formal recognition by the Crown, even though his rabbinical authority is recognised by only slightly more than half of British Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movement for Reform Judaism</span> Jewish denomination in the UK

Reform Judaism is one of the two World Union for Progressive Judaism–affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. Reform is relatively traditional in comparison with its smaller counterpart, Liberal Judaism, though it does not regard Jewish law as binding. As of 2010, it was the second-largest Jewish religious group in the United Kingdom, with 19.4% of synagogue-member households. On 17 April 2023, Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism announced their intention to merge as one single unified progressive Jewish movement. The new movement, which may be called Progressive Judaism, will represent about 30% of British Jewry who are affiliated to synagogues.

The history of Jews in Australia traces the history of Australian Jews from the British settlement of Australia commencing in 1788. Though Europeans had visited Australia before 1788, there is no evidence of any Jewish sailors among the crew. The first Jews known to have come to Australia came as convicts transported to Botany Bay in 1788 aboard the First Fleet that established the first European settlement on the continent, on the site of present-day Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Shearith Israel</span> Synagogue in Manhattan, New York

The Congregation Shearith Israel – often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue – is the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. It was established in 1654 in New Amsterdam by Jews who arrived from Dutch Brazil. Until 1825, when Jewish immigrants from Germany established a congregation, it was the only Jewish congregation in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Rodeph Shalom (Philadelphia)</span>

Congregation Rodeph Shalom of Philadelphia, founded in 1795, is the oldest Ashkenazic synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. It is noted historically for its leadership of the Reform Judaism among American Hebrew congregations, for its spiritual influence upon international Jewry, and for its unique 1927 Moorish Revival building on North Broad Street, on the National Register of Historic Places for many decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbourne Hebrew Congregation</span> Jewish Congregation in Australia

The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, or Toorak Shule, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Formed in 1841, the congregation was originally located on Bourke Street before moving in 1930 to Toorak Road, South Yarra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synagogues of Jerusalem</span>

This article deals in more detail with some of the notable synagogues of Jerusalem that do not have their own page as yet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Jews</span> Ethnic and religious group in Australia

Australian Jews, or Jewish Australians, are Jews who are Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia. In the 2016 census, there were 21,175 Australians who identified as Jewish by ancestry, a decrease from 25,716 in the 2011 census, and 91,016 Australians who identified as adherents of Judaism, which is a 6% decrease on 97,355 adherents of Judaism in the 2011 census. The actual number is almost certainly higher, because an answer to the religion question on the census was optional and because Holocaust survivors, Haredi Jews or many non-practising Jews are believed to prefer not to disclose religion in the census. By comparison, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz estimated a Jewish-Australian population of 120,000-150,000, while other estimates based on the death rate in the community estimate the size of the community as 250,000. Based on the census data, Jewish citizens make up about 0.4% of the Australian population. The Jewish community of Australia is composed mostly of Ashkenazi Jews, though there are Jews in Australia from many other traditions and levels of religious observance and participation in the Jewish community.

Orthodox Jewish feminism is a movement in Orthodox Judaism which seeks to further the cause of a more egalitarian approach to Jewish practice within the bounds of Jewish Law. The major organizations of this movement is the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) in North America, and Women of the Wall (WOW) and its affiliates in Israel and internationally, known as The International Committee for Women of the Wall (ICWOW). In Israel, the leading Orthodox feminist organization is Kolech, founded by Dr. Chana Kehat. In Australia, there is one Orthodox partnership minyan, Shira Hadasha, in Melbourne.

The Elwood Talmud Torah Hebrew Congregation, also known as Elwood Synagogue or Elwood Shule, is a historically significant Orthodox synagogue located in the Melbourne suburb of Elwood, Victoria, Australia. The congregation played an important role in accommodating Melbourne's large population of Jewish Holocaust survivors following World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Houston</span>

The Jewish community of Houston, Texas has grown and thrived since the 1800s. As of 2008 Jews lived in many Houston neighborhoods and Meyerland is the center of the Jewish community in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Neveh Shalom</span> Synagogue in Portland, Oregon

Neveh Shalom is a congregation and synagogue affiliated with Conservative Judaism, located in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1961 from the mergers of three older congregations, it has a membership of over 850 households. The early members of the synagogue were immigrants from Prussia or Poland, resulting in the nickname "Polisha shul." Despite the synagogue's nickname, it leaned toward the German styles of Judaism, rather than the Polish one. Neveh Shalom is the second oldest Jewish congregation in the Pacific Northwest and the oldest Conservative congregation on the West Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fremantle Synagogue</span> Former synagogue in Fremantle, Western Australia

The Fremantle Synagogue is a heritage listed building located on South Terrace on the corner of Parry Street in Fremantle, Western Australia. It was the first synagogue built in Western Australia and was associated with Jewish community leaders and merchants in Fremantle at the end of the 19th century. The building is also known as Beers building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adath Shalom (Philadelphia)</span>

Adath Shalom was a synagogue located in the Whitman neighborhood of South Philadelphia at 607 W Ritner Street/2353-2355 S Marshall Street, the corner of Marshall and Ritner Streets. The synagogue opened in 1922 and closed in 2007. The building was most recently used as a Buddhist temple. It was sold in February 2018 and is vacant in 2019.

Congregation Adath Israel was a synagogue and religious community in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, that held services from 1907 to 2006.

References

  1. "The Perth Hebrew Congregation". J-Wire. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  2. "Jewgle Perth » Blog Archive » Noranda shul honoured in Federal Parliament". jewgleperth.com. 26 September 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  3. "Perth". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  4. "Jewish Community of Perth, Australia". Jewishtimesasia.org. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  5. "Latest news briefs from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency - Cleveland Jewish News: Archives". Cleveland Jewish News. 19 July 2004. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  6. [ dead link ]
  7. Ehrlich, Mark Avrum (2009). Encyclopedia of the Jewish diaspora: origins, experiences, and culture, Volume 1. p. 527. ISBN   9781851098736 . Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  8. Archived 25 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. 1 2 Silbert, Eric (1999). "Jewish Personalities of Fremantle". Fremantle Studies. 1.
  11. James Jupp (October 2001). The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins. Cambridge University Press. p. 529. ISBN   978-0-521-80789-0.
  12. O. B. Tofler. "Freedman, David Isaac (1874–1939)". Biography - David Isaac Freedman - Australian Dictionary of Biography. Adbonline.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  13. "Blog Archive » Shalom Coleman – a rabbinic dynamo". OzTorah. 5 December 1918. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  14. "Shalom Coleman interviewed by Criena Fitzgerald [sound recording]| National Library of Australia". Catalogue.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  15. "The Perth Hebrew Congregation". Theperthshule.asn.au. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  16. "Photoexhibit 16". Judaica.library.usyd.edu.au. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2013.

Further reading