Bertha Porush

Bertha Porush (1903–2009) was a rebbetzin (rabbi's wife) in the Great Synagogue, Sydney. She was pivotal in the development of women's representation and service. Her parents were Isidor and Mathilde Link.

Influence She moved to London in the 1930s where she met her husband Dr Rabbi Israel Porush. Israel Porush had been born in Jerusalem and educated in Germany. In 1940 they moved to Sydney because Israel was appointed Rabbi of the Great Synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in Sydney, Australia. Before this, only wives of the Chief Minister and board members were allowed to participate in decision making. The women's auxiliary drew together all the existing women's groups, women who had worked for the synagogue, and the Sacred Vestments Guild. In the late 1950s, Porush proposed that there should be a Junior Auxiliary to train young married women for future leadership. This group was convened in May 1961. After his death in 1991, Porush moved with her daughter to Jerusalem, where she died aged 105.

Family Porush had two daughters, Judith (b.1935 d. 1969) and Naomi (b. 1937).