Letter between the editor of the Jewish Chronicle and L A Moritz, Professor of Latin in the University of Wales, 20 May 1962

Description

Letter between the editor of the Jewish Chronicle and L A Moritz, a significant member in the Cardiff New Synagogue congregation. Letter is written by L A Moritz on reports on a letter to the Chief Rabbi by Jewish university teachers. He states was he aware of the letter he would willingly sign it and although the letter to the Chief Rabbi was not successful in its aims, the issues it raises are really important for the future of Judaism.

Alfred Moritz, a professor of classics at the University College Cardiff, was born in Munich on 11 May 1921. In 1937 he was sent to England by his parents and secured a scholarship at St Paul's School, London.

In 1939 he was awarded a scholarship to Merton College, Oxford, where he read Greats until his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of war. He completed his undergraduate studies at Oxford in 1947. He was appointed to the Chair of Latin in Cardiff in 1961 and occupied the Chair of Classics from 1967 to 1979.

He died on January 7, 2003, aged 81.

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.

Depository: Glamorgan Archives

This record was uploaded by Krista Benedikz as part of the Jewish History Association of South Wales/Cymdeithas Hanes Iddewig De Cymru (JHASW/CHIDC) 'Sharing skills: enabling communities to preserve their heritage' project.