| Temple Beth Israel | |
|---|---|
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Progressive Judaism |
| Year consecrated | 1938 |
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | 76/82 Alma Rd, St Kilda VIC 3182 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Synagogue |
| Completed | 1938 |
Temple Beth Israel (TBI) is a synagogue affiliated with Progressive Judaism in St Kilda, an inner seaside suburb of Melbourne, Australia. [1] The organisation is a member of the Union for Progressive Judaism, an umbrella organisation for Progressive Judaism in Asia and the Pacific. [2]
In 1930, Ada Phillips founded the synagogue, the first Progressive community in Australia. [3] Phillips had been inspired by services she attended in 1928 at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London. Phillips was impressed by its values, liturgy and felt compelled to found a progressive congregation in Australia. [4] The World Union for Progressive Judaism subsidised the congregation in its early years. Rabbi Jerome Mark, a Reform Rabbi from the United States, served as the congregation's first rabbi, serving a term of three years. Services were held on Saturday and Sunday mornings at Wickliffe House on St Kilda promenade. [4] The new congregation was not welcomed by Rabbi Danglow of the St Kilda Hebrew Congregation, a Modern Orthodox synagogue. [4] Danglow decried the arrival of progressive Judaism in Melbourne: "a mutation of Judaism, specially compounded and flavoured to tickle the palates of religiously languid Jews." [4]
In 1936, the congregation was at the point of collapse as the congregation numbered fewer than 100. [4] A Berlin rabbi, Rabbi Herman Sanger was appointed in the same year and transformed the fortunes of the congregation. [4] Land was purchased on Alma Road, and Isaac Isaacs laid the cornerstone on 11 July 1937. Three Torah scrolls were sent to the congregation from Berlin's Jewish community. [4] The new synagogue building was consecrated in 1938, drawing in many of the local Jewish emigrants from Germany and Australia, some of whom had belonged to Reform congregations in their native countries. [4] Sanger's passionate support for Zionism in contrast to Rabbi Danglow's lukewarm stance, also drew new members, with 500 members by 1941. [4] [5] By the time of the end of the war in 1945, 1600 people were attending the congregation's High Holiday services. [4] Rabbi John Levi, the congregation's first Australian-born rabbi served the congregation from 1960. [6] He served as senior rabbi from 1974 to 1997, and has since been Rabbi Emeritus of the congregation. [6]
The Progressive, Zionist youth group, Netzer makes use of the grounds of TBI for their weekly activities. [7]
During the COVID-19 pandemic TBI moved their prayers online for the High Holy Days, when Melbourne was in the middle of a strict stage 4 lockdown. [3]
Liberal Judaism is one of the two WUPJ-affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom founded by Claude Montefiore. It is smaller and more radical in comparison with the other one, the Movement for Reform Judaism. It is considered ideologically closer to American Reform Judaism than it is to the British Reform movement. As of 2010 it was the fourth largest Jewish religious group in Britain, with 8.7% of synagogue-member households.
Sir Zelman Cowen, was an Australian legal scholar and university administrator who served as the 19th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1977 to 1982.
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.
The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) is the international umbrella organization for the various branches of Reform, Liberal and Progressive Judaism, as well as the separate Reconstructionist Judaism. The WUPJ is based in 40 countries with 1,275 affiliated synagogues, of which 1,170 are Reform, Progressive, or Liberal and 105 Reconstructionist. It claims to represent a total of some 1.8 million people, both registered constituents and non-member identifiers. The WUPJ states that it aims to create common ground between its constituents and to promote Progressive Judaism in places where individuals and groups are seeking authentic, yet modern ways of expressing themselves as Jews. It seeks to preserve Jewish integrity wherever Jews live, to encourage integration without assimilation, to deal with modernity while preserving the Jewish experience, and to strive for equal rights and social justice.
The Jewish Museum of Australia, not to be confused with the Sydney Jewish Museum, aims to "explore and share the Jewish experience in Australia". It is located in St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne.
Judaism is a minority religion in Australia. 99,956 Australians identified as Jewish in the 2021 census, which accounts for about 0.4% of the population. This is a 9.8% increase in numbers from the 2016 census.
