160 YEARS AGO IN GEELONG
(From the pages of the Geelong Chronicle)
KOSHER MEAT IN GEELONG
There was a small Jewish community in early Geelong. The Government reserved land for the community on the south-east corner of Yarra and McKillop Streets, Geelong. The first synagogue was built there in the early 1850s, later replaced with the present stucco-rendered brick building in 1861. (The site was sold about 50 years ago and the building is now used as offices.)
A site at Geelong’s Eastern Cemetery was set aside for a Jewish Burial Ground in the late 1840s. The site was consecrated in September 1851. Prior to that, the only Jewish Cemetery was in Melbourne.
In 1851, a census identified 86 Jews in Geelong, although the real number was probably fewer. The category also included ‘other persuasions’, which meant there were ‘Mahomedans and pagans’ (so described at the time) among the number.
The Jewish dietary laws are drawn from the Bible. Foods that conform to Jewish dietary law are called ‘kosher’, in that they are fit for consumption. The slaughter of animals must also conform to dietary laws.
In 1864, the Geelong Chronicle carried an advertisement from the lessees of the Geelong Corporation Slaughter Yards:
‘NOTICE – The undersigned beg to inform their present customers and the public generally, that they have entered into an arrangement with Mr Stone, the Rabbi, who inspects the cattle for the Jewish portion of the community. He will oversee all cattle killed, which will be
guarantee that the quality of the beef offered for sale will be unobjectionable, as he will also affix their peculiar marks.
WEBSTER & BANNERMAN
Any butchers killing at the Corporation Yards can, if they wish, have their cattle inspected as above, by Rabbi Stone, they paying the expense.’
The ‘peculiar marks’ referred to above, are rabbinical certifications that the food is kosher.
This practice continues today, although it is now usually a notation on food packaging.
This article was provided by the Geelong Historical Society. For enquiries, email admin@geelonghistoricalsociety.org.au or write C/- P.O. Box 7129, Geelong West, 3218.
