A fire that tore through a Melbourne synagogue in the early hours of Friday has led to an ongoing police search and an outpouring of condemnation from politicians, ambassadors and multicultural community representatives.
Around 60 firefighters and 17 trucks were called to the Adass Israel synagogue at Ripponlea in Melbourne’s south shortly after 4am on Friday after a large blaze engulfed the building.
The fire, which police say was deliberately lit, was brought under control just before 5am. Victorian Police have launched an investigation but are yet to make any arrests.
Federal and state political leaders have condemned the incident, as have community figures and heads of multicultural organisations.
Here’s what you need to know about the suspected arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue.
Victoria Police detective inspector Chris Murray said it was clear an accelerant had been used in the fire. Source: AAP / Con Chronis
Was anyone in the synagogue when it was set alight?
Yumi Friedman, founder of Yumi’s dips, was preparing to perform morning prayers at about 4am on Friday when the attack occurred.
“I heard a big bang on the door with a sledgehammer, it looked like,” he told AAP at the scene in south-east Melbourne.
“I stopped for a second and then suddenly heard another bang on the glass, and I saw glass fling. So I knew someone was out there trying to break in.”
Friedman fled the building to call police before returning to find the synagogue alight.
“There wasn’t much of a fire when I started, so I just thought maybe I would come inside to get my phone,” he said.
Yumi Friedman was at the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne when the building was allegedly set alight. Source: AAP / Con Chronis
“But I touched the door, it was hot, and I burnt my hand so I didn’t go inside.”
The fire quickly tore through the synagogue, engulfing it in flames and gutting two of its three buildings.
The Adass Israel synagogue has been described as one of the most active Jewish houses of worship in Melbourne and is regularly attended by members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
Victorian Multicultural Affairs Minister Ingrid Stitt said: “We are lucky people weren’t seriously injured or killed.”
Federal MP Josh Burns, whose electorate is home to the synagogue, described it as a “centre of Jewish life of learning and spirituality”.
“I’ve been inside many times, and to see it burnt today is devastating,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
Have police arrested any suspects?
Victoria Police detective inspector Chris Murray told reporters a witness attending morning prayers at the synagogue had spotted two men wearing masks who “appeared to be spreading an accelerant” inside the building.
The police are still investigating the incident and are asking members of the public to come forward with any dash-cam or CCTV footage taken in the area around the time of the attack.
They also believe the incident is a “deliberate” and “targeted” attack.
“What we don’t know is the why, and we will get to the why. We will do everything we can to bring these individuals before the courts,” Murray said.
“We are throwing everything at this,” he said.
How much damage was done to the Adass Israel synagogue?
It’s believed the damage caused to the inside of the synagogue is significant.
One congregation member estimated millions of dollars worth of holy books and valuable handwritten Torah scrolls were inside, which were carefully loaded into a car later in the day.
Some scrolls could not be retrieved as they were in an area where the roof had collapsed.
It is believed the fire at the Adass Israel synagogue was deliberately started early on Friday morning. Source: AAP / Con Chronis
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said “every available resource” would be deployed to find the arsonists and committed $100,000 to help rebuild the synagogue.
“We stand with the entire Jewish community who have every right to go to shul, pray openly, and be proud of who they are — without fearing personal consequences,” she said.
‘Shul’ is a word for synagogue that derives from Yiddish — the language spoken by European Jews for centuries and largely kept alive by Orthodox communities today.
Allan also confirmed there would be increased police presence in the Jewish community over the coming days, including at synagogues and in public community spaces.
What is Adass Israel?
Adass Israel is an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect and regular attendees of the Adass Israel synagogue were largely members of this community — the male members of which are recognisable by their white collared shirts, long black coats, broad-brimmed black hats and circular fur hats (shtreimel).
However, like any Jewish house of worship, Jews from outside this community would attend events at the synagogue such as weddings and bar mitzvahs — a Jewish rite of passage into adulthood for boys.
Melbourne’s Adass Israel community — which is known to be highly insular and observant of halakhah (Jewish religious law) — traces its origins to Holocaust survivors who emigrated from countries like Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
Many of the community’s members, , are second, third and fourth-generation descendants of those survivors.
The Adass Israel cemetery was Melbourne’s first Jewish cemetery, according to Dan Goldberg and Danny Ben-Moshe, who created a documentary on the community broadcast on SBS in 2016.
Reaction to the fire
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said antisemitism had “absolutely no place in Australia”.
“This violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage,” he said in a statement shared on X.
“This attack has risked lives and is clearly aimed at creating fear in the community.
“This deliberate, unlawful act goes against everything we are as Australians and everything we have worked so hard to build as a nation.”
Opposition leader Peter Dutton echoed Albanese’s remarks, saying the attack had “no place” in Australia.
“That has been a sad and shocking turn of events in Melbourne overnight,” he said.
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, also spoke of the incident during an unrelated event at the German embassy today.
“Antisemitism is not a relic of the past, but a growing threat that demands immediate actions,” he said.
“‘Never again’ has become a hollow promise as the very evils it sought to prevent are happening once more.
“Jewish people around the world are under siege, enduring relentless acts of intimidation and violence.”
Jewish organisation the New Israel Fund said the “terrible attack” could not be tolerated as it welcomed bipartisan condemnation.
“We must respond swiftly to ensure that Jewish Australians are protected and continue to feel safe and secure in the multicultural Australia that we all know and cherish,” New Israel Fund executive director Michael Chaitow said in a statement.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion said it was a “tragic day”, adding that his organisation and community “have been warning about the risk of this since last year 7 October”.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria chief executive Naomi Levin said the suspected attack was “not just a crime against a place of worship, but an affront to the values of tolerance”.
Australian Multicultural Foundation executive director Hass Dellal said antisemitism must not be tolerated and that it would be a “distressing time” for synagogue members and the broader Jewish community.
“We are a multicultural and multifaith society where people have the right to practice and express their religion without fear of vilification or violence,” Dellal said in a statement.
“This is not who we are as a multicultural nation.”
The Australian Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) has also condemned the incident in a statement on Instagram.
“Attacks on religious institutions have no place in our community,” the group said.
“Racist attacks rooted in antisemitism, Islamophobia or anti-Palestinian racism must be opposed and condemned in equal measure.”
