Historic papers under the hammer

JERUSALEM – A stash of booklets and other documents that provide a rare glimpse into the early days of Australian Jewry is to be sold in a Jerusalem auction house.

Meron Eren, partner at the Kedem Auction House, told The AJN that some 150 items are to go under the hammer on September 8, including letters in which rabbis in London gave guidance to their colleagues in Melbourne who were setting up parts of the community infrastructure during the 1860s.

“The beth din in London was responsible for the whole British Empire, Australia included,” Eren said. “When they started the first beth din in Melbourne there were a lot of directions and instructions from the beth din in London.” The collection being auctioned includes many such letters, including around two dozen penned by Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler, chief rabbi to the British Empire at the time.

Eren declined to give any details of the ownership of the collection or how long it had been in Israel, saying that the seller requested that this information remain private.

The collection includes two marriage contacts, one from 1868. There are historic volumes of The Australian Israelite, an Australian Jewish Historical Society publication and The Jewish Herald. There is a booklet printed for the 1872 inauguration of St Kilda Hebrew Congregation. There are transcripts of sermons, a booklet about Jewish Australian rites and customs, and an essay about shuls in Melbourne from 1877.

Wartime artefacts include a book of letters from a Jewish soldier in the Australian army during the World War I, and a copy of the Australian Jewry Book of Honour from this conflict.

Eren said he would like to see the entire collection kept together, but does not expect this to happen, as institutes that may be interested in holding all artefacts are likely to already have some of the published items in the collection.

NATHAN JEFFAY

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