Congregation Am Tikvah is a combined Conservative and Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 625 Brotherhood Way in San Francisco, California, in the United States. The congregation was formed in 2021 as the result of the merger of the Conservative B'nai Emunah and the Reform Beth Israel Judea congregations, with the latter formed in 1969 through a merger of the Conservative Congregation Beth Israel and the Reform Temple Judea. The congregation is affiliated with both the Union for Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
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.
Australian Jews, or Jewish Australians, are Jews who are Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia. In the 2021 census there were 99,956 people whom identified Judaism as their religious affiliation and 29,113 Australians who identified as Jewish by ancestry, an increase from 97,355 and 25,716, respectively, from the 2016 census,. The actual number is almost certainly higher, because being a Jew is not just about being religious, but the census data is based on religious affiliation, so secular Jews often feel it would be inaccurate to answer with "Judaism". Also, since the question is optional, many practicing Holocaust survivors and Haredi Jews are believed to prefer not to disclose their 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.
Karen Soria is an American-born rabbi. She became the first female rabbi to serve in Australia when she joined the rabbinical team at Temple Beth Israel, a progressive Reform Jewish synagogue in Melbourne, in the 1980s. She later served as a chaplain for the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Navy; she was the first woman rabbi to serve in this capacity for the Marines, and the second in the Navy. After moving to Canada, she became the first woman rabbi to serve as a chaplain with the Canadian Forces.
Adath Shalom was a Conservative synagogue located at 607 W Ritner Street, in the Whitman neighborhood of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The synagogue opened in 1922 and closed in 2007.
The Melbourne Beth Din (MBD) is an Orthodox / Chassidic Jewish court in the city of Melbourne, Australia. Located in Caulfield North, Victoria, it rules mostly on divorces and conversions although it does rule on other matters as well.
Temple Israel is the oldest of eleven Progressive synagogues in South Africa. It is a provincial heritage site, built in the Art Deco style by architect Hermann Kallenbach. It is located in the Johannesburg suburb of Hillbrow. It is an affiliate of the South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ), which is part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ).
Temple Israel, also known as the Cape Town Progressive Jewish Congregation (CTPJC), is a Progressive Jewish congregation in Cape Town, with three centres in Green Point, Wynberg and Milnerton. As three centres combined, they are the largest Progressive congregation in South Africa, and the second largest Jewish congregation in Cape Town after Marais Road Shul in Sea Point. The congregation first started in Green Point in 1944, eight years after South Africa's first progressive synagogue, also Temple Israel, opened in Hillbrow in Johannesburg. The Cape Town congregation caters to over 3000 Progressive Jews in the city. The congregation is an affiliate of the South African Union for Progressive Judaism, which is part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ). The congregation represents around 18% of Cape Town Jewry.
The Union for Progressive Judaism is an affiliate of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and supports 27 progressive congregations in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. The movement serves about a fifth of the region's affiliated community. The UPJ is represented on the major communal bodies in Australia, such as the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) and Zionism Victoria.
Rabbi John Simon Levi is an Australian Progressive rabbi and author. Upon ordination in 1960, he began serving Melbourne's Temple Beth Israel. He became senior rabbi of the congregation from 1974 until 1997, when he became rabbi emeritus.He is also the founder of Melbourne's King David School.
Black Jews in New York City comprise one of the largest communities of Black Jews in the United States. Black Jews have lived in New York City since colonial times, with organized Black-Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite communities emerging during the early 20th century. Black Jewish and Black Hebrew Israelite communities have historically been centered in Harlem, Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Queens. The Commandment Keepers movement originated in Harlem, while the Black Orthodox Jewish community is centered in Brooklyn. New York City is home to four historically Black synagogues with roots in the Black Hebrew Israelite community. A small Beta Israel (Ethiopian-Jewish) community also exists in New York City, many of whom emigrated from Israel. Black Hebrew Israelites are not considered Jewish by the New York Board of Rabbis, an organization representing mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. However, some Black Hebrew Israelite individuals in New York City are recognized as Jewish due to converting through the Orthodox, Conservative, or other Jewish movements.
Ballarat Synagogue is a Modern Orthodox synagogue situated in Ballarat East in Victoria, Australia. It is the oldest continuously used synagogue in mainland Australia.
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