{{Short description|Synagogue in Tasmania, Australia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}} {{Use Australian English|date=February 2015}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Hobart Synagogue | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Hobart_Synagogue5.jpg | image_upright = 1.3 | alt = | caption = The Hobart Synagogue | map_type = Australia Hobart | map_size = | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location in [[Hobart]] | coordinates = {{coord|-42.879628|147.327939|type:landmark_region:AU-TAS|display=title,inline|format=dms}} | coordinates_footnotes = | religious_affiliation = [[Judaism]] | locale = | location = 59 Argyle Street, [[Hobart]], [[Tasmania]] | rite = [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] and [[Progressive Judaism|Progressive]] | tradition = | country = Australia | administration = | consecration_year = {{start date|1845}} | organisational_status = [[Synagogue]]<!-- or | organizational_status = --> | functional_status = Active | heritage_designation = | ownership = Hobart Hebrew Congregation | governing_body = | leadership = | bhattaraka = | patron = | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | architect = James Thomson | architecture_type = [[Synagogue]] | architecture_style = [[Egyptian Revival]] | founded_by = {{bulleted list|Louis Nathan|{{nowrap|Samuel Moses<ref>{{cite web |author=Wright, Virginia |title=THE SAMUEL MOSES FAMILY IN VAN DIEMEN'S LAND |url=https://www.deutscherandhackett.com/samuel-moses-family-van-diemen’s-land |publisher=deutscher and hackett |date=n.d. |accessdate=2 April 2019 }}</ref>}}}} | creator = | funded_by = | general_contractor = | established = | groundbreaking = | year_completed = {{start date and age|1845}} | construction_cost = | date_demolished = <!-- or | date_destroyed = --> | facade_direction = | capacity = | length = | width = | width_nave = | interior_area = | height_max = | site_area = | temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | shrine_quantity = | inscriptions = | materials = | elevation_m = <!-- or | elevation_ft = --> | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp =
| designation1 = Tasmanian Heritage Register | designation1_offname = | designation1_type = | designation1_date = | delisted1_date = | designation1_partof = | designation1_number = 2,150 | designation1_free1name = Type | designation1_free1value = | designation1_free2name = Category | designation1_free2value = | designation1_free3name = Builders | designation1_free3value =
| added = | refnum = | footnotes = | website = {{URL|www.hobartsynagogue.org}} }}
The '''Hobart Synagogue''' is a heritage-listed [[synagogue]] located in 59 [[Argyle Street, Hobart|Argyle Street]], [[Hobart]], [[Tasmania]], Australia. The synagogue is the oldest synagogue building in Australia and is a rare example of [[Egyptian Revival]] style of synagogue architecture.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Meek, H. A. |title=The Synagogue |url=https://archive.org/details/synagogue0000meek |url-access=registration |journal=Phaidon |year=1995 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/synagogue0000meek/page/175 175], 183–4 }}</ref> The Egyptian Revival building was constructed in 1845.<ref>{{cite web|last=Franklin |first=Mark |title=Hobart's historic shul |work=[[Australian Jewish News]] |date=5 July 2005 |url=http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=143 |accessdate=2008-05-11 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801021416/http://ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=143 |archivedate=1 August 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Cox |first=Tim |title=Redeeming values of Hobart's Synagogue |work=ABC Tasmania | date=30 March 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080330073819/http://www.abc.net.au/tasmania/stories/s1516795.htm|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tasmania/stories/s1516795.htm | accessdate=11 May 2008 |archive-date=2008-03-30 }}</ref> The trapezoidal shape of the windows and the columns with [[lotus (plant)|lotus]] capitals are characteristic of the Egyptian Revival style.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Muir Appelbaum, Diana |author-link=Diana Muir |title=Jewish Identity and Egyptian Revival Architecture |journal=Journal of Jewish Identities |year=2012 |volume=5 |number=2 |page=7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Wischnitzer, Rachel |authorlink=Rachel Wischnitzer |title=Thomas U. Walter's Crown Street Synagogue, 1848-49 |journal=The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |volume=13 |number=4 |date=December 1954 |pages=29–31 |doi=10.2307/987638|jstor=987638 }}</ref> Currently the Hobart Synagogue has regular [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] and [[Progressive Judaism|Progressive]] services.<ref name=history>{{cite web |author=Elias, Peter |title=Jewish faith |url=http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/J/Jewish%20faith%202.htm |work=The Companion to Tasmanian History |publisher=Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, [[University of Tasmania]] |date=2006 |accessdate=2 April 2019 }}</ref>
The land on which the synagogue stands was originally part of the garden of former [[Convicts in Australia#Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)|convict]] [[Judah Solomon (convict)|Judah Solomon]].<ref name="ABC News - 7 May 2020 - Banished to Van Diemen's Land, two convicts named Solomon shaped Hobart's Jewish history">{{cite news |last1=Dunlevie |first1=James |title=Banished to Van Diemen's Land, two convicts named Solomon shaped Hobart's Jewish history |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-07/ikey-and-judah-solomon-key-figures-in-jewish-history-of-hobart/11949796 |access-date=4 August 2021 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)]] |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=7 May 2020}}</ref> It has a seating capacity of 150 and features hard benches at the back of the building for the Jewish convicts who in the early days were marched in under armed guard.<ref>[http://www.oztorah.com/2012/09/hobart-high-on-the-list-down-under/ Hobart - high on the list Down Under]</ref> It is believed to be the only place of Jewish worship in the world with seats set aside for convicts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Jews of Oz: A History of the Australian Jewish Community |url=https://aish.com/the-jews-of-oz-a-history-of-the-australian-jewish-community/}}</ref> The synagogue is listed on the [[Tasmanian Heritage Register]].
