Limmud Oz Melbourne 2025

From the beginning of colonisation, Anglo-Australian Jews aligned themselves with ‘white Australia’. But as persecuted Jews began to flee Russia for new shores in the 1880s, Jewish racial desirability came into question. This session will explore the ambivalent and conditional positioning of Jews in the white/non-white dichotomy of 19th and 20th century Australia, and (tentatively!) draw some conclusions about Jewish belonging in Australia today.