‘There are as many ways of being Jewish as there

are Jews’
 Child of Jewish mother: Daniel Day-Lewis, Drake
 Religious conversion e.g. Marilyn Munroe,
Elizabeth Taylor, Helen Reddy, Isla Fisher,
Ivanka Trump
Abraham the Hebrew
One of oldest
surviving cultures
in Europe:
- insular
community
- endogamous
marriages

Modern day Canaan

 Oldest monotheistic religion:
3000 yrs Abraham (Genesis)
orthodox – progressive
 Human life is of infinite value
 Preservation of life supersedes all other
considerations
 Torah
Sabbath (Friday sundown – Saturday nightfall)
day of rest
working prohibited – driving, writing, money
Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement") is the holiest
day of the Jewish year. It is a day of communal
fasting and praying for forgiveness for one's
sins.
kippah slightly rounded brimless skullcap worn by
many Jews while praying, eating, reciting
blessings, or studying Jewish religious texts,
and at all times by some Jewish men.
To preserve life:
 Keep the body pure by ritualised washing &
grooming
 Circumcision - all Jewish male babies

 Clothing – modest, clean, unstained

 No tattoos
 Religious law requires ritual washing:
pouring water over hands – whole body
immersion while reciting blessing
o First awakening - hands, face & mouth
o Before meals
o After toilet

 Black plague
Passover/Pesach celebrates Exodus from Egypt
All leavened products are removed from the
house prior to the holiday and are not
consumed throughout the week. Homes are
thoroughly cleaned to ensure no bread/bread
by-products remain. Spring clean
1896 Outbreak of illness @ Brisbane General
Hospital (RBH) attributed to meat, kosher meat
was supplied for several years.
1788 First Fleet: 8 Anglo-Jewish convicts
Jews among 1st English-speaking/whites to
arrive in Australia: weren’t considered aliens as
elsewhere in the world
End 19th C. Jews participated every facet of life
 Civic

 Economic

 Social
1800-1900 Refugees from pogroms in Russia &
Poland
o Speaking Yiddish
o Dressing distinctively
o Unattuned Anglo customs

Australian Jews pushed for rapid assimilation

1899 Russian-Jew 21 yo Simcha Myer Baevski
emigrates to Melbourne with little English
1925 Myer listed on Melb stock exchange
1859 Queensland separates from NSW
several Sydney Jewish families settle Qld
Late 1800’s Jewish immigrants settle in remote
Qld areas
1900’s Russian-Chinese (Harbin) immigrants
arrive Brisbane
1933 escape Nazi anti-Semitism
1941-45 American servicemen – many Jewish
1990’s Qld Jewry bolstered by Sydney & Melb
retirees
 Preservation of life supersedes all other
considerations
 fasting days no food/drink
 Sabbath day – nothing cut/torn/ripped
 Jewish patients of opposite sex, minimise
touching/eye contact – could be upsetting
 Modesty