Hamaor Archives
The decision to begin publishing a regular journal of the Federation of Synagogues was taken at an annual conference in 1962. Held at Fieldgate Street Great Synagogue on 30th January, the event was attended by nearly all of the organisation’s ‘rabbis and ministers’ at the time.
The very first edition of Hamaor, published before Pesach of 1962, notes that previously there had been “no platform where purely religious problems can be discussed freely and frankly without political undertones”.
Hamaor, it was said, would “deal with aspects of traditional Jewish life within our community”, with its name reflecting the “light and brightness the journal [would] give to its readers”.
Initially published quarterly, Hamaor became a more-or-less biannual publication in the mid-70s, with new editions released at Pesach and Rosh Hashanah.
This archive will cover the period between 1962 and 2014, with the editions from 2015 onwards appearing in the main publications section of this website.