Document listing the terms of appointment for the Cardiff New Synagogue Rabbi, Moira Terrace, Cardiff, 1970/1990.

This document is a photocopy of guidelines recommended to Cardiff’s New Synagogue when appointing new Rabbis. These guidelines are compatible with those produced by The Reform Synagogues of Great Britain in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The Reform Synagogues of Great Britain was the main organisation formed from of the movement for Reform Judaism in Great Britain. The Reform Synagogues of Great Britain emerged from the growing Jewish reform community in 1958, changing in 2005 to The Movement for Reform Judaism. The movement aims to strengthen the British Jewish community, focusing on young people and families, particularly where one parent is not halachically Jewish.

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]

The Movement for Reform Judaism (2023) https://www.reformjudaism.org.uk/ [accessed 7 March 2024]

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.