Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, Synagogue on Toorak Road in South Yarra, Melbourne, Australia
The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, also known as Toorak Shule, is a synagogue at Toorak Road in South Yarra, Melbourne. Its current building, completed in 1930, is a classical-style structure with 1,300 seats, designed by architect Nahum Barnet.
The Melbourne Hebrew Congregation was formed in 1841, making it Melbourne's oldest Jewish congregation. Its first synagogue, seating 100, opened on Bourke Street in 1847; a larger 650-seat building replaced it in 1855. In 1930 the congregation moved to a new 1300-seat classical-style synagogue on Toorak Road, South Yarra, designed by Nahum Barnet.
The congregation, known in Hebrew as K.K. She'erit Yisrael and informally as the Toorak Shule, moved to its Toorak Road building in South Yarra in 1930. Its chief minister is Rabbi Shlomo Nathanson, and membership is described as large and diverse. The congregation's Hebrew name means "Remnant of Israel".
A visit here requires advance arrangement, as security procedures are in place at the entrance. It is worth checking service times beforehand, especially if you want to see the interior.
The congregation's 1891 marriage of John and Hannah Victoria Monash is recorded in its history; John Monash later became the Australian commander in World War I. In 1932, Zelman Cowen, later Governor-General of Australia, celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at the Toorak Road synagogue.
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