Newport (MON) Hebrew Congregation: minutes of of an extraordinary meeting, 30 March 1993

Disgrifiad

This document contains a transcription of the minutes of an extraordinary meeting of the Newport (MON) Hebrew Congregation on 30 March. No year is given, but the listed names of several members of the congregation who had passed away recently, together with calendarial evidence, indicates that the meeting took place in 1993.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Kashrut (also spelled Kashrus) in the synagogue and the adherence to the rules set at the community meetings. The congregation decided that all food brought into the building must comply with the rules of Kashrut and that the samovar is always turned on Friday before Shabbat. Anyone holding a private Kiddush must also adhere to the rules regarding the samovar and the Kashrut.

Newport Monmouthshire Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1859 by orthodox Jews meeting at a temporary synagogue in Llanarth Street. A synagogue at Francis Street was opened in 1869 and consecrated by the Chief Rabbi Dr Herman Adler in 1871. In 1934 the congregation moved to the Nathan Harris Memorial Hall in Queen’s Hill which was converted to a synagogue. In 1997 this synagogue was closed, and the congregation moved to the Prayer House by the Jewish Burial Ground on Risca Road. Within 20 years the congregation had dwindled to a few members able to attend and this too had ceased to hold services.

Sources:
“History of our Shul. The First Hundred Years", published by Newport Congregation in 1959;
Oral history interviews with members of the Newport (MON) Hebrew Congregation, recorded in 2018 by JHASW.

Depository: Gwent Archives.