An evening of remembrance

The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies will host its 10th annual commemoration on Sunday honouring the approximately 850,000 Jews displaced from Arab countries and Iran, predominantly during the mid-20th century following Israel’s establishment.

Sydney became the first Diaspora community to mark this history when the JBD launched the event in 2015. This year marks a significant milestone, with Victoria’s Jewish Community Council holding its first commemoration on November 30, assisted by the JBD, which is now supporting other states to establish similar events.

The date aligns with Israel’s 2014 declaration of November 30 as an annual memorial day, chosen symbolically as the day after the UN Partition Plan’s adoption on November 29, 1947, representing the immediate risk faced by Jews throughout the Arab world and Iran.

Jewish communities in Arab countries have diminished by approximately 99 per cent, while Iran’s Jewish population plummeted from around 150,000 to 10,000, with many departing after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Sydney scholar Dr Myer Samra estimates Australia’s Sephardi-Mizrahi Jewish population at 5000-6000, with several thousand residing in Sydney.

Lynda Ben-Menashe, who initiated these commemorations a decade ago, said it is “gratifying” to see another communal commemoration marking this event.

“In 2015 NSW was the first place in the whole Jewish Diaspora where it was marked outside Israel, and over 400 people attended that year,” said Ben-Menashe.

“For many of them it was the first time they had learned about the history of the departure and expulsion of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, or that MENA Jews have enriched our local community since the 1950s.”

Ben-Menashe said the decision to make it a community-wide event run by the NSW JBD was a proper acknowledgement of its importance.

“Dr Racheline Barda and Joe Barda were instrumental in bringing these commemorations to life, and they and others including Alfred Gubbay z’l, Helene Cadry, Hila Tsor and Joshua Moses ensured that they continued,” she said.

Sunday’s program will focus on the stories of Jews who fled persecution in Iran and those living in Iran today.

To book for Sunday’s event, taking place at 5.30pm, visit nswjbd.org.au/jfal2025