Published: 8 February 2022
Last updated: 4 March 2024
NOMI KALTMANN meets three Melbourne synagogue caretakers, aka ‘Shabbos goys’, who share the pleasure in their jobs, and some strange discoveries too
A SHABBOS GOY is the colloquial Yiddish term that refers to a non-Jewish person who is employed to perform work that is forbidden to Jewish people on Shabbat.
Most synagogues employ non-Jews to perform this specific work on Shabbat. It can be hard to-find the right person to fill these roles, which requires a comprehensive understanding of Jewish culture and practices. But in Melbourne, there is a small group of employees who have stayed in their roles for decades.
Eva Sarkissian has been working for the Mizrachi organisation in Melbourne for more than 20 years. Eva has been officially contracted to work as a cleaner and maintenance officer at the synagogue and associated school, Leibler Yavneh College, since 1998. However, her day job is immaterial to her legion of young fans.
On any given Saturday morning, Eva is known as a distributor of treats and lollies. She doesn’t mind performing Shabbat duties for the synagogue where she has been working for decades.
I especially like Saturdays, when I get to be like a grandmother to little children.
“I don’t know how to explain it. I like Jewish people, of course, and I always do my job properly, but I especially like every Saturday, when I get to be like a grandmother to little children,” she says.
Born in Greece, Eva moved to Australia in 1974 when she was 25 years old. “After all this time, it’s like family for me, you know!” she says with a smile.” Sometimes people say to me: Eva you are Jewish, but I say ‘no, I’m not Jewish, I just feel like you’.”
Eva is not the only non-Jewish employee at the synagogue. Jim Moustos is another employee who has been a longtime presence at Mizrachi Melbourne, working as a caretaker since 2009. He had a previous stint working at Leibler Yavneh College as a “maintenance guy” from 1999-2004.
