‘Heebs in the Hills’: Discover Victoria’s hidden Jewish community

The Dandenong Ranges, known to locals as ‘the Hills’, is renowned for its natural beauty and small-town charm, with around 40,000 residents spread across suburbs including Belgrave, Olinda and Emerald.

Less well-known is its quiet yet vibrant Jewish community, which comprises 80 to 100 families – a figure that is growing – with many joining for the area's affordability, nature and slower pace of life.

“It’s like you’re living in a postcard,” Jewish local Naomi Kopitko told The Jewish Independent. “The moment you enter the hill, the terrain shifts… there are cows and sheep, forests and valleys. People’s jaws drop when they visit."

In 2015, Kopitko and her husband left the cramped inner-city suburb of Windsor for sprawling Belgrave, looking for a bang for their buck.

“It started with finances,” she explained. “It’s the difference between a small two-bedroom apartment and a three-bedroom house with a garden and beautiful surroundings."

Kopitko and her husband run 'Heebs in the Hills', a Facebook group that serves as an informal hub for the area’s Jewish residents. “We got a vibe that there were quite a few Jews and Israelis in the area. We started the group to wave our hands around and say, ‘We’re here.’”