In the summer of 1788, several ships docked at Sydney, Australia, after a grueling 250-day journey. Their passengers, about 1,000 convicts exiled from England, were the first settlers in this new penal colony on a far-off continent. Eight of them were Jews. Thus, according to its founding myth, began the European settlement of Australia, including its Jewish community, which has since grown to include 117,000 people and which made headlines this week under grave circumstances.