The National Council of Jewish Women, South Australia Section (1929 - )

The National Council of Jewish Women, South Australia Section was founded in 1929 due to the efforts of a group of South Australian women who had attended the first national conference of the Council of Jewish Women in Sydney in May of that year. They persuaded Fanny Reading, founder of the Council, to visit Adelaide in September to assist with this aim. Reading met with Mrs Isabella Solomons, wife of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation President and herself president of the South Australian Women’s Zionist Society and who had formed the Adelaide Ladies Jewish National Fund in 1928. Solomons became the first president of the newly formed Section, remaining in this position until 1946.

From its earliest days, the Council in South Australia was concerned with both Zionist and community work. It raised funds for various Jewish causes and charities (both Jewish and some non-Jewish), as well as holding social events. After WWII, they sought to assist Jewish migrants arriving in South Australia and from the 1950s initiated various services for the aged such as meals on wheels.

A relatively small organisation, membership of the group has never exceeded 60.

The Council continues today as a non-profit, voluntary, organisation for Jewish women, acting for their advancement and for social justice generally.

Superior

• National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (1923 - )

  [1929 - ]

Books

• Newton, Marlo Leigh, Making a Difference: A History of the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia, Hybrid Publishers, Melbourne, 2000, 342 pp. [ Details... ]

Newsletters

• The Council bulletin / National Council of Jewish Women, The Council, Melbourne, 1926-. [ Details... ]