Letter to members of the Cardiff New Synagogue Ladies' Guild setting out an agenda for their annual general meeting, to be held at the New Synagogue on 30 March 1958

Disgrifiad

Letter to members of the Cardiff New Synagogue Ladies' Guild, setting out an agenda for their next annual general meeting to be held at the Synagogue on 30 March 1958. The agenda includes the election of officers and the letter stresses that the work of the Guild cannot continue without nominations for two Joint Chairmen. The letter also encloses the Balance Sheet for the Ladies' Guild for the year ending 31 December 1957 which sets out items of expenditure, (such as stationary and cleaning materials), income received, including donations and proceeds from functions and the contribution made to the synagogue.

The Cardiff New Synagogue Ladies' Guild, a women-only volunteer group, was established in 1950. The ladies of the Guild organised religious, fund raising and social activities for the Synagogue - from the annual garden parties, to the food of festivals and to talks held in members' homes, as well as acts of tzedakah (justice or charity) and community welfare. The Ladies' Guild ceased to exist in 1986. In its place, a new guild formed that was open to both men and women, which focussed more on fundraising for the Synagogue.

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 immigrants who had fled war-torn Europe, where the Reform movement was already well-established. The congregation worships in a converted Methodist Chapel on Moira Terrace, 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.