Newspaper clipping about the Newport Mon Hebrew Congregation, December 1980

Disgrifiad

This undated newspaper clipping contains a letter from Ezekiel "E. E." Nathan to the Editor of The Jewish Chronicle regarding the difficulties faced by the small and ageing Jewish community in Newport. Mr Nathan notes that the biggest problem Jewish communities face is the difficulty of passing the traditions on to younger generations. The letter also expresses disappointment towards the Chief Rabbi who passed Newport by on his visits to both the Cardiff and Swansea communities.

Fragments of articles on the reverse side of the clipping refer to the meeting of the Egyptian minister of agriculture, Mohammad Mahmoud Daoud and the president of Israel, Yitzhak Navon as well as to a flash flood of the Negev that killed a French tourist and a child. These occurred in December 1980. Mr Nathan was the president of the community at the time.

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 their 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 their 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.

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