Cardiff Hebrew Congregation

Name:

Cardiff Hebrew Congregation

Alternative Names:

Also known as the Cathedral Road Synagogue and prior to that the East Terrace Synagogue, based on synagogue's address.

It was at one time referred to as the "Englisher Shul" to distinguish it from the Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation, which was founded in 1889 by then recent immigrants and therefore known as the "Foreigners' Shul", or "Furriners' Shul".⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

Last Address:

Cathedral Road, Cardiff CF11 9HA, which was designed by the notable architect Delissa Joseph, FRIBA.^(iv) The foundation stone for the synagogue was laid by Col. Albert Edward Williamson Goldsmid on 29 April 1896, with four corner stones laid by Chief Rabbi Adler, the Mayor of Cardiff, Lord Tredegar and the local Convervative MP, J.M. Maclean. On 12 May 1897, the synagogue was opened by Mr. F.D. Mocatta, president of the West London (Reform) Synagogue, and consecrated by Chief Rabbi Adler, ^(v) and continued in use by the successor congregation (see below) until 1988.

On 20 December 1984 (amended 24 May 2002) the synagogue was designated a Grade II Listed Building (reference number 14107). Most of the building was demolished in the early 1990s, except the facade and rubble stone vestibule, to give way to an office block. View listing on the website of Cadw (Welsh Government’s historic environment service).

Previous Address:

East Terrace, Bute Street, Cardiff, from 1858 until 1897 (redeveloped 1888).^(vi) which had seat accommodation for 120 persons.^(vii) (In 1949, the building was being used as a factory.^(x))

The exact situation prior to 1858, is not totally clear. It is understood by some that, until 1858, the congregation used a premises in Bute Street as a synagogue, having moved there from smaller premises, a room in Trinity Street, which it had used as a permanent synagogue from shortly after 1841.^(xi) However, East Terrace is in Bute Street, and it is possible that the synagogue used immediately prior to 1858 was the Trinity Street premises.

According to Cecil Roth, a synagogue was already established by 1847.^(xii)

Formation:

The traditional date for the establishment of the Congregation is 1840^(xiii) (the community received the grant of a plot of land for a cemetery in 1841), although this was probably a predecessor congregation.

1853 is a date also given, which could be the date the synagogue prior to East Terrace (in Trinity Street? Bute Street?) was established^(xiv), but again this may still have been a predecessor congregation.

It would appear that it was not until 1858, with the opening of the synagogue in East Terrace, that we see the establishment of a congregation under name "Cardiff Hebrew Congregation", which has been described as the "first formal synagogue".^(xvii).

Final Status:

In 1942, the congregation became part of Cardiff United Synagogue. The Synagogue in Cathedral Road continued to be used as one of the synagogues of the Cardiff United Synagogue until its closure in December 1988.^(xviii)

Ritual:

Ashkenazi Orthodox

Affiliation:

The congregation was an unaffiliated congregation under the aegis of the Chief Rabbi.

Other Cardiff Orthodox Congregations:

Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation

Formed in 1889, when a group of "seceders" from the Congregation broke away to establish their own chevra. The schism in the community was not healed until 1942, when the two congregations reunited to form the Cardiff United Synagogue.

Cardiff Beth Hamedrash

Formed in 1896, as a Talmud Torah school, which established itself in 1890 as a separate congregation with a new synagogue in Clare Road, Grangetown. In June 1904, the Beth Hamedrash merged into the Cardiff Hebrew Congregation

In about 1936, the Beth Hamedrash, of Merches Place, Clare Road, reappeared as a congregation, "dependent of the Cathedral Road Congregation".^(xix) The wardens were D. Danovitch and Henry Silver and the beadle was S. Alderman.^(xx)

Roath Park Minyan

Formed in 1934.^(xxiii) Its address in the 1930s was given as Roath Park, when the congregation was described as the Marlborough Road Synagogue,^(xxiv) and in the 1940s, 128 Penylan Road.^(xxv) It appears to have closed by about 1950.^(xxvi) 
Its relationship with the established Cardiff congregations in uncertain as its officers, M.J. Cohen (warden in the 1930s listing, and president in the 1940s listings) and G. Cohen (warden in the 1930s listing) also served as officers of the Cardiff New Hebrew Congregation.

Ministers: (To view a short profile of a minister or reader, etc. whose name appears in blue - hold the cursor over the name.)

Rev. Nathan Jacobs - from 1858 until about 1871.^(xxx)

Rev. Samuel Fillo - from 1879 until at least 1881.^(xxxi)

Rev. Jacob Henry Landau - from February 1887 until August 1890^(xxxii)

Rev. David Wasserzug - from 1891 until June 1895.^(xxxiii)

Rev. Dr. Joshua Abelson - from 1895 until April 1899.^(xxxiv)

Rev. Philip Wolfers - from 1899 until 1902^(xxxvii)

Rev Joseph Barnett Menkin - from 1902 to 1903.^(xxxviii)

Rev. Harris Hamburg - from about 1904 until about 1905.^(xxxix) (also see below under Readers)

Rev. Dr. L.M. Salkind, PhD - from about 1907 until 1908.^(xl)

Rabbi Asher Grunis - communal minister from early 1920s until 1937.^(xli)

Rev. Harris Jerevitch - minister of the Cardiff Hebrew Congregation from 1908, and from 1941 continued to serve at the Cathedral Road synagogue until 1953.^(xlii)

Readers, Shochets, Teachers:

Rev. Harris Isaacs - probable reader in and about 1845.^(xliv)

Rev. Henry Davis Marks - reader in the 1860s.^(xlv)

