St Kilda Shule acquires Sir John Monash’s desk
"Monash has been an incredibly important figure in our shule and it was amazing to think we could have another piece of his history as part of ours," she said.
St Kilda Shule’s Rabbi Yaakov Glasman recently shared the news that the desk that once belonged to, and was used by, Sir John Monash, is now sitting in his office.
Sir John Monash’s grandson, Colin Bennett, passed away last year. His son (great-grandson of Monash) Michael Bennett, donated Monash’s desk to charity.
Bennett decided to donate it to the Posh Opp Shoppe which raises money for disadvantaged children to pay for their special educational needs.
St Kilda Shule president Janice Iloni-Furstenberg became aware of the desk and decided to purchase it from the Posh Opp Shoppe and donate it to St Kilda Shule given Monash’s long standing association with the shule, including his role as a board member for 11 years.
After Monash’s desk was delivered to St Kilda Shule, Bennett paid a visit to see the new home of the desk that belonged to his great-grandfather.
“It feels so surreal to be sitting at the very same desk at which Sir John Monash sat,” Rabbi Glasman told The AJN.
He added, “It’s deeply humbling to think every time I sit down to write an email, I’m sitting at the desk of a true Australian hero and arguably the most prominent Australian Jew in our history.”
Iloni-Furstenberg commented that she couldn’t believe her eyes when she stumbled upon Sir John Monash’s desk on the Posh Opp Shoppe’s Facebook page.
“Monash has been an incredibly important figure in our shule and it was amazing to think we could have another piece of his history as part of ours,” she said.
“I just knew that the desk’s new home had to be at the shule!
“Now that it’s found its way to Rabbi Glasman’s office, I like to imagine him writing to congregants at the very same desk that had spent several decades last century at John Monash’s home in Toorak.”
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