Summary

Order of Service for the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, dated 1924-1925. On 12 September 1841 the first organized Jewish congregation in Melbourne was established. In April 1844 they obtained a grant of an half acre site of land at what is now 472 Bourke Street, on which to erect a Synagogue. By 1847 a small building for use as a Synagogue, seating 100, was erected on the rear of the site.

The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation was modelled on the religious traditions of the Great Synagogue, Dukes Place Aldgate in London, this influence increased following the migration of some 300 Jewish families from London and the Posen district of Prussia between 1852 and 1855. The flourishing Jewish community needed a new and grander Synagogue. Plans were made to erect a Synagogue on the Bourke Street site to seat 650 people. The foundation stone was laid by David Benjamin in March 1855. In 1927 the building was sold to Equity Trustees and in 1930 the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation moved to the new Melbourne Synagogue in Toorak Road, South Yarra.

Physical Description

Single sheet, blank ink printed on white.

Significance

These items represent some of the most significant themes in Melbourne's history - primarily the gold rush and Melbourne's city boom and suburban spread in the 19th and 20th centuries.

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