The Lamm Jewish Library of Australia, Australian Jewish Historical Society and the Royal Historical Society of Victoria present

The Mysterious Dr David Hailperin: Kabbalah, Black Magic and Jewish Life in 1850’s Victoria

This lecture will explore the remarkable and little-known story of Dr David Hailperin — rabbi, physician, collector of rare Jewish books, and reputed practitioner of black magic. Hailperin arrived in Melbourne from England in 1855 and died just five years later in Englewood, Victoria. Yet despite his short time in Australia, he left behind a rich documentary trail that reveals an eccentric and complex personality.

Join us for an intriguing journey into colonial Victoria, Jewish mysticism, and the life of a man who brought Black Magic and controversy to the streets of Melbourne and to the goldfields.

About the presenter

Dr Merav Carmeli holds a PhD in Jewish Studies and specialises in Jewish mysticism. She has taught at universities and academic institutions in Israel, the United States and Australia. She served as an advisor to the State Library of Victoria for the exhibition Luminous: A Thousand Years of Hebrew Manuscripts and contributed to the cataloguing of SLV Halperin’s Hebrew manuscript collection. Dr Carmeli is currently the Director of the Lamm Jewish Library of Australia.

Housekeeping

This event will be hybrid so presented in person in our rooms and also via ZOOM. Those purchasing ZOOM tickets will be sent the log-in details 24hrs before the event.

An automatically generated confirmation of booking email is sent on booking – please check your Trash or Spam folders if this email does not turn up in your inbox.

As with most of our events, refreshments will be served from 5:30pm – 6pm when the lecture starts (the Zoom session also starts at 6pm). There will be Q&A at the end of the lecture.