Council of Christians and Jews (NSW)
1942-1948; 1988-2011
The Council of Christians and Jews was founded in Sydney in 1943. The international body which became the ICCJ (International Council of Christians and Jews) was founded in London in 1942 in response to the conditions facing world Jewry during the Holocaust., The planned annihilation of all Jews, systematically being carried out by the Nazis during World War 11 was becoming clear. The inaugural general meeting was attended by Rabbi Israel Porush, senior rabbi of the Great Synagogue, who became one of the main instigators of the CCJ in NSW. He was greatly helped by the Anglican bishop Venn Pilcher, whose work for refugees, many of them Jewish, is well known. Anglican and Catholics worked together with him. The CCJ functioned till 1948, when interest waned, and the immediate threat of antisemitism associated with the war had abated. the crunch came when donations for a printing project were solicited and there was stony response. The Archive of Australian Judaica has some papers from this era, obtained from the Anglican archives at St Andrew's Sydney.
In 1974 Rabbi Raymond Apple established the Jewish/Christian Luncheon Club, as the time was not yet ripe to refound the CCJ, there being some resistance on eh part of certain Christian heads of churches. The CCJ Luncheon Club continues to meet in the City, for talks by Jewish and Christian speakers, now on a monthly basis (instead of bi-monthly) at the Great Synagogue, Pitt Street Uniting Church or St Stephen's. The CCJ in New South Wales (Melbourne founded a CCJ in 1985) was re-founded in 1988 by Sr Shirley Sedawie (NDS), Sr Lenore Sharry (NDS), Rabbi Apple of the Great Synagogue, Rev Bern Stevens of the Uniting Church and Major Gerben Stelstra (Salvation Army) and some others. Heads of churches and Jewish representatives were invited to participate as foundation members of the CCJ, and to send representatives to an inaugural meeting. A steering committee was established, with the first AGM taking place in 1989. A national body, the Australian Council of Christians and Jews (ACCJ) was inaugurated in December 1991. Most states now have a CCJ, or a dialogue group, with the exception of Tasmania and the Northern Territory. The documents outline the history of the CCJ and some key events. The full archives (from 1987-2013) currently are with the secretary of the New South Wales Council of Christians and Jews at 2 Devine Street, Erskineville.
Three folders of correspondence to the secretary of the International Council of Christians and Jews, the Rev Bill Simpson, donated by Ruth Weyl, consultant to the International Council of Christians and Jews.1944-1973.
The first folder contains correspondence from New South Wales in the 1940s and Melbourne in 1959 and 1960. The letters from Australia are signed by Rabbi R. Brasch, Rabbi H. Sanger, Rabbi Israel Porush, Bishop Venn Pilcher, Evelyn Rothfield, and the Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies.
The second folder details the attempt to establish a Council in Victoria in the 1960s, and the attempt in the early 1970s by Rabbi Apple to set up a Council in Sydney.
The third folder has some early New Zealand correspondence (1946-1967).
The NSW Council in the 1940s lasted a short time. There was an attempt to start a Council in Melbourne in 1960, Archbishop Mannix and Archbishop F. Woods as well as Isi Leibler, and Rabbis Herman Sanger and Gutnik attending the inaugural meeting, in 1961, but Victoria not succeed in establishing a Council till 1985. New South Wales followed in 1987.
A fourth folder (copies by CCJ Vic Secretary Liz Parker) contains copies of correspondence and early memoranda recovered from the Jesuit Provincial Archives in Melbourne. This includes letters from Rev Noel Heir (SJ), Cardinal Gilroy, Rev J. Freeman, and a copy of the United states of America Protest, Catholic and Jewish Joint Declaration on World Peace, 7th October 1943. Also filed with this collection is Annette Achilles' BA Hons Thesis (Latrobe University) 1989, Jewish-Christian Relations in Melbourne.
Related to The Great Synagogue
Audio Cassettes
Christian/Jewish Study Centre - lunch time lectures given at the Great Synagogue, Sydney (7/2/1980 - 3/10/1991) (45 tapes)
If you would like to inspect this record, please request access by following these steps that includes submitting a form to our Head Archivist.
When searching for records, if you are interested in this record only, use this record ID 942 as your search term
This website is owned and operated by the Australian Jewish Historical Society Inc (ABN 53 023 617 594)
Should you access this website, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy, which govern usage of the website.