Ballarat Synagogue is a

Modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

situated in

Ballarat East Ballarat East is a suburb of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. From 1857 until 1921 the suburb had its own council (see below). The suburb covers a large area east of the city centre. It is the oldest urban area in Ballarat and was the site of ma ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is the oldest continuously used synagogue in mainland Australia.

History

British Jews British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are British citizens who are Jewish. The number of people who identified as Jews in the United Kingdom rose by just under 4% between 2001 and 2021. History The fir ...

were among a flood of migrants that were drawn to the goldfields of Ballarat.

European Jewry The history of the Jews in Europe spans a period of over two thousand years. Jews, a Semitic people descending from the Judeans of Judea in the Southern Levant, Natural History 102:11 (November 1993): 12–19. began migrating to Europe just ...

, escaping

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

at home, also settled in the city.The Gold Rush Shul
''Tablet Magazine''. 14 February 2023 Two groups of

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

migrants arrived in the 1850s, and 1860s, and again in the 1930s.A Gold Rush Synagogue Hangs On Down Under
''Moment''. Winter 2019 Jewish refugees from

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

in Eastern Europe arrived in the 1880s and 1890s. The first

minyan In Judaism, a ''minyan'' ( ''mīnyān'' , Literal translation, lit. (noun) ''count, number''; pl. ''mīnyānīm'' ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain Mitzvah, religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Judaism ...

was established in 1853 for observing the

High Holidays In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, th ...

. The writer and Ballarat native,

Nathan Spielvogel Nathan Frederick Spielvogel (10 May 1874 – 10 September 1956) was an Australian author of Jewish origin, whose work has been compared to that of Judah Waten. Early life Spielvogel was born in Ballarat, Victoria, a son of Neuman Frederik (c. 18 ...

wrote a personal account: Ballarat Synagogue 005

"It is Tuesday evening, 11 October 1853, Tishri 9 5614. Clad in the red shirt and high boots of the digger the cantor who learned his chazonos in a far away Lemberg, solemnly and tunefully chants Oshmanu. The thoughts of the worshipped drift back to the homes and kindred they have left behind on the other side of the world. With bowed heads they follow his lead repeating with the chazzan his confession, beating their breasts as they had been taught in their distant house of worship … a remnant of Israel, albeit a very small one, proudly remembers Kol Nidrei night." The Ballarat Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1855 and it occupied a small synagogue building with a capacity for 200. The first synagogue was consecrated on 12 November 1855. Rev David Isaacs of

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

was the first lay leader of the congregation.THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BALLARAT SYNAGOGUE
Australian Jewish Historical Society. 2011 The congregation soon had to find a new home, as in 1856, the local Municipal Council reclaimed the land that the synagogue was built on, to house its Municipal Chambers.The larger, current building was consecrated in 1861. The British architect, TB Cameron designed the new synagogue, using a Neoclassical style. The new site posed issues as squatters had claimed the land, paying taxes and rates. Therefore, the congregation had to buy out the squatters. The ark from the original synagogue is housed in the congregation's communal hall. At the height of the goldrush, around twenty-five percent of Ballarat's shopkeepers were Jewish, many were members of the synagogue. The congregation employed a permanent rabbi until 1943. For several decades, the synagogue was only open for High Holiday Services. However, since 2009, the synagogue hosts monthly

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

services. In recent years, the synagogue underwent a $300, 000 AUD renovation. This was funded by

Heritage Victoria Heritage Victoria is a branch of the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning. It is the regulator responsible for administering the Heritage Act 2017. The Heritage Act provides for the protection and conservation of the cultural heritage ...

, private donors and Jewish organisations in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Notable members

, a short-story writer. His parents married at the synagogue and he had his

Bar Mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

there in 1887. He later served as President of the congregation. *Charles Dyte, a Jewish parliamentarian and founding member *Newman Rosenthal, academic and editor of ''The Australian Jewish Herald''Newman Hirsh Rosenthal (1898–1986)
Australian Dictionary. Retrieved on 26 March 2024

References

{{Coord, -37.86102009548239, 144.99050071457705, display=inline,title Synagogues completed in 1861 Jews and Judaism in Australia Orthodox Judaism in Australia Neoclassical synagogues

History

Notable members

See also

References