Book Description

Excerpt from Historical Sketch of the Two Melbourne Synagogues Together With Sermons Preached In presenting to the Jewish public this publication, in which I attempt to give some facts relating to the formation and progress of the two Metropolitan Congregations, I deem it necessary to make a few preliminary remarks to the reader. The sources from which I have gathered the information relating to the Melbourne Synagogues are, viz: - "The Voice of Jacob," local newspapers, printed law books, and minute books of the two congregations. These documents, so to speak, form the Historia scripta of the Jews of this city. However, fortunately, there also exists a Historia non scripta, of which several of the early colonists are the repositaries. Their information has been invaluable to me, inasmuch as it has led me to make the most searching inquiries respecting a matter which is of great importance to those who take an interest in the early history of Judaism in this great Southern city. Some months ago the Committee of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation had placed in an anteroom of the Synagogue a memorial stone, on which are inscribed the names of the Past Presidents, and the name of Mr. Solomon Benjamin appears thereon as having had the honor of holding the position of President at the foundation of the Synagogue. That honor is claimed for the late Mr. A. H. Hart. I, however (who, as Horace would say, "historiam scribo") have so thoroughly investigated the matter that I am satisfied beyond all doubt as to whom that honor is due; and in order to free myself from any charge of partiality, I publish a fac simile of the title-page of the first law book, and extracts from other documents, which will be found to fully corroborate any statement I may have made. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.