==History== The building of a synagogue was raised as the Hobart Jewish community began to emerge in the 1830s. The Hobart Hebrew Congregation Synagogue was consecrated on 4 July 1845.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/library/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:569009/one |title=Order of service at the dedication of the synagogue, Argyle Street, Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, on Friday, the 4th July, A.M., 5605-1845 |publisher=Hobart Hebrew Congregation |location=Hobart Town |date=1845 |accessdate=2 April 2019 |via=Libraries Tasmania }}</ref> The building was designed by Hobart Town architect James Thomson, who was a Scottish convict who was [[pardon]]ed in 1829.<ref>{{cite web |title=JUDAH SOLOMON AND THE BUILDING OF THE HOBART SYNAGOGUE |publisher=Tasmanian Geographic |date=4 April 2012 |url=http://www.tasmaniangeographic.com/judah-solomon-and-building-of-the-hobart-synagogue/ |accessdate=11 September 2014 }}</ref>
Although several synagogues and churches were built in the Egyptian Revival style in the early nineteenth century, only a few are known to survive, they include the [[Downtown Presbyterian Church, Nashville]], the [[First Presbyterian Church (Sag Harbor)|First Presbyterian Church]], [[New York (state)|New York]], the [[Old Synagogue at Canterbury]], [[England]] and the [[Launceston Synagogue]].
== Current usage == The synagogue is the focal point of Jewish culture in Hobart, and is the only structure owned by the community.
The community welcomes all Jews, and currently runs Orthodox and Progressive services.
The Tasmanian community reached a low point in the early 1970s when the census recorded fewer than 100 Jews in Hobart. The {{CensusAU|2021}} recorded 376 Jews in Tasmania.<ref name="ajn2022">{{cite news |last1=Kohn |first1=Peter |title=Record number of Jews |url=https://www.australianjewishnews.com/record-number-of-jews/ |access-date=19 August 2022 |work=Australian Jewish News |date=30 June 2022}}</ref>
== Gallery ==
<gallery> Hobart Synagogue convict bench.jpg|Convict bench Hobart Synagogue Aron Kodesh.jpg |Ark Hobart Synagogue seat number1.jpg|Seat number Hobart Synagogue Torahs.jpg|Torahs </gallery>
==See also== {{stack|{{Portal|Australia|Judaism}}}} * [[List of synagogues in Australia and New Zealand#Australia|List of synagogues in Australia]] * [[Oldest synagogues in the world]] * [[History of the Jews in Australia]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Hobart Synagogue}} * {{official|http://www.hobartsynagogue.org}} * [http://www.hobartsynagogue.org/archives/ Hobart Hebrew Congregation Digital Archives]
==Further reading== *{{cite book |editor=Elias, P & A Elias |title=A few from afar |location=Hobart |year=2003 }}
{{Synagogues in Australia}} {{Hobart landmarks}}
[[Category:Orthodox synagogues in Australia]] [[Category:Reform Judaism in Australia]] [[Category:19th-century synagogues in Australia]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Hobart]] [[Category:Tourist attractions in Hobart]] [[Category:History of Hobart]] [[Category:Religious buildings and structures in Tasmania]] [[Category:Synagogues completed in 1845]] [[Category:1830s establishments in Australia]] [[Category:Tasmanian Heritage Register]] [[Category:Union for Progressive Judaism]] [[Category:Egyptian Revival synagogues]] [[Category:Revival architecture in Australia]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in the 1830s]]