Letter from the Joint Secretary of the Cardiff New Synagogue Ladies' Guild to members of the Cardiff New Synagogue, dated 19 March 1962. The letter notifies members of the 10th Annual Garden Party, to be held on 27 May 1962 in Whitchurch, Cardiff. The letter sets out the admission fee, which includes tea, as well as a number of attractions such as Tombola, Punch and Judy and Side Shows. The letter is included in a Cardiff New Synagogue Ladies' Guild Minute Book, 1961-1969. Other letters in this Minute Book make it clear that the Ladies' Guild Annual Garden Party was the main social and fundraising venture for the Cardiff New Synagogue at that time.

The Cardiff New Synagogue Ladies' Guild, a women-only volunteer group, was established in 1950. The ladies of the Guild organised religious, fund raising and social activities for the Synagogue - from the annual garden parties, to the food of festivals and to talks held in members' homes, as well as acts of tzedakah (justice or charity) and community welfare. The Ladies' Guild ceased to exist in 1986. In its place, a new guild formed that was open to both men and women, which focussed more on fundraising for the Synagogue.

The Cardiff Reform Synagogue was founded in 1948 as the Cardiff New Synagogue. The following year, it became a constituent member of the Movement for Reform Judaism. Born in reaction against the more restrictive traditions of the Orthodox Judaism of Cardiff Hebrew Congregation, such as the prohibition of driving on the Sabbath and the ban on interfaith marriages, the new Synagogue appealed to immigrants who had fled war-torn Europe, where the Reform movement was already well-established. The congregation worships in a converted Methodist Chapel on Moira Terrace, acquired in 1952.

Sources:
'The History of the Jewish Diaspora in Wales' by Cai Parry-Jones (http://e.bangor.ac.uk/4987);
JCR-UK/JewishGen (https://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/card1/index.htm).

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.