Jewish Pacific Community

mHE only Jewish congregation in the X Pacific Islands is at Honolulu. Prior to the American annexation in 1898 (says Mr. A. M. Gurau, of Apia, in a paper read in Sydney, recently) there were 100 Jews settled in Hawaii, and a Jewish cemetery of a much earlier date existed.

The British Chief Rabbi Hertz, who visited Honolulu in 1921, commented on the fact that, outside of the naval base, there was little Jewish communal religi ous activity. However, the Aloha Jewish Centre was established in 1922 by the Jewish Welfare Board, on which occa sion Princess David Kawanuakoa volun tarily loaned a Sefer Torah, which had been kept in her family as an heirloom.

Jewish artisans from the East, principally Harbin, came in 1925, and the Jewish population eventually rose to 300. Now there are a flourishing synagogue and school in Honolulu under the direction of a rabbi. Practical help has been given to Jewish refugees who have passed through that port in recent years. Many prominent army and navy officers who have served in Hawaii have been Jews.

E.R.

The General Secretary of the Methodist Overseas Mission in Sydney reports that, although negotiations for the return of some of their missionaries to Papua are still in progress, there seems to be little hope of their return until the present war situation in the near north is clearer.