Ritual and ceremony enrich all aspects of Jewish life: festivals, life cycle events and daily life. While certain religious practices have changed in response to historical events and the influences of the communities and cultures in which Jews live, most endure from Biblical times. Similarly, the basic function of Jewish ceremonial objects endures, although their style, form, material and embellishments may change in response to current aesthetics, local culture and contemporary needs.

Since the early 1990s, the Jewish Museum of Australia has nurtured the development and making of indigenous Australian Jewish ritual objects. Our Australian contemporary ritual Judaica collection includes some 70 works by artists such as Susan Cohn, Carlier Makigawa, Liz Souter, Hendrik Forster, Sue Trytell, Bern Emmerichs, Glenice Matthews, David Ray, Anne Ross, Penelope Durston, Helmut Leukenhausen, Petrus Spronk and Iris Saar Sachs. The Museum’s permanent exhibitions also include indigenous Australian Jewish ritual objects.