Issue No. 2 of CeNeS: The Magazine of Cardiff New (later Reform) Synagogue, April 1994

Description

The second issue of CeNeS: The Magazine of Cardiff New (later Reform) Synagogue that came out in April 1994.

Noteworthy features:

1) Rabbi Elaina Rothman's think-piece.
She describes how cheder needs to be considered important by young members of the Cardiff Reform Synagogue before they are the age to become Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutoring takes a year and the Rabbi stresses that a year's schooling is not long enough for Jewish children to take on board the teaching for the rest of their life.

2) An anonymous piece of writing from a Jewish woman with Christian parents on the difficulty of mourning them. She is unsure what rituals are appropriate for her to follow and how she can find support among her friends with Jewish parents.

3) A description of the building work that was being done to the synagogue: the refurbishment of the hall, toilets and kitchen. This was all estimated to take around two to three months.

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 services were initially held in the Temple of Peace. The congregation now worships in a converted Methodist Chapel on Moira Terrace they acquired in 1952.

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.

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