Link to original article: https://www.australianjewishnews.com/the-top-ends-tight-knit-tribe/
The Northern Territory’s tiny but tenacious Jewish community has shaped the nation’s north for more than 150 years, and shows no signs of stopping.
Jewish life in the Top End has always been more about the vibe than the volume.
In 2024, the Jewish population made up a mere 0.1 per cent of the total population, yet the history of this community is woven deep into the Northern Territory’s story. From convict uncles to pioneers of the constitution, the Jewish presence in Australia’s north has been, as first Jewish ALP NT Opposition Leader Jon Isaacs put it, a significant contribution to the “social fabric” of the region.
The story starts in the late 1800s with Vaiben Louis Solomon, the man who eventually gave his name to the federal division of Solomon. The family’s Australian roots were actually established by Vaiben’s uncles, Emanuel and Vaiben Solomon, who arrived as convicts in 1818. By the time the younger Vaiben Louis was born in Adelaide in 1853, his uncles were already successful businessmen.
He didn’t head north for the scenery. He was sent there in 1873 by his father, Judah Moss Solomon, who, as a religious man, disapproved of his son’s wish to marry Mary Wigzell, a non-Jewish woman, and dispatched him to Palmerston (now Darwin) to work in gold mining. After his father died in 1880, Solomon finally returned to Sydney to marry Mary, and the couple settled in Darwin to raise their children. They were the earliest known Jewish people to settle in the Northern Territory.
Vaiben Louis Solomon. Photo: Wikipedia
Solomon became a pioneer entrepreneur, building Solomon’s Emporium out of bluestone, a building known today as the popular theatre venue Brown’s Mart. He also owned the Territory’s first newspaper, The Northern Territory Times and Gazette. A visionary who first proposed the railway between Darwin and Alice Springs to grow infrastructure, Solomon eventually became the Territory’s first representative in the South Australian House of Assembly, and a member of the first federal parliament. As well as this, he helped draft the Australian Constitution in 1897.
There is a certain irony in his political legacy, though. Solomon helped formulate the Immigration Restriction Act 1901. While he later tried to have the act repealed when he saw it being applied unfairly to his Chinese business associates, the policy remained. Decades later, politicians used that same act to block thousands of European Jews from finding a home in the Territory during the rise of Nazi Germany.
The dream of a Jewish sanctuary in the north was a recurring theme.
In the 1930s, Yiddish poet Melekh Ravitsh travelled to Melbourne to promote Yiddish culture, hoping to raise money for Yiddish schools in Europe. At the time, Ravitsh knew that with Germany under the rule of the Nazi Party, Jews had little hope of survival. So, while in Australia, holding an introductory letter from Albert Einstein, Ravitsh scouted the Territory, hoping to find a homeland for German Jews.
Like many at the time, Ravitsh viewed the NT as terra nullius, writing, “It is empty in the literal sense of the word.”
Six years later, the Kimberley Scheme was proposed by Isaac Steinberg, a Russian Jew and former minister in Lenin’s government who came to Australia searching for a place for Jews to live, and escape the persecution they were facing in Europe.
Even though Steinberg had support from the West Australian government, along with businesses, trade unions and church leaders, Prime Minister John Curtin rejected the plan in 1943, citing a “long-established policy” against foreign settlements.
Despite the lack of a formal colony, individual Jewish residents continued to leave a mark in the Territory. During World War II, at least 12 Jewish people served in the Australian Armed Forces in Darwin, including aircraft mechanic Alexander Milecki who served at Fenton and Manbulloo airfields. Milecki’s grandson, Rabbi Menachem Aron, is now the director of Chabad of Rural and Regional Australia (RARA).
Rabbi Menachem Aron, director of Chabad of RARA, his wife Shevi Aron and Vida Goodvach. Photo: supplied
In the 1970s and 1980s, the community, while small and only comprising about 15 people, was close, enjoying Shabbat dinners together. There’s an anecdote shared that as a couple of people lived in the hospital, everyone would squeeze into the one room for Shabbat dinners, just so they could be together. While there was talk of starting a congregation, there weren’t enough Jewish people in the region. In an article titled “Jewish Life in the Northern Territory” written by Northern Territory Jewish Community Association (NTJCA) president Vida Goodvach, residents have been quoted as saying the atmosphere at the time was “warm”.
“Those Friday night dinners were really important. It was just a warm feeling and non-critical. Everybody becomes isolated up here because you don’t have family. I could relax and be myself with other Jewish people in Darwin. With other Jewish people, I have more in common and the same sense of humour so you can laugh at yourself and laugh with the people,” Judy Miller, who owned multiple businesses in and around Darwin, said.
“I want everybody to feel safe as a Jewish person. I want to find our connection, our people. We’re trying to bring Jewish people out to get together and strengthen our community.”
This era also saw the rise of Jon Isaacs, who led the Labor Party from 1977 to 1981. Isaacs was the man who single-handedly pushed for random breath testing in the Territory. Isaacs shared that while he questioned the existence of God while studying philosophy, he found Judaism to be a very big part of his life while growing up in Sydney.
