Document detailing the creation of the Cardiff New Synagogue, Cardiff, 1952

Description

The document was likely to have been intended as a speech to the congregation of the Cardiff New Synagogue. It details the commencement of the Synagogue as well as its development over the years. The author of the document is unknown; incorrect date of January 1952 is handwritten on the document.

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 the immigrants who had fled the war-torn Europe, where the Reform movement was already well-established. The congregation worships in a converted Methodist Chapel on Moira Terrace they 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.

• https://cardiffreformsynagogue.uk/new/ (link opens in new window)