Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur celebrated by Canberra Jewish community

The Canberra Jewish community was founded in the 1950s. Tucked away in the Parliamentary Triangle, the community is preparing for one the most important days on the Jewish calendar.

The Jewish experience in Canberra is unique. Ms Tatz said it was like a missionary. With a small population and the absence of kosher establishments it could be challenging to live devoutly, she said.

"It's quite challenging living as a practising Jew in Canberra. Kosher food is hard to get, no kosher restaurants and there's a limited social group because there aren't that many Jews here," Ms Tatz said

As president of Canberra's tight-knit Jewish community, Ms Tatz is busy organising festivities for Yom Kippur.

While walking through the small museum we stand by a photo of Sir David Smith uttering the words that launched Australia's greatest constitutional crisis.

From Sir John Monash to former treasurer Josh Frydenberg, the museum displays the important contributions of Jewish Australians.

Beginning with Rosh Hashanah which marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year, the faithful in Canberra will congregate with their families in synagogues over the next few days to celebrate the high holy days.

The 10-day period of introspection and repentance culminates in Yom Kippur, on Sunday, where Rabbi Elhanan Miller will blow the shofar - a trumpet made from a ram's horn.

While explaining the religious significance of Yom Kippur, Rabbi Miller demonstrated what will happen on Yom Kippur by blowing the ancient instrument.

"On the day of Yom Kippur, the synagogue will be full, they will be wearing shoes that don't have leather and many of them will be wearing white clothes," he said.

During the 10-day period the community will ask for forgiveness and on Yom Kippur the community observes a day long fast.

While the high holy days symbolise repentance and forgiveness, Rabbi Miller said the holiday carried a universal message.

"We believe it is a time that all of humanity will be judged. We're thinking about the war in Ukraine, we're thinking about the earthquakes and global warming. We pray in our synagogues for the world to be a better place, not just our community to thrive, but also for everything to be better," he said.

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The ACT Jewish Community centre is home to an orthodox and progressive synagogue. The progressive synagogue was built recently during the pandemic. They are rare to find, Ms Tatz said.

"We very unusually have both a progressive congregation and an orthodox congregation. We'd be the only community in the world to have that," she said.

Ms Tatz said the Jewish community do not have a permanent rabbi in Canberra. The last one moved to Sydney, so they have Rabbi Miller visiting them from Jerusalem to lead congregations during important events.

Having travelled around the world, the rabbi said the Jewish community in Canberra was unique.

"It's challenging to be observant in Canberra because of certain limitations. Canberra doesn't really have an abundance of kosher food. The community is quite small, but on the other hand it's a vibrant community. Everyone is very intellectual," he said.

He said it was a pleasure to the serve the Canberra community.

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