Documents relating to the renovation of the Cardiff Reform Synagogue Memorial Board and the addition of 48 names, Cardiff, 12 April 2000-5 October 2000

The Memorial Board/ Tablet was initially erected in 1954 in memory of the relatives of synagogue members who had died in the Holocaust and whose graves are unknown. It originally contained 54 names.

This series of documents and correspondence explains the renovation and the addition of 48 names (image 2) to the board by W. Clarke, who was also the original maker of the board.

W. Clarke added the new names (image 2) and re-gilded all the existing letters, as the board would have looked patchy if all the lettering had not received the same treatment. The Hebrew lettering and the dedication panel at the top of the board were also renovated. The work was completed by October 2000.

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:

JCR-UK: Jewish Communities & Records, Cardiff Reform Synagogue, Cardiff, Wales (2020) https://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/card1/index.htm [accessed 14 March 2024]

Parry-Jones, Cai, The History of the Jewish Diaspora in Wales (doctoral thesis, Bangor University, 2014)
https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/files/20579001/null [14 March 2024]

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.