New Zealand Flag

A Standard for the People, edited by Stephen Levine, is a fascinating history of the New Zealand Jewish community, albeit with a Wellington focus.
Large format 2135 x 1110 mm 478 pages Many illustrations.
Some copies are still available from the New Zealand Jewish Archives at $100 including (surface) postage world-wide.

Notes on Jewish Participation in New Zealand History

Prepared by Michael Clements

These extensive notes prepared by the archivist and leader of the New Zealand Jewish Archives, provide an overview of NZ Jewish history from the pre-colonial era to recent times. Availble online:

Click here, to download this key article.
Click on either flag to return to the Home Page of the New Zealand Jewish Archives


Information Sources


To contact the New Zealand Jewish Archives
By Email:
        nzjewisharchives@ihug.co.nz
By Mail:
        NZ Jewish Archives
        80 Webb Street
        Wellingon
        New Zealand
By Phone:    +64 4 384 5081
By FAX:      +64 4 478 9061


   Links - an annotated list

  • The first Jewish settler in New Zealand was Joel Samuel Polack, who arrived in 1831. Polack left New Zealand in 1837, returning in 1842. He finally departed New Zealand in 1850, emigrating to California where he died. He authored two books describing his experiences in pre-colonial New Zealand.
  • Te Ara The (online) Encyclopaedia of New Zealand: The Jews Authoritative and up to date encyclopaedia entry by Prof Stephen Levine.
  • Website of the Australian Jewish Historical Society AJHS. The Australian jewish Historical Society Journal, published by the AJHS has included many articles relevant to the Jewish experience in New Zealand. A particularly useful feature of this web-site is a comprehensive online cumulative index to all articles in the AJHS Journal from Volume 1, which commenced in 1939, to Volume 17 (last issue was in 2005), arranged by subject and category.
  • Home Page of the New Zealand Jewish Archives. Placed online July 2006.
  • The Jewish History Australia website jewishhistoryaustralia.net has a number of web pages related to the New Zealand Jewish Experience.
  • Sir Julius Vogel lead the New Zealand government during the 1870's, being formally the Prime Minister over two periods. He initiated massive overseas borrowing for railways and other infrastructure and large scale immigration which hastened NZ development. This biography is part of the official online history of Prime Ministers of New Zealand.
New Zealand Flag
Title page of Manners and Customs
Title page of the first edition (1840) of Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders by J.S. Polack.
Click to enlarge.

   Books on the NZ Jewish
   Community and its History

  • Beaglehole, Ann. A small price to pay: refugees from Hitler in New Zealand, 1936–1946. Allen & Unwin, Wellington, 1988.

  • Beaglehole, Ann. Facing the Past: Looking Back at Refugee Childhood in New Zealand. Allen and Unwin, Wellington, 1990.

  • Beaglehole, Ann and Hal Levine Far from the Promised Land? Being Jewish in New Zealand. Pacific Press/GP Publications, Wellington, 1995.

  • Gluckman, Ann, and Laurie Gluckman, eds. Identity and involvement: Auckland Jewry, past and present. 2 vols. Palmerston North: Dunmore, 1990–1993.

  • Goldman, Lazarus Morris. The history of the Jews in New Zealand. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1958.

  • Levine, Stephen. The New Zealand Jewish community. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington, 1999.

  • Levine, Stephen, ed. A standard for the people: the 150th anniversary of the Wellington Hebrew congregation, 1843–1993. Christchurch: Hazard, 1995.

  • Wittman, Livia. Interactive identities: Jewish women in New Zealand. Palmerston North: Dunmore, 1998.