Nadene Goldfoot
The British Empire were the first to establish colonies in Australia. Jews didn't move there until 1817 when the nucleus of its first congregations was established in Sydney.
" Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day. The first Jews came to Australia as 8 of the 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 population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established." So one can see that Jews arriving there were true pioneers in a new country.
With the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the "First Fleet", under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales. The British still control the Australians. Settlers who came to Australia other than Jews were: from the British Isles, and a majority of Australians have some British or Irish ancestry. These Australians form an ethnic group known as Anglo-Celtic Australians.
Besides Sydney, Jews were among the early settlers in Melbourne, Adaelaide, Brisbane and others where communities were organized shortly after their foundation.
The discovery of gold in the 1850s led to more Jews arriving in Australia, just like the Gold Rush in California and then Alaska. Jewish congregations were created and many fell apart later. By the end of the 19th century the lack of Jewish communal connections and fear of assimilation led most Australian Jews in rural areas to relocate to the Jewish centers in cities. As a result, the rapidly growing community in Sydney needed larger facilities, and built The Great Synagogue, located on Elizabeth Street, opposite Hyde Park, which was consecrated in 1878. By 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia became a Dominion of the British Empire.
Australian communal life is patterned on that of English Jewry. Most congregations recognize the jurisdiction of the chief rabbi of the British Empire and are traditional Jews, such as Conservatives or modern Orthodox. Liberal movements emerged in Sydney and Melbourne.
Since 1935 at the beginnings of anti-Semitism in Germany, the Jewish population of Australia more then tripled because of immigration from Europe. In 1990 the Jews numbered 90,000 in Australia. I know that Chabad, the Jewish outreach of Orthodoxy was there. 97% of the Jews live in the metropolitan areas which is common for Jews to do everywhere as they are not farmers; 40,000 lived in Melbourne; 30,000 in Sydney. Religious and cultural life has been strengthened lately. The Zionist movement is well organized and active.
Jews in Australia have enjoyed full equality and freedom. Anti-Semitism had not assumed organized proportions, at least to to 1992, but then anti-Semitism has been growing everywhere since then, too. "Australia, although physically remote from most of the Jewish world, has a thriving and proud Jewish community of about 120,000. The Jewish community has the highest number of Holocaust survivors per capita in the diaspora, and greatly benefited from post war immigration as well as more recently, South African and Russian immigration."
As in South Africa, a former British Commonwealth until 1961, "A very high proportion of Jewish school students attend Jewish day schools for their entire school education." "Nevertheless, the Jewish community is the only community within Australia whose places of worship, schools, communal organisations and community centers, for security reasons, operate under protective measures such as high fences, armed guards, metal detectors, CCTV cameras and the like. The necessity arises from the incidence of physical attacks against Jews and Jewish communal buildings over the last three decades, and continuing threats.
3rd Chief Justice and 9th Governor-General of Australia. Isaacs was the son of Alfred Isaacs, a tailor of Jewish ancestry from the town of Mława, Poland. Seeking better prospects, Alfred left Poland and worked his way across what is now Germany, spending some months in Berlin and Frankfurt.
As in other countries, Jews have been prominent in all walks of life. Sir Isaac Isaacs was the first Australian -born governor-general and Sir John Monash commanded the Australian Expeditionary Force in World War I. Both men were Jewish.
"In recognition of his enduring influence, Monash's face is on Australia's highest value currency note ($100). Monash's success in part reflected the tolerance of Australian society, but to a larger degree his success – in the harshest experience the young nation had suffered – shaped that tolerance and demonstrated to Australians that the Australian character was diverse, multi-ethnic and a blend of the traditions of the "bush" and the "city". According to author Colin MacInnes, as recounted by Monash's biographer, Geoffrey Serle, Monash's "presence and prestige...made anti-Semitism...impossible in Australia". He is also honoured in a Cantata for chorus, soloists and orchestra called Peace - A Cantata for John Monash by composer/conductor Dr David Ian Kram."
Australia has six states—New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA)—and two major mainland territories—the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT). In most respects these two territories function as states, except that the Commonwealth Parliament has the power to modify or repeal any legislation passed by the territory parliaments.
