Australia’s oldest Jew celebrates 109

Mary Rothstein, Australia’s oldest Jewish person, was feted at her 109th birthday party Feb. 28 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. — jta