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From the Rabbi
Not many of us may know, unless we have looked carefully at the sign on our gates, that the Hebrew name for our synagogue is Shaarei Shalom; meaning Gates of Peace. We don’t use that name so much. But what I have intuited over the years is that gateway, open doors and welcome are very important to us as a congregation. Indeed, so many of us see FPS as our home. A home away from home; more than a synagogue, more than a building but a community hub that welcomes us all. The idea of synagogues, indeed all places of worship, being something more than the ark, bimah and sanctuary. After Covid I distinctly remember Monty Bixer arriving and weeping as he walked through our tired hallway and worn carpet into our synagogue. I have come home, he told me. I know many of you felt similarly and that has
Cover: The different ways we honour the past and the present in the FPS building:
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60th Anniversary Mosaic;
Bima Chair Tapestry; The Boyd-Stone Library; The Seven Days by John Bernard; Memorial Rose Garden; Tree of Life
Copy deadline is the 10th of each month. Please email all content to shofar@fps.org
rabbi rebecca birk
made 54 Hutton Grove precious to many of us. So here we are celebrating 70 years of FPS life. Our current building has been our home since 1964; it has contained our laughter and our tears, hosted family celebrations and seen so much love beneath its roof. Now it needs our love in return, for us to make it a more beautiful, welcoming, inspiring and environmentally responsible home.
We have just launched our year with our spectacular yet warm civic service that showed off all parts of our community life. And this year as a much needed birthday present to ourselves we will be rolling out our exciting initiative to raise funds responsibly and sensitively to renew our home, refurbish our building and attend to our synagogue with the care and attention it has needed.
It is time and it is our time to do this. We are currently waiting for architectural plans that will correspond to our realistic yet ambitious intention to raise £650,000. We already have raised £250,000 in gifts and pledges. This is our opportunity to care for our home. And I am so excited for us to bring this on.
Ivriah children strongly supporting FPS becoming an ecosynagogue! Read more on Young Voices, page 15
