Welcome letter for the re-opening of the newly refurbished Newport Hebrew Congregation, Newport, 2004

Disgrifiad

This document is a welcome letter, provided by the Newport Hebrew Congregation dated 22 February 2004. The letter is written to address those in attendance of the re-opening of the Newport Hebrew Congregation after refurbishment. Associates from Cardiff are addressed in the document, appreciation is communicated to the President of Swansea, and gratitude is conveyed for the congregation itself. A brief description of the activities in operation are also provided, followed by a listed schedule of Reverend Malcolm Wiseman's talk regarding the Jewish community and the rest of the country.

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.