Jews have been part of the fabric of Australia since the first settlement of white Australians in 1788. Melbourne has become a home to Jews from all over the world, with tremendous vibrancy. There are institutions and organizations to cover every interest, including more than 60 synagogues, eight Jewish schools, a dozen kosher restaurants/bakeries, and many cultural, social, and communal organizations. The world’s only public protest against Kristallnacht (recorded and acknowledged at Yad Vashem) happened in Melbourne, led by Indigenous elder William Cooper. Australia, and Melbourne in particular, has the largest per capita percentage of Holocaust survivors anywhere outside of Israel. Our guide Alex has spent most of his life in Melbourne. He is chair of the Council of Christians and Jews, a board member of March of the Living Australia, and a volunteer at Melbourne’s premier social services organization, Jewish Care.

Jews began to settle in Moscow in the 17th century, and, by the 19th century, they were forbidden to live beyond the Pale of Settlement. By the year 1890, 40,000 Jews were living in Moscow. After 70 years of antisemitism, persecution, and lack of religious freedom, Moscow’s Jewish communities not only have managed to survive but also to expand and thrive. Our guide Dasha is a former JDC Moscow PR specialist and a Jewish Agency for Israel coordinator, currently living in Israel. She was raised in a secular Jewish family and always knew about her background. Back in the turmoil that was the 1990s, her family was hugely supported by the JDC — they received food parcels, home care for her grandfather, and money for winter clothing for her and her little sister. Before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, 150,000 members of diverse communities in Jewish schools, teen clubs, volunteer initiatives, religious communities, and non-profit organizations were living active Jewish lives in the country’s capital. Today, the community is facing new challenges.

The Jewish community of Montreal dates back to 1760 when the first Jews arrived in the city after the British conquest of New France. The community grew in numbers with the arrival of Ashkenazi Jews in the late 1800s, and later with the arrival of Moroccan Jews in the early 1960s. Our guide Kat Romanow is a born-and-bred Montrealer, a Jewish food historian with a focus on the Jewish foods of her hometown, and the co-founder of The Wandering Chew. Kat has worked in the Jewish community of Montreal for almost 10 years, during which time she created a Jewish food walking tour and ran numerous food-related programs. This tour includes a short cooking demo, as well as a discussion about how the Jewish community in Montreal has shaped the literary, artistic, and food cultures of the city — from bagels to Leonard Cohen!