One of the first Jewish settlers was Henry Marks who arrived in 1881 from Australia. Marks laid the foundation of what became one of the most extensive commercial enterprises in the Western Pacific.

There are few Jews living in the South Pacific island nation of Fiji, aside from a small Jewish community in the capital city of Suva who are mostly descendants of Australian merchants who arrived in the 1880s of approximately 60 Jews. In addition, there are close to 300 people of Jewish descent living in the Fiji Islands, principally in the capital city of Suva.

There are currently three cemeteries in Fiji, located in Momi (private cemetery), Ovalau Island (Levuka), and Suva (old cemetery) with Jewish inscriptions on the tombstones, dating back to the first Jewish settlers in the 19th century.

Until the recent establishment of the Fiji Jewish Association there was little organized activity among the Jewish population. There remains limited religious life among these Jews. The Israeli Embassy holds an annual Passover Seder, which accommodates 50 to 60 people. Kosher food is imported from Australia.

Purim on March 6, 1985 in Suva was the first religious celebration to be held in Fiji. The Purim event commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day”, as recorded in the book of Esther in the Bible.