Leaflet containing information on the Cardiff New Synagogue, Cardiff, 1949-52

Description

A document written by Leslie Corne, the Honorary Secretary of the Cardiff New Synagogue, likely to be distributed to the members of the congregation. The leaflet includes details of the creation of the Synagogue as well as the different services to be offered by the Synagogue, including religious classes, Barmitzvahs, marriages and burials, among others. The year of the document is not indicated but it must have been written soon after the synagogue had been established as it notes that "... Synagogue (Reform) will become a constituent of the Association of Synagogues in Great Britain...".

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).

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.

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