After six years Cardiff Reform finds a rabbi

After six years without a rabbi, Cardiff Reform Synaogue has a new spiritual leader: Rabbi Martina Loreggian, who last year became the first Italian woman to be ordained as a rabbi. A graduate of London’s Leo Baeck College, she will combine the part-time role with a similar position she has held at Norwich Liberal Synagogue since September. The Cardiff community is familiar territory since Rabbi Loreggian did her final year of rabbinic training there. Cardiff Reform Synagogue, she said, “has been a thriving and welcoming community. When they asked if I wanted to become their rabbi, I didn’t hesitate. “It is well-organised and has a high level of commitment from its members. I’m thrilled to work closely with our lay leaders and wardens to serve the best interests of the community and contribute to the wider Welsh Jewish community.” She will begin with monthly visits, running services, providing pastoral support and adult education, and working with converts. Rabbi Martina Loreggian (second from left) graduating from Leo Baeck College last year[Missing Credit] The synagogue has 17 students on its conversion course – a “remarkable influx” of people wanting to become Jewish, according to its chair Eddie Cawston. “We always have people approaching us from time to time but recently we have had more people than ever contacting us and wanting to get involved with the community,” he said. Three-quarters of the potential converts “have Jewish heritage,” he said. “The arrival of so many new people has given a lift to our whole community, and they bring much new energy, talents and diversity. “I am sure in the future they will make a big contribution to our community – some of them already are. And their average age is about 30 years younger than our current average.” Board of Deputies Phil Rosenberg, who met members of the congregation last week on a visit to the Welsh capital, said, “Incredibly, the number of conversion candidates since the atrocities of October 7 could see community grow by more than 10 per cent.” The Reform and Liberal movements nationally reported an increase in conversions of more than 40 per cent in 2024 from the average of the previous seven years.

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