Letter from Rabbi Hertz of Beth Hamedrash Kingsley Way to Israel Rocker of Newport Mon Hebrew Congregation, London, 26 February 1996

Description

A letter from Rabbi Hertz of Beth Hamedrash on Kingsley Way in London addressed to Israel Rocker of Newport (MON) Hebrew Congregation. In the letter, Rabbi Hertz is enquiring if Beth Hamedrash congregation could borrow the Brynmawr Sefer Torah, which was at time in custody of the Newport congregation.

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.