The Jews in each state have their elected Representative Board and these Boards elect the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which is the official representative body of the community.
There were 97,335 Australians who identified themselves as Jewish in the 2011 census, but the actual number is estimated to be 112,000. (An answer to the question on the census was optional.) The majority are Ashkenazi Jews, many of them refugees and Holocaust survivors who arrived during and after World War II, and their descendants. Jewish citizens make up about 0.5% of the Australian population.
By the 2016 census, there are at least 7 cities with large Jewish populations. They range from having 41.1% of the city being Jewish with 8,619 Jews down to 12.7% of the population being Jewish with 1,272 Jews.
In the 2016 Australian census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were English (36.1%), Australian (33.5%), Irish (11.0%), Scottish (9.3%), Chinese (5.6%), Italian (4.6%), German (4.5%), Indian (2.8%), Greek (1.8%), and Dutch (1.6%.
2013: On October 27, Eight or so young men shouting anti-Semitics epithets viciously attacked four men and a woman – visibly Jewish – as they returned home from a Shabbat evening meal in Bondi Beach, Australia, this weekend.The Jewish group sustained injuries that include a fractured skull, facial fractures, a broken nose, cuts and bruising. October in 2013 could have been during the High Holidays of Rosh Hashana-Yom Kippur.
2017: A rabbi in Canberra, Australia tells the newspaper that he doesn't feel safe in Australia anymore. One of the recent incidents he had was: On a Sunday afternoon in October, Rabbi Shmueli Feldman was hosting a small celebration at his home in a Canberra suburb. Suddenly, a car carrying four teenagers swerved in front of the house. One passenger leaned out the window and cursed Jews before the car sped off. He has been egged, and a rock was thrown through his child’s bedroom window. Was this also during the High Holidays when more Jews could have been congregated in this city?
"Objects have been hurled through the window of his Jewish center on several occasions: rocks, a chair and, in one instance, the building’s security camera. In May, he told the police that swastikas had been scrawled in a park near his synagogue, but the graffiti was not removed until August."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Isaacs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Monash
" Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day. The first Jews came to Australia as 8 of the 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 population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established." So one can see that Jews arriving there were true pioneers in a new country.
With the loss of its American colonies in 1783, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the "First Fleet", under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales. The British still control the Australians. Settlers who came to Australia other than Jews were: from the British Isles, and a majority of Australians have some British or Irish ancestry. These Australians form an ethnic group known as Anglo-Celtic Australians.
Besides Sydney, Jews were among the early settlers in Melbourne, Adaelaide, Brisbane and others where communities were organized shortly after their foundation.
The discovery of gold in the 1850s led to more Jews arriving in Australia, just like the Gold Rush in California and then Alaska. Jewish congregations were created and many fell apart later. By the end of the 19th century the lack of Jewish communal connections and fear of assimilation led most Australian Jews in rural areas to relocate to the Jewish centers in cities. As a result, the rapidly growing community in Sydney needed larger facilities, and built The Great Synagogue, located on Elizabeth Street, opposite Hyde Park, which was consecrated in 1878. By 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia became a Dominion of the British Empire.
Australian communal life is patterned on that of English Jewry. Most congregations recognize the jurisdiction of the chief rabbi of the British Empire and are traditional Jews, such as Conservatives or modern Orthodox. Liberal movements emerged in Sydney and Melbourne.
Since 1935 at the beginnings of anti-Semitism in Germany, the Jewish population of Australia more then tripled because of immigration from Europe. In 1990 the Jews numbered 90,000 in Australia. I know that Chabad, the Jewish outreach of Orthodoxy was there. 97% of the Jews live in the metropolitan areas which is common for Jews to do everywhere as they are not farmers; 40,000 lived in Melbourne; 30,000 in Sydney. Religious and cultural life has been strengthened lately. The Zionist movement is well organized and active.
Jews in Australia have enjoyed full equality and freedom. Anti-Semitism had not assumed organized proportions, at least to to 1992, but then anti-Semitism has been growing everywhere since then, too. "Australia, although physically remote from most of the Jewish world, has a thriving and proud Jewish community of about 120,000. The Jewish community has the highest number of Holocaust survivors per capita in the diaspora, and greatly benefited from post war immigration as well as more recently, South African and Russian immigration."
