Dear Friends
I spent several weeks in Australia during July, August, and September of 1985. It was the summer before my final year of rabbinical school (although it was winter in Australia or what they call “Northern Summer”) and I was doing an internship at a very large synagogue in Sydney. I did, however, have the opportunity to spend a few days visiting the community in Melbourne as well as run a weekend gathering for teenagers from both Sydney and Melbourne which was held at a “sheep station” (i.e., a ranch where sheep are raised) in Yass, a small town near the capital city of Canberra which is between Sydney and Melbourne.
The vast majority of Australian Jews live in either Sydney or Melbourne, with the Melbourne community being somewhat larger and more highly Orthodox. The Jewish presence in Australia goes back to the beginning of British settlement in the country. Settlement of Australia was in part expedited by the American victory in the Revolutionary War, since the former thirteen colonies were no longer available as a location for the British government to transport convicted criminals to. The “First Fleet” of exiled convicts which is considered the beginning of British settlement arrived in Sydney in 1788. There were at least eight and possibly as many as fifteen Jews who were part of the First Fleet. There has been a Jewish presence ever since. The commander of Australian troops in Turkey and Egypt during World War I was the Jewish general John Monash, after whom both a town and a major research university are named.
The majority of Australian Jews, however, are descended from Holocaust survivors who came to the country after World War II. The differences between the Sydney and Melbourne community are at least partly rooted in the fact that most survivors who went to Sydney were from Hungary whereas those who went to Melbourne were from Poland.
When I arrived at the synagogue where I was interning on the first evening of Rosh Hashanah, I was astonished to find armed police outside guarding the shul. Today, of course, this level of security is commonplace in American shuls but it was unheard-of back then.
As you may have seen, a Melbourne shul was attacked yesterday by two arsonists. Some of the worshippers received burn injuries and the building was extensively damaged. This act of terrorism has been condemned across the board and the State of Victoria, where Melbourne is located, promised significant funding to rebuild the shul and provide security for Jewish institutions. However, Australian Jewish leaders hold the Victoria government at least partially responsible due to its toleration of anti-Zionist demonstrations, and the national government responsible as well, due to some anti-Israel votes that Australia has cast in the UN.
The article I linked to above does a nice job of describing the reaction of Australian Jewish and general society to this incident and the role of Jews in Australian society. It’s worth reading and pondering.
As a reminder, I am having drop-in hours on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4 at the shul. For my drop-in hours, you do not need to make an appointment -- that would negate the whole point of drop-in hours -- but I’d urge you to check and make sure I am there regardless as sometimes there are unavoidable pastoral or other emergencies which might take me away from the building.
As always, if I can do anything for you or you need to talk, please contact me at rabbi@kehilatshalom.org or 301-977-0768 rather than through the synagogue office. I am happy to meet you at the synagogue by appointment; if you want to speak with me it’s best to make an appointment rather than assuming I will be there when you stop by.
Additionally, if you know of a Kehilat Shalom congregant or another member of our Jewish community who could use a phone call, please let me know.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Charles L. Arian
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