Rev. Jehiel Phillips - reader in the 1860s.^(xlvi)

Rev. J.H. Cohen - headmaster from August 1870 to 1870s.^(xlvii)

Rev. J. Myers - teacher in 1870s and 1880s.^(xlviii)

Rev. Louis Minski - teacher c.1870s.^(xlix)

Rev. Moses Lewis - reader from 1875 until about 1887 (possibly not continuous).^(lii)

Rev. Hyam Jacob Dainow - reader in about 1885.^(liii)

Rev. L. Rubenstein - reader and shochet from 1880s to August 1890.^(liv)

Rev. Tobias Spivak - - reader and shochet from about 1892.^(lv)

Rev. Hyman Caminetsky - reader in the 1890s.^(lvi)

Rev. Harris Hamburg - reader, shochet, teacher (not continuous) from 1892 until 1941.^(lix)

Rev. Joseph Barnet Rittenberg - reader and shochet from about 1884 until 1889.^(lx)

Rev. Gustave Prince - reader from about 1897 to about 1898.^(lxi)

Rev. H. Macht - visiting chazan in 1901.^(lxii)

Rev. Marcus Katz - headmaster from about 1900 until 1906.^(lxiii)

Rev. Israel Gedallia Blachman - reader from about 1905 until about 1907.^(lxvi)

Rev. I. Temple - reader from 1908 until about 1910.^(lxvii)

Rev. Israel Henry Klein - reader in about 1911 until 1913.^(lxviii)

Rev. Samuel Arkush - reader from 1914.^(lxix)

Rev. Samuel Kibel - reader from about 1924 until about 1928.^(lxx)

Rev. Harris Hamburg - formally named reader from about 1927 until about 1929, but functioned as reader, shochet, teacher and/or mohel as well as, at one stage, minister (see above) during much of the period of fifty years prior to his death in 1941.^(lxxiii)

Rev. Gershon Grayewsky (later Gray) - shochet & teacher from about 1927 until about 1929.^(lxxiv)

Rev. Samuel Michlewitz - reader in about 1928.^(lxxv)

Rev. Eli Willencyk - reader of the Cardiff Hebrew Congregation from 1933, and from 1941 continued to serve at the Cathedral Road synagogue until 1947.^(lxxvi)

Lay Officers of the Congregation since 1897:

The following data on lay officers of the congregation has been extracted from Jewish Year Books, first published 1896/7.^(lxxx)

Hon. Presidents

1897-1903 - Col. Albert E.W. Goldsmid

1903-1906 - Louis Samuel, JP

Presidents

1897-1901 - Isaac Samuel

1901-1903 - Barnett Jacobs

1903-1906 - J. Michaelson

1906-1907 - Joshua Abrahamson

1907-1908 - B. Shatz

1908-1909 - Joshua Abrahamson

1909-1911 - J. Michaelson

1911-1915 - Barnett Jacobs

1915-1917 - J.H. Latner

1917-1923 - Barnett Jacobs

1923-1926 - J.E. Rivlin

1926-1927 - A. Hauser

1927-1928 - M. Lermon

1928-1930 - Barnett Janner

1930-1932 - L. Jacobs

1932-1936 - J.E. Rivlin

1936-1939 - Abraham Schwartz

1939-1940 - Henry Silver

Treasurers

1897-1900 - Barnett Jacobs

1900-1901 - Jack Lewis

1901-1903 - Alfred N. Nathan

1903-1905 - J. Woolf

1905-1906 - Joshua Abrahamson

1906-1907 - B. Shatz

1907-1908 - J. Levi

1908-1911 - J.H. Latner

1911-1915 - Jack Lewis

1915-1918 - C. Barnett

1918-1919 - H. Cohen

1919-1920 - Joshua Abrahamson

1920-1923 - J.E. Rivlin

1923-1924 - E. Blaiberg

1924-1926 - A. Hauser

1926-1927 - M. Lermon

1927-1928 - Barnet Janner

1928-1930 - L. Jacobs

1930-1932 - J.E. Rivlin

1932-1936 - Abraham Schwartz

1936-1938 - J. Levi

1938-1939 - Henry Silver

1939-1940 - Lewis H. Shibko

Secretaries and Hon. Secretaries

1897-1898 - Sam Blaiberg

1898-1900 - Jack Lewis

1900-1901 - F. Fligelstone

1901-1902 - Alfred N. Nathan

1902-1903 - A. Isaacs

1903-1904 - Alfred N. Nathan

1904-1905 - R. Phillips

1905-1908 - Alfred A. Epstein

1908-1909 - J. Epstein

1909-1910 - M. Cooperstein

1910-1911 - L. Lewis

1911-1912 - B. Shatz

1912-1915 - Harry Phillips

1915-1917 - A. Barron

1917-1923 - no data

1923-1936 - S. Isaacs

Secretary for Marriages

1929-1935 - S. Fligelstone

Membership Data:

General

1845 - 3 full subscribing members out of a population of 9 (adult male) Jews.^(lxxxi)

Number of Seatholders - Board of Deputies returns

1852	1860	1870	1880	1890	1900
13	29	32	45	63	93

Number of Seatholders (from 1938 membership) - as reported by Jewish Year Books

1899	1903	1906	1907	1910	1916	1938	1945
75	93	120	130	180	190	350	400

Cemetery
Information:

The congregation's cemetery was at Highfield Road, Roath Park, Cardiff CF14 3RE, with burials from 1852. For details, see Cardiff Cemetery Information, which includes a link to the JCR-UK Hosted Database for the cemetery.