The Southern Sydney Synagogue is located in the suburb of Allawah in Sydney, Australia. The congregation is incorporated as an amalgamation of the Illawarra Hebrew Congregation, [1] the South Coast Hebrew Congregation, and the Bankstown Synagogue. [2]
The Illawarra congregation was originally established in 1943 as the Illawarra Hebrew Congregation, [2] [3] also known as the Illawarra Synagogue. The synagogue's founder was Nathan Haneman, a Lithuanian Jew who migrated to Australia in 1928. [4] [2] [5] Prior to the establishment of the congregation, Haneman sought to organise the local Jewish community and first founded the Illawarra Hebrew Association in the early 1930s. The association was active in promoting Jewish education in the local area. [4] [6] The congregation included Holocaust survivors who supplied ritual objects salvaged from synagogues destroyed by the Nazis. [7] In 1954, the congregation purchased a centre at 5 Andover Street, in Carlton. [8] By 1959, the congregation had grown and began seeking to build or purchase a larger centre. [9] In 1960, the congregation joined eleven other Sydney synagogues to form the Federation of Orthodox Synagogues in New South Wales. [10] Additionally, in 1960, the congregation purchased the former RSL building in Allawah. [11] In 1966, the congregation formally registered as a non-profit corporation and changed its name to the Illawarra Synagogue. [12] In 1977, the congregation expanded with the purchase of the former Mormon Church of Allawah. [12] In 1998, the congregation changed its name to the Southern Sydney Synagogue. [13]
In 1982, after the closure of the South Coast Hebrew Congregation's synagogue in Wollongong, originally founded in 1963, [14] the congregation merged with the Illawarra Synagogue, [15] and was known as the Illawarra, South Coast and District Synagogue. [16]
Following the destruction of the Bankstown Synagogue in 1991, its congregation merged with Southern Sydney Synagogue. [17]
The Southern Sydney Synagogue has been the target of firebombing, vandalism, and arson incidents on multiple occasions:
Allawah is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Allawah is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Allawah lies in the local government area of the Georges River Council. The postcode is 2218, which is shared by the neighbouring suburb of Carlton.
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