Glasgow Reform Synagogue

Our AGM will be Sunday afternoon 18 May at 2.00 pm. Members will be formally notified by mail.

Have you forgotten what this is?

The Members Forum is for YOU.   Yes, it has been set up so that you can bring your points of view about how you feel about your Shul to the table.

Can we improve the Shul to benefit the members?

Have you any ideas that might interest others?   i.e. Activities, Discussions, Debates…..

Are you unhappy about any aspect of how the Executive run your Shul and want to speak up?

It will be a very low key evening - just an hour or so, and you will be made very welcome by Eileen Carroll and Liz Brown and guaranteed a hot cup of tea and a nibble to eat.

This is your chance to HAVE YOUR SAY ! !

Liz Brown - 7 March 2008 

During this special 60th anniversary of the State of Israel it would be a great joy if we could organise a GRS group to explore Israel. The Synagogue is attempting to put together a wonderful itinery, taking in all aspects and areas of Israel for the autumn/winter of 2008.

All those who are even contemplating a trip to Israel are warmly invited to come along to discuss this at the Shul after the service and kiddush on Saturday 1st March 2008, when we will hold preliminary discussions for all of those interested.

The Movement for Reform Judaism are now taking applications for their 2008 conference. The conference title is Learning, Leyning, Laughing and will take place at Leicester University during 4 - 6 July 2008.

As in previous years it promises to be a great event, with workshops and events to suit all interests and all ages. More information, together with an application form, can be found on the Movement for Reform Judaism’s web-site at www.reformjudaism.org.uk or by contacting Annie Simmons on 020 8349 5646 or annie.simmons@reformjudaism.org.uk.

As someone who went to the last event, I can assure you it should be a great 3 days!

Please try and make it along to our special Shabbat Weekend of 8 and 9 February 2008. 

Friday 8 February 2008: Kabbalat Shabbat at 6.30pm

Friday service followed by chavurah supper and musical oneg with Marge Eiseman - Co-chair of CAJE Music Network. The evening will finish at 9.00pm.

Saturday 9 February 2008: Shabbat Service

10.00am to 11.00am Torah  Breakfast with Janet Berenson - Community Education Consultant - Leo Baeck College. No previous knowledge required. Come and join in some light study and tasty morning munchies.

11.00am to 12.30pm Family Friendly Service led by Janet Berenson. This will be an interactive service focussing on Gifts - Teruman is this week’s Torah portion.

12.30pm is Kiddush and time to chat.

If you are coming along to the Friday service please bring a dish (salad, main or desert) and let the office know you are coming. 

We look forward to seeing you.

Limmud Scotland is coming up shortly - so you may wish to put this in your diary. It is being held on Sunday 10 February 2008 between 10am and 5.30pm at Hutchesons’ Grammar School.

Tickets are £30 and this includes lunch. There are many events and workshops included and there should be something to suit all tastes and interests.

For a booking form phone 0141 639 4541 or e-mail scotland@limmud.org or see http://www.limmud.org/day/scotland/

The final few Basic Judaism classes for those who enrolled in 2006

Please note that our first Chanukah Fair will now be held in the week of Chanukah

on Sunday 9th December and not the 18th November as previously announced.

There will be activities for the whole family, young children and adults, so please come along.

In order to encourage you to come that day, there will be no Cheder that morning.

The event will end with a communal candle lighting.
We look forward to seeing you there.

A Date For Your Diary.

Please take note as we’d hate you to miss out on the last event of our
celebration year!!!

We are holding a Black Tie Dance at Parklands Counrty Club on Saturday 27th October.

This is the grand finale to what will be a very special year for GRS and it
will be a sell-out event.

Please don’t wait to get your tickets as this will be on a 1st come - 1st
served basis.

It is going to be a FABULOUS night of eating, drinking , entertainment and
most of all CELEBRATION!!

Tickets will be on sale from next week… The price includes a sponsored
pre-dinner drinks reception, a 3-course meal with wine and bottled water and
the entertainment supplied by Christine James and then Still Rockin’….. So
get your dance shoes out, your best bib and tucker brushed down and come
along to help make this a night to remember…..

All sounds too good to be true??…. Don’t be disappointed. Don’t wait too
long to book your tickets.

Please contact the Shul Office by phone or e-mail or call me (0141-639-5318) and be a part of this wonderful extravaganza!!!

Tickets are priced at £45 and all profits go directly back to OUR Shul…

Anyone who is feeling generous and would like to be a sponsor, please
contact as above.

Also all donations for our raffle will be very gratefully accepted ( or
collected ) by our committee.

Thank you in advance for your support….

Valerie Cram ( Chairperson of Dance Committee ).

The building for Glasgow Reform Synagogue on Ayr Road on the southside of Glasgow was completely renovated in 2002. In a beautiful, light and simple modern style, the sanctuary and classrooms are functional and inspiring. Although there is no ornate decoration, the Slater family, longstanding members of the synagogue, always felt that the four internal windows between the back of the sanctuary and the entry hall would be a perfect place to install stained glass windows.

Ralph Slater, a great patron of the synagogue, passed away a number of years ago. When his wife Barbara died last year, their children, Susan Rose and Paul Slater decided it was the perfect time to carry out the mitzvah of Zachor, commemorate their parents, with windows depicting the Jewish life cycle. It would be a fitting commemoration of their parents who had established such a loving Jewish family home for them while growing up, as well as a way of generously contributing to the beautification of Glasgow Reform Synagogue.

The windows depicting Birth, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Marriage and Death were commissioned to be completed by expert stained glass artist Susan Bradbury. The common theme running through the windows are circles of light, which depict blessing in each of the windows. Through colour, texture, recurring circles, the artist has taken themes and ideas from Jewish mysticism and tradition to; depict Birth as the gates of heaven opening for a myriad of blessings; Bar/Bat mitzvah is depicted through the theme of tallit, the prayer shawl a young person wears after the time of bar/bat mitzvah to symbolize their commitment to the obligations of Judaism;

Marriage is symbolized through a colourful and brightly decorated chuppah in which are the seven circles of wedding blessing recited at a Jewish wedding, and in which is incorporated a real, broken, wine glass that has been stamped upon as at the end of a Jewish wedding; and Death with its stark black depicting the grave, surrounded by colourful and weather-worn pebbles and stones like those brought by relatives commemorating their loved ones.

The synagogue is truly honoured to have received this generous gift of art from the Slaters, and it serves as a true memorial for their parents, Barbara and Ralph.