109 candles for Australia’s oldest Jew

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SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) — Australia’s oldest Jewish person turned 109 years old.

Mary Rothstein was feted at a party Sunday at a Jewish Care home for the aged in Melbourne attended by her daughter, Ruth Cavallaro, two grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Rothstein was born in Russia on Feb. 27, 1901, moved to the United Kingdom when she was 2 and immigrated to Australia in 1958.

“I can’t understand why I’ve lived so long,” Rothstein told the Australian Jewish News. “It doesn’t seem possible.”

The world’s oldest Jewish person, 112-year-old Rosa Rein, died in Switzerland in early February.
 

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