An attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday killed 15 people and left Jewish communities reeling worldwide. The violence has also drawn attention to the resilience of Australia’s distinctive Jewish community, shaped by the world’s largest concentration of Holocaust survivors outside Israel, a thriving Yiddish scene, and a large number of South African Jewish immigrants.
About 117,000 Jews live in Australia, according to 2021 Census figures adjusted for likely undercounting. The community is largely urban, with 84 percent living in either Melbourne or Sydney. Just over half of Australian Jews were born in the country. Among those born overseas, the largest immigrant groups come from South Africa and Israel.
Religious practice within the community is diverse, with roughly 4 percent identifying as Haredi, 18 percent as Modern Orthodox, 33 percent as traditional or Conservative, 11 percent as Reform, and 21 percent as secular. In other respects, the community is uniquely cohesive: About half of children attend Jewish day schools—the highest rate for Jewish day school attendance outside of Israel.