As in South Africa, a former British Commonwealth until 1961, "A very high proportion of Jewish school students attend Jewish day schools for their entire school education." "Nevertheless, the Jewish community is the only community within Australia whose places of worship, schools, communal organisations and community centers, for security reasons, operate under protective measures such as high fences, armed guards, metal detectors, CCTV cameras and the like. The necessity arises from the incidence of physical attacks against Jews and Jewish communal buildings over the last three decades, and continuing threats.
 |
| Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs: b: August 6, 1855 Melbourne, Victoria d: February 11, 1948 South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria |
As in other countries, Jews have been prominent in all walks of life. Sir Isaac Isaacs was the first Australian -born governor-general and Sir John Monash commanded the Australian Expeditionary Force in World War I. Both men were Jewish.
 |
| Sir John Monash 1865-1931 |
"In recognition of his enduring influence, Monash's face is on Australia's highest value currency note ($100). Monash's success in part reflected the tolerance of Australian society, but to a larger degree his success – in the harshest experience the young nation had suffered – shaped that tolerance and demonstrated to Australians that the Australian character was diverse, multi-ethnic and a blend of the traditions of the "bush" and the "city". According to author Colin MacInnes, as recounted by Monash's biographer, Geoffrey Serle, Monash's "presence and prestige...made anti-Semitism...impossible in Australia". He is also honoured in a Cantata for chorus, soloists and orchestra called Peace - A Cantata for John Monash by composer/conductor Dr David Ian Kram."
Australia has six states—New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), Tasmania (TAS), Victoria (VIC) and Western Australia (WA)—and two major mainland territories—the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT). In most respects these two territories function as states, except that the Commonwealth Parliament has the power to modify or repeal any legislation passed by the territory parliaments.
The Jews in each state have their elected Representative Board and these Boards elect the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which is the official representative body of the community.
There were 97,335 Australians who identified themselves as Jewish in the 2011 census, but the actual number is estimated to be 112,000. (An answer to the question on the census was optional.) The majority are Ashkenazi Jews, many of them refugees and Holocaust survivors who arrived during and after World War II, and their descendants. Jewish citizens make up about 0.5% of the Australian population.
 |
| Melbourne, Australia beach |
In the 2016 Australian census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were English (36.1%), Australian (33.5%), Irish (11.0%), Scottish (9.3%), Chinese (5.6%), Italian (4.6%), German (4.5%), Indian (2.8%), Greek (1.8%), and Dutch (1.6%.
2013: On October 27, Eight or so young men shouting anti-Semitics epithets viciously attacked four men and a woman – visibly Jewish – as they returned home from a Shabbat evening meal in Bondi Beach, Australia, this weekend.The Jewish group sustained injuries that include a fractured skull, facial fractures, a broken nose, cuts and bruising. October in 2013 could have been during the High Holidays of Rosh Hashana-Yom Kippur.
"Objects have been hurled through the window of his Jewish center on several occasions: rocks, a chair and, in one instance, the building’s security camera. In May, he told the police that swastikas had been scrawled in a park near his synagogue, but the graffiti was not removed until August."
Resource: The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Australia
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/18535 Arutz Sheva
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/26/world/australia/australia-anti-semitism-racism.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Isaacs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Monash
References:
Major general histories of the Jews in Australia are Hilary L. Rubinstein and William D. Rubinstein, The Jews in Australia: A Thematic History (2 vols., 1991) and Suzanne D. Rutland, Edge of the Diaspora: Two Centuries of Jewish Settlement in Australia (2001; first ed. 1988). Each of these academic historians has written more concise general histories also. Rabbi John Simon Levi, co-author of Australian Genesis: Jewish Convicts and Settlers, 1788-1850 (1974), has authored the magisterial biographical directory These Are The Names: Jewish Lives in Australia, 1788-1860 (2013). The Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal (started 1939) appears twice a year, published in Sydney and Melbourne respectively. There are also a number of published monographs on aspects of Australian Jewish history, for a guide to which (as well as to Australian Jewish literature) Serge Liberman, A Bibliography of Australasian Judaica, 1788-2008 (2011) is a distinguished reference work.
