The hall at 836 Lygon Street, North Carlton, was built in 1933 to house the Kadimah, a Jewish cultural organization founded in Melbourne in 1911 to meet the needs of newly-arrived Yiddish-speaking Jews from Eastern Europe. The new building, well-sited in an area where there was already a substantial Jewish population, included a 400-seat capacity theatre/hall and library. Its numerous activities included lectures, concerts, plays and social events of all kinds. After World War 2 a stream of new arrivals made the Kadimah even more influential as a focal point of Jewish cultural life. By 1950, it had a thousand members and a paid librarian was required to cope with the growing demand for books and newspapers. However, as these hardworking newcomers prospered, there began a steady drift of Carlton Jews to suburbs south of the Yarra river and by 1969 the Kadimah had to follow. The houses vacated by the Jewish migrants were soon occupied by a wave of Italian arrivals. It is fitting therefore that the Kadimah became the new home of an Italian cultural organization, Società Isole Eolie, founded in 1925 and still flourishing in 2018, its activities still focused on this landmark Carlton building.
by cchg on Sept. 28, 2018Please login to comment on this item