Photographs of Erev Simchat Torah at Cardiff New Synagogue, 1958-60

Disgrifiad

Two photographs of a Simchat Torah taking place at Cardiff new Synagogue [a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle] held around 1958-1960. Many children in the procession can be seen in the photograph waving paper flags and holding lit tapers.

Cardiff Reform 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 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:
Simchat Torah: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simchat_Torah;
'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.