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Description

Article from West Quest Magazine written by Harry Poloway, marking the closure of the Nathan Harris Memorial Hall Synagogue, Newport on 20 July 1997. The article briefly outlines the history of the Newport (MON) Hebrew Congregation between 1859 and 1997 including, the gift of land (known as "Jews' Wood") for the original cemetery, the induction of Reverends Sandow and Braunold, the growth of the synagogue's cheder in the early 1900s, and particularly memorable occasions such as the consecration of the Queen's Hill synagogue in 1934. According to Harry Poloway, the closure of the synagogue in 1997 was "not the end of the congregation but a recognition of its reduction in numbers and the increasing age of its members."

Newport Monmouthshire Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1859 by orthodox Jews meeting at a temporary synagogue in Llanarth Street. A synagogue at Francis Street was opened in 1869 and consecrated by the Chief Rabbi Dr Herman Adler in 1871. In 1934 the congregation moved to the Nathan Harris Memorial Hall in Queen's Hill which was converted to a synagogue. In 1997 this synagogue was closed, and the congregation moved to the Prayer House by the Jewish Burial Ground on Risca Road. Within 20 years the congregation had dwindled to a few members able to attend and this too had ceased to hold services.

Sources:
"History of our Shul. The First Hundred Years", published by Newport Congregation in 1959;
Oral history interviews with members of the Newport Mon Hebrew Congregation, recorded in 2018 by JHASW.

Depository: Gwent Archives.

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