The Maccabean Hall: Celebrating 100 Years

For over 30 years, the Sydney Jewish Museum has been a fixture of Darlinghurst Road – but did you know our building, the NSW Jewish War Memorial, has been a cherished home to Sydney’s Jewish community for generations? 

Take a journey through time at this unique exhibit, featuring nostalgic memories from the 100-year history of our building, which was opened to much fanfare on November 11, 1923, by the distinguished military General Sir John Monash. 

Learn how the classical interwar-style WWI memorial became the cultural hub of Jewish life in Sydney and the site of 90 per cent of Sydney’s Jewish community’s activities and functions in the post-war era. 

Encounter recollections from Holocaust survivors, who, after arriving in Sydney without friends or family, found a home in the Maccabean Hall, where countless dances, mixers, weddings and meet-cutes helped rebuild shattered Jewish communities. 

From its origins as a war memorial to its role as a vibrant community space, and now as the home of the Sydney Jewish Museum, this exhibit celebrates all this special building has witnessed in 100 years – all beneath the same art deco ceiling under which our museum stands. 

This exhibit has been generously sponsored by the Eva and Tom Breuer Foundation.

Image: a scanned photograph from the wedding and reception of Jackie and Tony Weiss.