Minutes of the annual general meeting of the Cardiff New Synagogue Ladies' Guild 21 May 1974, Cardiff

Description

Minutes of the annual general meeting of the Cardiff New Synagogue Ladies' Guild held on 21 May 1974 in Cardiff. The minutes include a Chairman's Report for the previous year, including a summary of the Guild's successful charitable events (such as the garden party, treasure hunt, film evening and "good as new" shop), the arrangements for the Chanukah and Purim Parties and Communal Seder and the talks held at Guild meetings, on topics ranging from house plants to juvenile offenders. The report notes that it was not possible to hold an annual dance that year due to "industrial and economic crisis" and that Israel was "very much in the minds of everyone as a result of the Yom Kippur War". The minutes also include a Treasurer's report, covering matters such as the increase in the Guild's donations to charity, as well as recording the election of officers and those members acting as representatives to the Synagogue Council and representatives to the Cardiff Jewish Representative Council. The minutes are included in a Cardiff New Synagogue Ladies' Guild Minute Book, 1972-1979.

The Cardiff New Synagogue Ladies' Guild, a women-only volunteer group, was established in 1950. The ladies of the Guild organised religious, fund raising and social activities for the Synagogue - from the annual garden parties, to the food of festivals and to talks held in members' homes, as well as acts of tzedakah (justice or charity) and community welfare. The Ladies' Guild ceased to exist in 1986. In its place, a new guild formed that was open to both men and women, which focussed more on fundraising for the Synagogue.

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