The Melbourne Jewish community was established in 1841. Jews clustered around shops and businesses in the center of the city in Collins, Bourke, and Elizabeth streets and in 1847 opened the first synagogue (Melbourne Hebrew Congregation) in that area. The influx in the 1850s and 1860s led to settlement in working-class districts in the suburbs adjoining the city - Fitzroy, Carlton, Richmond, and East Melbourne. The East Melbourne Congregation was founded in 1857 with Moses Rintel as minister, most of the congregants being immigrants from Germany and Austria. At the turn of the century this congregation was led by the patriarchal figure, Rev. Jacob Lenzer.

There were continuous movements of Jews from their first areas of settlement to new areas. In the wake of such a group movement the St. Kilda Synagogue was opened in 1872. In the period before compulsory education the Melbourne Hebrew School was established as a day school in 1874 and continued till 1886, when it was closed because of financial difficulties. In 1888 the three congregations (Melbourne, East Melbourne, and St. Kilda) established the United Jewish Education Board, which conducted part-time Hebrew schools in various centers.