Kol Bo printed in 1904 and presented to the Newport Hebrew Congregation by Mr and Mrs Jacobs in 1905

Description

A printed Kol Bo, a collection of Jewish ritual and civil laws; the meaning of the title is "all is in it" (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9441-kol-bo). The book is in Hebrew except for a part of the title page which is in Cyrillic script and states that the book was printed in Warsaw in 1904. This book bears a plate on the front cover which states: “Presented to the Newport Hebrew Congregation by Mr. & Mrs. Mendel Jacobs in memory of their father and mother, the late Hezekiah & Sarah Jacobs. 5666-1905.” (The year is given in both Hebrew and Gregorian calendar form.)

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.