On 26th June Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation passed an exciting motion at a packed Special General Meeting.
We are beginning fundraising for a major refurbishment of the Beit Ha-Midrash, which will create a warm, welcoming and accessible space for us to have Friday night services and Shabbat morning services in the bleak mid-winter.
The new Beit Ha-Midrash will occupy the space of the current one, plus the classrooms, corridor and resource room nearby. There will be seating for about 70 people with an appropriate womens' section.
The cost will be around £40,000. Half this amount will come from shul reserves, the rest will be raised among supporters, members, former members, trusts and funds.
The 60 or so people who attended the meeting passed the motion by a landslide, with only four votes against.
The big advantages of the project and the reasons that underpin it, are as follows –
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• We use the current Beit Ha-Midrash every Friday night and the accommodation for women is deeply unsatisfactory - either a wobbly wicker screen or an adjacent room linked by a serving hatch. • During the winter months, roughly from Chanukah to Purim, the main shul is bitterly cold. Understandably, the numbers coming to services are reduced during that time. The newly enlarged Beit Ha-Midrash will provide a cosy place with a community feeling, rather than the rather empty feeling of 30 people in a freezing cold shul designed for hundreds. • Entry to the Beit Ha-Midrash will be much easier for people with disabilities - an important consideration for an older congregation. • It is important to emphasise that the congregation has no intention of giving up on the main shul. The main shul can be used for any appropriate event at any time of the year and will continue to be maintained properly. |
Edward Green EMAIL 07973 635 655 or Morris Kaplan EMAIL |
This project also has a Facebook page. |