BOAS, Abraham Tobias (1844-1923)

rabbi Hebrew congregation, Adelaide

was born at Amsterdam, Holland, where his father was also a rabbi, on 25 November 1844. He was educated at the local Jewish school and studied theology under a well-known Hebraist, Delaville. In 1865 he went to England, and in 1867 became minister to the Jewish congregation at Southampton. In 1869 he was selected as rabbi for the congregation at Adelaide, and he arrived there on 13 February 1870. He held the position for 48 years, and became a well-known figure in all movements intended to forward the cultural and material good of the community . Well read, a great student of Shakespeare, urbane and kind-hearted, broad-minded and anxious to be of use to other denominations than his own, he was a welcome visitor to the Y.M.C.A., and often lectured on aspects of Jewish life and Old Testament history. He not only earned the affection of his own congregation, he was generally recognized as a valuable and public-spirited citizen. He resigned his charge in 1918 in consequence of an illness from which he never fully recovered. He died on 20 February 1923. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac Solomon, who died in 1916, and was survived by four sons and five daughters.

The Register, Adelaide, 21 February 1923; The Advertiser, Adelaide, 21 February 1923.