Letter from the Cardiff United Synagogue to the Chief Rabbinate Council regarding the Biennial Election meeting for Representatives of the Council, 10 September 1963

Disgrifiad

The letter is from the Cardiff United Synagogue (CUS) and is addressed to A. H. Silverman, the Secretary of the United Synagogue in London. The letter is dated 10 September 1963 and reads: "In reply to your letter of August 12th, 1963, re Election-Representatives of the Council, we feel as the senior and largest Community in South Wales it should fall on us to convene election meetings for the Chief Rabbinate Council and we would be glad to hear that you agree to this and authorise us to have the Biennial Election meeting held in Cardiff and that it should be convened by us." The letter is signed by T. L. Edwards, the CUS Secretary.

The Chief Rabbinate Council is the council of the Chief Rabbi. The Chief Rabbi is the spiritual leader of the United Synagogue. Founded in 1870 the United Synagogue is the union of Orthodox Jewish synagogues in the United Kingdom. The Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth from 1948 to 1965 was Sir Israel Brodie.

The Cardiff United Synagogue was established in 1942 when the Cardiff Hebrew Congregation and the Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation were united into a single organisation. The early years of the Cardiff congregation remain shrouded in mystery, but it is known that a Jewish cemetery was founded in 1841 and a purpose-built synagogue was built for the Cardiff Hebrew Congregation in 1858 in East Terrace. As the congregation outgrew the premises, a new synagogue was opened on Cathedral Road in 1897. In 1889, a group of recent immigrants left the “Englisher shul” to form the “foreigners’ shul” formally known as the Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation. Having initially worshipped at Edward Place and Clare Road, the New Congregation moved to purpose-built on Windsor Place in 1918. After the 1942 reunification, the Cardiff United Synagogue continued to use both the Windsor Place and the Cathedral Road synagogues until 1955 when the former was sold, and a new synagogue was built on Ty-Gwyn Road in Penylan. The Cathedral Road synagogue was eventually sold in 1988 and the Ty-Gwyn Road synagogue in 2003 with the congregation moving to its current premises in Cyncoed Gardens.

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/card/index.htm).

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.