Posted: 06 December 2020
ABC Hobart features an article on Critchley Parker. It is a fascinating story on Parker’s quest to find a homeland for European Jews, starting in the late 1930s which led him to the wilderness of Southwest Tasmania. Parker eventually died on an expedition near Port Davey.
Link to article:
Before Israel was created, Critchley Parker set off to find a Jewish homeland in Tasmania’s wilderness
There’s also a video with an archived ABC feature on this, featuring Richard Flanagan.
The congregation will be hosting a webinar New Jerusalem, Down Under: The Search for a Jewish Homeland in Australia on Sunday 31 January.
Posted: 03 December 2020
As state borders are now open, we again warmly welcome visitors from the “mainland”.
Our synagogue, which turned 175 years old this past July, is available for tours. Please check out the tour information page for more details.
Also if you would like to attend a service, please view our schedule of services. If would like to attend a service, please complete the “Attend this service” form you can find on each service listing page, or contact us.
Note that all visitors to the synagogue must provide their contact details in a visitor register for contact tracing purposes.
You can also read some more information for visitors.
If you have any further questions or need any assistance when you are in our lovely state, please feel free to contact us.
Posted: 21 July 2020
Stefan Petrow, Emeritus professor in History and Classics at the University of Tasmania prepared this research for a presentation at the panel discussion for Hobart Synagogue’s 175th anniversary. Unfortunately, the event was cancelled due to COVID-19, but Stefan is kindly sharing his research.
Surviving in a Distant Land: Jews in Nineteenth-Century Hobart
(kindly hosted by the Australian Jewish Historical Society)
Posted: 28 June 2020
We are proud to release a new digital archive that showcases our historical documents and meeting minutes going back to 1841!
Congregation president Jeff Schneider and Beverley Hooper of Perth, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Judah Solomon spoke to ABC Radio Hobart about the history of the synagogue and building this archive. Listen to the interview
Additionally, there will be a Zoom session Sunday 26 July @ 3pm to go over interesting stories found in the meeting minutes and details on how the archive was created. To attend, please e-mail president@hobartsynagogue.org
Posted: 19 July 2020
SBS Hebrew briefly covers the synagogue’s 175 anniversary in an interview with the Australian Jewish News’ Shane Desiatnik.
Listen to the clip. The part about Hobart is about 2/3rds in @ 6:15.
Posted: 06 July 2020
Thank you to the Australian Jewish News for reaching out to us and learning about our congregation for a long feature about our 175th anniversary and our proud history serving an inclusive Tasmanian Jewish community.
Posted: 01 July 2020
WIN News Tasmania visited the synagogue for a feature on the local news. You can view the clip below:
Video of Hobart Synagogue on local news
Nightly News 7 Tasmania also ran a short feature on the Synagogue:
Posted: 29 June 2020
As the actual anniversary approaches, it is with a heavy heart that we are announcing that the Hobart Synagogue anniversary event is officially cancelled. Previously, we left open a possibility of rescheduling in the relatively near future, but circumstances (primarily concerned with the virus) have led us to believe it is best to move on.
This event started as an informal idea amongst a few members at a congregation general meeting in 2018 and we were truly heartened to see such interest in the synagogue and the Hobart Jewish community. It was a pleasure to engage with so many of you and learn about your connections to the synagogue. We hope to stay in touch.
Once we are able to travel freely we hope that you can visit us in Hobart The congregation will gladly welcome you to a Shabbat service, or a tour of the synagogue. We are also exploring creating resources for a self-guided tour of Tasmanian Jewish sites of interest.
Please stay well in these still challenging times.
Kind regards
Jeff Schneider
President, Hobart Hebrew Congregation
Posted: 19 June 2020
Traces magazine wrote a lovely feature about the synagogue and various aspects of our history. They also kindly gave us permission to share the article on our website. See the complete article below!
From their website:
Traces uncovers Australian history, from ancient Indigenous heritage to European settlement, local history, artefacts and genealogy.
Launched in December 2017, Traces is the only quarterly printed magazine dedicated to providing its readers with insight into the latest historical research, news and heritage projects taking place around Australia. The expert voices of historians, researchers, heritage professionals, genealogists, and journalists uncover the fascinating characters and stories of our past.
With the partnership and collaboration of key national and local heritage organisations, as well as state libraries, Traces has its finger on the pulse of heritage news and developments around the country, making it the best consumer publication for anyone passionate about Australian history and genealogy.
Traces_ArticlePosted: 10 June 2020
As we are celebrating our 175th anniversary of the consecration of the synagogue this year, we decided to use our website as a space to share the fascinating personalities and stories that has been so important to Judaism in Tasmania.
Please check out the Descendant Stories page on our website to read these stories! We will be adding more and more during the year.