Letter from The Zionist Federation to synagogues in Great Britain and Ireland regarding Passover Manifesto, London, April 1960

Description

This letter is from The Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland to Rabbis, Ministers, Hon. Officers and secretaries of Synagogues in Great Britain and Ireland. It was found amongst the records retrieved from the Newport Synagogue in 2018. The letter has the Hebrew date Nisan, 5720 which is April 1960. The text is as follows: 'Dear Friends, Enclosed please find two copies of our Passover Manifesto: one for display in your Synagogue and the other to be read from the pulpit on the last day of Yom Tov in English or in Yiddish before the prayer for the deceased. I hope you will be good enough to make the necessary arrangements in this connection. Thanking you in anticipation of your kind co-operation, Wishing you a happy Passover, Yours sincerely, (Rabbi Dr.) J. Litvin.'

The Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland was founded in 1899 to campaign for a permanent homeland for Jewish people. Part of the umbrella organisation The Zionist Federation, they are the leading advocacy organisation for Israel in the United Kingdom. They run campaigns to raise awareness of issues facing Israel.

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 their 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 their 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:
https://zionist.org.uk/;
"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.