From the 1880s on, a vibrant Jewish community existed in Broken Hill most of whom originated in Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland and Russia. Broken Hill boasts one of the most remote Jewish museums in the world and the building which stands as the Synagogue is a reminder of the evolution of the Jewish community in regional Australia. Following the slow decline of Broken Hill’s Jewish community in the 1950s, in 1962 the Synagogue closed its doors and had its scrolls and silverware sent to Melbourne’s Yeshiva. The ark, pews and prayer platform remained in place and Stars of David were painted on the ceiling.
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Oldest mosque in NSW, built in 1891
Broken Hill has a rich history spread across a number of Outback Museums, together telling an intertwining story of discovery, diversity and survival in the harsh Australian outback. Examine, for example the Broken Hill Mosque Museum, the Family History Group, Bell’s Milk Bar Museum or Albert Kersten Mining and Minerals Museum.
Synagogue of the Outback Museum
in Broken Hill
opened in 1991
The building was used as a residence until, in 1989, a permanent conservation order was placed on the building. The structure had declined but was saved through the efforts of descendants of Jewish families in Broken Hill, and through local historian Richard Kearns. Purchased by the Broken Hill Historical Society in 1990 and fully restored, the Synagogue of the Outback Museum opened in 1991. At the back of the Synagogue complex, the Society built the Ralph Wallace Research Centre which then became the Society meeting room. Building the Museum collection could now go ahead in the Synagogue of the Outback Museum.
Broken Hill’s Synagogue is one of only 3 NSW synagogues outside Sydney to have been preserved, restored and heritage-listed. The Museum is one of the most remote Jewish museums in the world, with its Synagogue reminding historians of the Jewish community’s growth in the Outback.
To celebrate the synagogue’s centenary in Nov 2010, there was a programme of historical talks and personal memories about Broken Hill Jews and their contribution to the town. They also arranged a bus tour of places where Jews had lived and worked, a walking tour of the Jewish section of the cemetery, and a tour to the Miners’ Memorial Arch. 200 ex-residents, or their children, gathered in the restored shule.
Then the visitors viewed the exhibition prepared for the local Art Gallery. This was where the book, Jews of the Outback: The Centenary of the Broken Hill Synagogue 1910-2010, (edited by Suzanne Rutland, Leon Mann and Margaret Price, published by Hybrid, 2010) was launched by Prof Colin Tatz. He spoke about rural city issues: migration, family life, isolation, hard labour and assimilation – key elements that had been so well illustrated in Broken Hill.
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Today the museum coordinator is Margaret Price, an older Australian woman from the Broken Hill’s Historical Society. For the past 16 years, she has curated exhibitions on everything from the immigrants in the Broken Hill community to traditional Jewish clothing owned by earlier community members. Additionally she is the tour guide. She had always been fascinated by Judaism; both her paternal grandparents had Jewish ancestry. But they changed their names getting off the ships and lost the original information.
A Torah scroll was given to the Historical Society in 2017 by Ronald & Devorah Zmood, and Benzion & Barbara Eras. Dr Zmood constructed the Torah replica and Mr Benzion constructed the display case. The Zmood and Benzion families drove from Melbourne to deliver the objects personally
Price particularly loved March 2018 when the first group of Jewish visitors came to hold Sabbath services in Broken Hill. The mission was led by Melbourne Rabbi Shneur Reti-Waks who brought a group of 60 Jews from across Australia for 5 days; many of them had personal connections to the Broken Hill Jewish community. The group also walked to the Broken Hill cemetery, where they saw many of the Jewish grave stones and recited Kaddish/prayer for the dead. The group’s tours made the front page of the Broken Hill newspaper!
After a long pause in Museum visits due to Covid, Price and Mann plan to host another Sabbath service in April 2023, only the second formal service since the 1960s. Additionally the two have plans to hold a naming ceremony for two outside benches, to honour important former members of the Broken Hill Synagogue. One bench will honour Rev Abraham & Franziska Berman, the synagogue’s last full-time rabbi who left Broken Hill in 1944; the second bench will honour Alwyn Edelman and Harold Griff, an ex-trustee of the synagogue and ex-president of Broken Hill Historical Society.
Broken Hill’s Synagogue is one of only 3 NSW synagogues outside Sydney to have been preserved, restored and heritage-listed. The Museum is one of the most remote Jewish museums in the world, with its Synagogue reminding historians of the Jewish community’s growth in the Outback.
To celebrate the synagogue’s centenary in Nov 2010, there was a programme of historical talks and personal memories about Broken Hill Jews and their contribution to the town. They also arranged a bus tour of places where Jews had lived and worked, a walking tour of the Jewish section of the cemetery, and a tour to the Miners’ Memorial Arch. 200 ex-residents, or their children, gathered in the restored shule.
Then the visitors viewed the exhibition prepared for the local Art Gallery. This was where the book, Jews of the Outback: The Centenary of the Broken Hill Synagogue 1910-2010, (edited by Suzanne Rutland, Leon Mann and Margaret Price, published by Hybrid, 2010) was launched by Prof Colin Tatz. He spoke about rural city issues: migration, family life, isolation, hard labour and assimilation – key elements that had been so well illustrated in Broken Hill.
The old synagogue interior
with all its furniture and ritual objects
Some of the Museum's collections
The Zmood (L) and Benzion (R) families
added to the Museum collection
A Torah scroll was given to the Historical Society in 2017 by Ronald & Devorah Zmood, and Benzion & Barbara Eras. Dr Zmood constructed the Torah replica and Mr Benzion constructed the display case. The Zmood and Benzion families drove from Melbourne to deliver the objects personally
Price particularly loved March 2018 when the first group of Jewish visitors came to hold Sabbath services in Broken Hill. The mission was led by Melbourne Rabbi Shneur Reti-Waks who brought a group of 60 Jews from across Australia for 5 days; many of them had personal connections to the Broken Hill Jewish community. The group also walked to the Broken Hill cemetery, where they saw many of the Jewish grave stones and recited Kaddish/prayer for the dead. The group’s tours made the front page of the Broken Hill newspaper!
After a long pause in Museum visits due to Covid, Price and Mann plan to host another Sabbath service in April 2023, only the second formal service since the 1960s. Additionally the two have plans to hold a naming ceremony for two outside benches, to honour important former members of the Broken Hill Synagogue. One bench will honour Rev Abraham & Franziska Berman, the synagogue’s last full-time rabbi who left Broken Hill in 1944; the second bench will honour Alwyn Edelman and Harold Griff, an ex-trustee of the synagogue and ex-president of Broken Hill Historical Society.
alongside the Mosque Museum, rededicated in 1968
Broken Hill City Council
Broken Hill has a rich history spread across a number of Outback Museums, together telling an intertwining story of discovery, diversity and survival in the harsh Australian outback. Examine, for example the Broken Hill Mosque Museum, the Family History Group, Bell’s Milk Bar Museum or Albert Kersten Mining and Minerals Museum.