Poster for the celebration of the re-opening of the Synagogue Hall of the Cardiff New Synagogue, Cardiff

Description

A poster for the celebration dinner of the official re-opening of the Synagogue Hall of the Cardiff New Synagogue (now known as the Cardiff Reform Synagogue). The dinner was organised by the Cardiff New Synagogue Guild and was to take place on 7 May. The poster includes details of the different times for the Reception and the Dinner as well as the price of the ticket. The year of the event is not indicated; however, the event must have taken place sometime between 1952, when the congregation acquired the Moira Terrace building, and 1998, when the name of the synagogue was changed from 'new' to 'reform'.

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)