Cardiff New Synagogue Newsletter, December 1992

Description

A newsletter for the congregation of Cardiff New Synagogue (later Cardiff Reform Synagogue), dated December 1992. The newsletter contains obituaries, opinion pieces, articles, details of future synagogue-led events, open letters and Sabbath Readings for upcoming services.

The newsletter includes:

Obituary for Eve Graf, who died on 16 September 1992, by Alfred Moritz. Graf had been the rebbetzin of Cardiff New Synagogue since 1949 when her husband became the rabbi. He would keep the position for 31 years. Eve Graf continued to play an active role in the synagogue following her husband's retirement and, later in 1986, his death. Graf and her husband came to the United Kingdom in 1939 to escape persecution from the Nazis in Berlin.

An article entitled 'A Day to Remember at CNS' by Myer Myman. The article describes the Sabbath service on 20 September 1992 when Elaina Rothman was inducted as the Synagogue's new rabbi. As part of the same service Rabbi Graf was commemorated by the congregation - two new stained-glass windows were dedicated to his memory.

A biography of the new rabbi: Rabbi Elaina Rothman by Myer Wyman. She was born in 1948 - the year that Cardiff New Synagogue (later Cardiff Reform Synagogue) was formed.

An advertisement for an annual seminar held for couples in interfaith relationships ('I'm Jewish, My Partner Isn't'). The interest in these seminars - more than 200 people attended the first one held in 1988 - highlights the large number of Jews marrying outside of Judaism.

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:
'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).

The depository: Glamorgan Archives.

• https://cardiffReformsynagogue.uk/new/ (link opens in new window)