These pages remain as a resource, though I have no tours of Australia/New Zealand scheduled at this time. As commitments toward my performance and recording career increased, it became necessary to take a hiatus on leading additional tours. As requests for new tours have increased, I find myself re-thinking the possibility of traveling Down Under with you to see the magnificent country and Jewish communities of Australia and New Zealand. As that opportunity arises again, I will let you know.
For centuries, Jewish life has thrived here, in lands that are among the most remote in the world. A small group of Jews was among the first Westerners to arrive in Australia. Maintaining tradition and Jewish identity was essential for those who chose to live in this part of the world. After World War II, Australia would become a refuge for thousands of Holocaust survivors. Today, Australia and New Zealand are home to an unprecendented number of synagogues, Jewish schools, and cultural and religious organizations.
In New Zealand, the Auckland Hebrew Congregation and Beth Shalom, the Progressive (Reform) Congregation of Auckland serve the Jewish community. Melbourne is home to several magnificent synagogues, including the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, built 1877, the (Former) Bourke Street Synagogue, Melbourne's first formal synagogue, founded in 1848, the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, completed in 1930, with its Corinthian pillars, copper dome, bimah carved from Tasmanian blackwood (possibly the finest example of timber work in Australia) and its stained glass windows created by the Israeli artist, Rimona Kedem. The Synagogue was designed by Nahum Barnet, a noted Melbourne architect, and seats over 1300 people. St. Kilda Hebrew Congregation, founded 1872, is Melbourne's traditional Orthodox Congregation and Temple Beth Israel, Reform, with its exquisite windows created by one of Australia's leading artists, David Wright. Melbourne's Jewish Museum of Australia displays Jewish culture, history and religious practice. The Museum is a national institution dedicated to the conservation, preservation and exhibition of Jewish heritage, arts, custom and religious practice in all its diversity. In particular it illustrates the Australian Jewish experience. Through its exhibitions it tells of the common experience of migration, displacement and the challenge of adaptation to a new land. Within Australia are notable museums of holocaust history as well.
Sydney's splendid historic synagogues include Newtown Synagogue, where five generations of Jews have remained active. The Central Synagogue/Orach Chaim, rebuilt from 1996-98 after it had burned down in 1994, is an impressive building with an exquisite sanctuary. The Great Synagogue/Beth Israel, is one of Sydney's most fascinating and historic heritage buildings. The Synagogue has stood on its present site for well over a hundred years, since 1878, but the congregation itself has a history dating at least fifty years before to the 1820's. An architectural competition was won by Thomas Rowe, one of Sydney's leading architects, who planned a building in what was described as Transition French Gothic. York Street Synagogue, the first formal synagogue in Australia, with its Egyptian-style exterior, was completed in 1944. Its designer was James Hume who was associated with some of Sydney's finest buildings. Finally, we will visit the Sydney Jewish Museum, with its exhibits of Holocaust and Australian Jewish History dedicated to documenting and teaching the history of the Holocaust. Housed in the historic Maccabean Hall, the museum is a testimony to the fortitude and endurance of the human spirit. We'll enjoy a Shabbat service at Temple Emmanuel, entering its 7th decade. Kehillat Emanuel models Congregational Judaism -- diverse prayer services that encompass reform and conservative prayer.
Many more congregations and Jewish organizations serve the diverse Jewish communities of Australia and New Zealand.
Peruse this site to see more examples of the unity, commitment, and strength of the Jews Down Under.
Joy Katzen-Guthrie