Goodvach told The AJN that maintaining an identity in such a remote spot as the Northern Territory isn’t always easy. As she described, the current community is a fairly dispersed secular group of about 100 people in Darwin and 50 in Alice Springs. Many have non-Jewish partners, and without a synagogue or resident rabbi, they rely on visiting RARA rabbis to celebrate most of the chaggim.
But, while they are small, they are mighty. And they’re highly engaged. “We try to support each other,” Goodvach said, explaining that while Chabad of RARA comes to lead the chaggim celebrations, the community still tries to meet for dinners, either at restaurants or at homes. “Anybody can come along. We might get around 20 people or so. Everyone brings a plate, we sit around and celebrate.”
Goodvach explained that the events of October 7, 2023, changed the energy, and while they had been talking about forming an association for a long time, it was the Hamas-led massacre that was the catalyst for forming the NTJCA. By a strange twist of fate, a group of residents were at the Darwin Military Museum discussing a proposed Holocaust memorial on the very morning the news from Israel broke. Goodvach remembers that “people were quite distressed” as news flashed onto their phones, particularly the Israelis who call the NT home.
Inside the Darwin Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre.
Photo: Darwin Military Museum
It was at that time that politicians and other members of the broader NT community began reaching out to the Jewish community.
“They were doing their civic duty, seeing how the community was faring and giving us a chance to meet and talk,” Goodvach recalled. “It became clear that we needed to form an association so we could officially be contacted.”
Goodvach said the tragedy galvanised people. “I personally have a lot more contact with Jewish people than I did before,” Goodvach said. “We knew we needed to support each other.”
While Goodvach noted that the Territory doesn’t experience nearly the same amount of antisemitism as the larger cities in Australia, the tyranny of distance hasn’t shielded them from the ripple effects.
There has been some graffiti, like “death to the IDF” near the Fannie Bay racecourse, which Goodvach said had frightened members who are former IDF soldiers. She also mentioned school incidents where administrations didn’t always acknowledge the seriousness of antisemitism.
Then came the December 14, 2025, Bondi Beach Chanukah shooting. As Goodvach explained, the shock “rippled across the Top End” but it also brought an unexpected wave of support.
Goodvach shared that all people, from personal friends to those at all levels of government, reached out to the Jewish community to show their solidarity. On the final night of Chanukah, the community held a solemn vigil with around 400 people in attendance, including representatives from the Muslim, Christian and Hindu communities. One week later, the South Pacific Island communities in Darwin also held a vigil to show solidarity and to pray for those affected by the tragedy, while in Alice Springs, a Chanukah party was held in a private home to give the Jewish community there an opportunity to be together and comfort each other.
Stones laid at the vigil in Darwin in solidarity for the Jewish community of Australia following the December 14, 2025 terrorist attack in Bondi Beach. Photo: supplied
Goodvach shared that she was deeply moved by the vigils, as was the whole Jewish community in the Northern Territory. As she said at the vigil, “we all beat with one heart”.
Throughout history, the Jewish community in the Northern Territory have shown a small but mighty mindset, continuing to contribute to the fabric of Top End life.
Goodvach shares in her article that in 2019, one couple saw a need for an area for Jewish burials. After converting to Judaism, they did all the groundwork, achieving their goal very quickly. Now, there is a Jewish burial section within the Thorak Regional Cemetery. Goodvach also shared the story of Deb Frosh, who has lived in Darwin for almost 15 years. Frosh grew up in Sydney. Having moved to the Northern Territory for what she thought would be a few months after her divorce, she is now the only Jewish tour guide in the Northern Territory, ready to look after Jewish travellers when they come to visit.
There’s also the story of Jordan Kolsky who moved to Darwin after he finished his dentistry degree, and met his first fellow Jews in the Top End while waiting in a queue in a Darwin cafe. And Janice Warren, a marine scientist, who said she didn’t realise so many people were Jewish until they had a seder together.
“We were all saying to each other, ‘I didn’t know you were Jewish!’ All of a sudden, I had met 25 to 30 Jews that I didn’t know about,” she shared with Goodvach. “Once I met them, I wanted to connect more with them.” Warren asked Chabad of RARA to come to her home; she now has a mezuzah on her door and a chanukiah to light for Chanukah. “I am amongst Jewish people and I feel like I’m home.”
The Northern Territory community is a diverse one, with Jews from all walks of life, including Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Israelis, urban Jews, those who live more rurally, private Jews and those who want to be together. And while they are small in number, they contribute in huge ways.
Now, the focus is on moving forward, coming together and, as Goodvach says, “finding our tribal roots”.
“Overall, the focus has been how do we look after each other, how do we keep our members safe,” Goodvach explained, saying the community also wants to grow its numbers.
“If we grow our numbers we can strengthen ourselves as a community, we can be engaged in more projects,” she said. “I want everybody to feel safe as a Jewish person. I want to find our connection, our people. We’re trying to bring Jewish people out to get together and strengthen our community.”
What’s Goodvach’s ultimate message? Go north. Because there’s a thriving Jewish community up there waiting for you.
By Jessica Abelsohn
Main image by Uluru. Photo: Joshua Cortopassi/Dreamstime