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Welcome to Singapore! If you’re looking for a Jewish home away from home, you’ve come to the right place.
Ever since the early 19th Century, Singapore established itself a safe haven for Jews and soon developed into a thriving community with a vibrant Jewish life. That spirit of hospitality never left us and remains our hallmark to this day.
Our congregation follows the Sephardic Orthodox rite, and while we are proud of our commitment to Halacha, we pride ourselves in being an inclusive community which welcomes all Jews, from all denominations and backgrounds, in the spirit of Ahavat Israel.
Singapore boasts a multiracial and religiously diverse society which prides itself in the harmonious and peaceful ties enjoyed by and between all faith communities. In that respect, it stands among just a few countries that are genuinely free of racism and antisemitism.
In this spirit of respect and tolerance, Jews have risen to great prominence and contributed greatly to the growth and development of Singapore as a nation. Sir Manasseh Meyer, the great philanthropist and Jewish leader; David Marshall, Singapore’s first Chief Minister; Dr. Yahya Cohen, one of Singapore’s Surgeon General; Jacob Ballas, well-known financier and philanthropist and founder of the Malaya and Singapore stock exchange and many others have served as model citizens and ambassadors of our eternal Jewish values and heritage.
Singapore serves as a financial hub in Asia but also as a Jewish hub. Our community is home to approximately 2,500 Jewish residents, mainly expatriates from Israel, America, Australia and Europe.
The Maghain Aboth Synagogue (founded in 1878), the Chesed El Synagogue (founded in 1905), the Jacob Ballas Centre and our School were established with one single purpose; to serve the Jewish needs of our community. Therefore, besides the entire spectrum of religious services, we aim to provide a variety of social and educational activities throughout the year for children, teenagers, young professionals and families.
Here is a short overview of the services, activities and programs we provide: ladies Mikvah, men’s Mikveh, the Awafi Kosher restaurant, our Sunday Hebrew School program, the Abdallah Shooker home for the aged, Chevra Kadisha (Jewish burial and funeral services), our Kosher shop, Shabbat and Holy days meals and catering, outreach programs, Synagogue tours etc…
We look forward to seeing you soon with us and wish you an enjoyable stay in Singapore.
Lehitraot!
Throughout the year, the JWB organizes a variety of recreational events for the benefit of our vibrant community. We offer events for all age groups and demographics, as well as general communal events catering to the community at large.
We hold weekly communal Shabbat meals, as well as meals on and around all of the Jewish festivals. So have a look around, choose YOUR fun, and let the good times begin!
Rabbi Mordechai Abergel was born in France in 1968 and grew up in Belgium. He left Belgium at 17 to study at the Rabbinical College in Morristown, New Jersey. From 1989 to 1990 he spent time in Miami as an emissary where he led outreach activities geared towards the Sephardic communities of Greater Miami.
In 1992 Rabbi Abergel received his smicha (Rabbinic degree) at the Tomchei Tmimim Rabbinical Seminary in Brooklyn, New York, where the world headquarters of the Chabad Lubavitch movement is also located.
In 1994, Rabbi Abergel and his wife Simcha joined us in Singapore, excited to bring youthful energy and new ideas to this long-established community. We haven’t looked back since. The Rabbi has brought traditional skills – for instance, he is a trained Shochet (ritual slaughterer). He has also added many new dimensions that have enriched the community.
Rabbi Netanel Rivni and his wife Odelia joined our Community from Israel in 2006.
Rabbi Rivni currently serves as the head of the Yeshiva outreach program and oversees all social and youth activities throughout the year.
His contribution is felt in many areas and in particular with the families and youth of the community.
He continues to create and implement new projects with the objective to enrich the quality of Jewish life in Singapore.
Ganenu is an exciting, new approach to Jewish early child development (14 months-4 years) open year round. Ganenu means “our garden”, as our proprietary curriculum creates a fertile environment that accelerates your child’s love of Judaism, love of Israel, mental and physical growth, Jewish values, connection to others, and will start children off with a strong and loving foundation. We offer a dynamic, loving preschool experience for all the Jews of Singapore. Our purpose at Ganenu is to provide the highest quality, child-centred Jewish education, which takes the best from various schools of thought (Reggio Emilia, Montessori and more) to create the best for our children. Our children are viewed as collaborators: they are competent, curious, inquisitive, unique, and creative.
Our School offers basic Jewish education in Torah, Hebrew language, history, and culture for children of kindergarten age through seventh grade (Bar Mitzvah).
Our teachers engage the students in the learning process with fun activities and assess each child’s individual success rate and teach them accordingly. Our mission is for every student to be proud of their Jewish heritage, identity, traditions and values and to have a strong commitment to the Land and the State of Israel.
Our students learn the meaning and joy of Jewish customs and traditions, traditional prayers, the history of the Jewish people, and more.
Sir Manasseh Meyer International School (SMMIS) is an academically rigorous, non-profit Jewish school with state-of-the-art facilities, where we nurture enquiring minds. At SMMIS cultivating wonder is a way of life. We are a small school with a strong ethical foundation and engender a commitment to social action. Our children are encouraged to see themselves as global citizens, with charity and volunteering a strong aspect of school life. We have a strong, internationally trained staff body, who ignite a passion for lifelong learning, creative thinking and inspire a curiosity in the world around us. With over 25 nationalities, everyone’s identity is celebrated.
Our team has engineered a bespoke internationally minded curriculum, providing our diverse student body with the very best from around the world. Learning at SMMIS is broad, varied, contemporary and enriching. We focus on collaboration and enquiry, skills we believe stand the test of time. We use the frameworks of the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) and International Middle Years Curricula (IMYC) and offer the Cambridge iGCSE’s in Grades 9-10. We follow the British National Curriculum Literacy and Singapore Maths Curriculum.
If you would like to find out more about SMMIS please book a tour with our Admissions Team or contact us at [email protected] for more information.