Cardiff New Synagogue newsletter, March 2001.

It starts with the ‘chairman's chatter’ explaining the history of Shabbat Shekalim and the Shekel tax and asking for it to be celebrated today by donations to the ‘Friends of Progressive Judaism,’ which helps to strengthen Progressive Judaism across Europe and Israel.

The document also recaps births, birthdays, and wedding anniversaries celebrated by Cardiff New synagogue in March 2001.

The document next outlines the checking of the synagogue’s Sifre Torah. It states that ‘most Sifre Torah have an error margin of five mistakes.’ They are considered ‘pasul’, which means they are not fit for use until the mistakes are corrected. The synagogue’s Sifre Torah was sent to be checked by a computer scanner and was found to have 11 mistakes, these were subsequently corrected and sent back to the Synagogue, now usable and kosher. The section finishes with a plan to fundraise money to have two other smaller scrolls from the synagogue checked.

The document finishes with a schedule of activities in the synagogue’s community in March 2001 and some upcoming events in Aril and June of the same year, including interfaith events, council meetings and Shabbat.

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:

JCR-UK: Jewish Communities & Records, Cardiff Reform Synagogue, Cardiff, Wales (2020) https://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/card1/index.htm [accessed 14 March 2024]

Parry-Jones, Cai, The History of the Jewish Diaspora in Wales (doctoral thesis, Bangor University, 2014)
https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/files/20579001/null [14 March 2024]

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.