BLAUBAUM, ELIAS

BLAUBAUM, ELIAS (1847–1904), Australian Jewish minister. Born in rural Hesse, Germany, Blaubaum immigrated to Australia in 1873, learning English on the boat en route, and served as minister of Melbourne's St. Kilda Hebrew Congregation until his death. Learned in Jewish law, he defended traditional Orthodoxy and, although never ordained as a rabbi, served on Melbourne's Beth Din. From 1879 he edited the Jewish Herald newspaper and was one of the earliest Jewish voices in Australia to assert Jewish identity in an aggressive manner and to combat antisemitism. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: H.L. Rubinstein, "Rev. Elias Blaubaum," in: Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal, 9 (Part 8), 1985, 567–81; idem, Australia I, 263–64, index. (William D. Rubinstein (2nd ed.)