Abraham Rabinovitch

{{distinguish|Abraham Rabinovich}}

{{Use Australian English|date=November 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}

{{notability|Biography|date=May 2023}}

{{short description|Australian-Russian property developer}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Abraham Rabinovitch

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Abraham Isaac Rabinovitch

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1889|11|05|df=y}}

| birth_place = Tiraspol, Russian Empire

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|07|26|1889|11|05|df=y}}

| death_place = Bellevue Hill, New South Wales

| nationality = Russian / Australian

| spouse = Chaya (Hake) Sara Gitman
(m. ~1910; dec'd. 1965)

| other_names =

| occupation = Property developer; merchant

| known_for = Philanthropy

| footnotes =

}}

Abraham Isaac Rabinovitch (1889–1964) was an Australian-Russian property developer and well-respected pioneer of the Sydney Modern Orthodox Jewish community; in particular as a founder and philanthropist of Sydney's full-time Jewish educational institutions.

Biography

Rabinovitch was born in Tiraspol, Russian Empire, on 5 November 1889. He married his first cousin, Chaya Gitman, in about 1910; immigrated via Harbin to Australia in about 1915;{{cite book |author=Ehrlich, M. Avrum |title=The Jewish-Chinese Nexus: A Meeting of Civilizations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfUl2vKpo2wC&pg=PA136|year=2008|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-10553-3 |pages=136}} and after initially trying to make a living in Brisbane, Queensland, they moved to Sydney in 1921 and became naturalised Australians. Rabinovitch and his wife remained childless despite several miscarriages.{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |id2=rabinovitch-abraham-isaac-11475 |year=2002 |volume=16 |last=Rutland |first=Suzanne D. |title=Abraham Isaac Rabinovitch (1889–1964) |access-date=3 July 2013 }}

Rabinovitch was a real estate investor who successfully developed properties in the Sydney central business district and the suburbs of {{NSWcity|Bondi}} and Bondi Junction. He was supportive of the Sydney Jewish community, founding two large educational institutions, the Yeshiva Centre and Moriah College.{{Cite web |title=Moriah College |work=Teaching Heritage |author=Rutland, Suzanne D. |url=http://www.teachingheritage.nsw.edu.au/downloads/docs/rutland.doc |access-date=3 July 2013 }} He also built New South Wales' first mikvah at 117 Glenayr Avenue in Bondi.

He died in his {{NSWcity|Bellevue Hill}} home on 26 July 1964 and was buried in Rookwood Cemetery. His portrait by Joseph Wolinski is held by Moriah College.

References