Letter to Newport (MON) Hebrew Congregation, setting out resolutions passed at a General Meeting, Newport, 4 September 1977

Description

Letter to the Newport (MON) Hebrew Congregation from the President, Ezekiel Nathan, setting out the resolutions passed at a General Meeting held at the Nathan Harris Memorial Hall, Newport on 4 September 1977. The resolutions related to annual subscriptions for male and female members and burial rights - specifically preserving burial rights for certain members of the Brynmawr community. The letter also refers to the financial difficulties faced by the Newport congregation and strongly urges members to pay their subscriptions if they wish the synagogue to continue.

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.