Elaina Rothman and Miri Lawrence preparing to be ordained at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John’s Wood, London • Jewish History Association of South Wales

This newspaper clipping, from the Jewish Chronicle via the Jewish History Association of South Wales, shows Elaina Rothman and Miri Lawrence preparing to be ordained at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St John’s Wood, London, in 1992.

Miri was a rabbinic student at Leo Baeck College and was ordained in 1992. She gained a Masters in Jewish Studies the same year. Miri was Rabbi at Ealing Liberal Synagogue from 1992-1995 and subsequently part-time/visiting Rabbi for a number of congregations.

Elaina Rothman first served as a student Rabbi for two years at the Cardiff New Synagogue in 1990. She went on to become Minister of the Synagogue, later retiring in 2002. She was a rabbinic student at Leo Baeck College and was ordained in 1992.

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.

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