Development - Issues for the General Meeting

August 2004 update

We have moved on a long way since the report on our development that appeared here after the AGM of our community in March. At that meeting we finally accepted that our affiliation to the Glasgow New Synagogue (GNS) was at an end and we decided to become a fully independent community. Since then the community have been working hard on developing our practice in a number of different areas:

• Affiliation - meetings have been held with RSGB and Liberal Judaism
• Drawing up a formal constitution - a draft has been circulated and amendments are being taken
• Buying and adopting our Sefer Torah
• Burials - arrangements are well advanced and we have the choice of two suitable burial grounds
• Organising High Holy Day services
• Organising a cheder

We formed an open steering group to consider these issues and others that face us as a new community. It has now met for the sixth and last time. You can read the notes of the first five meetings here.

On 12th September our community will have a recall General Meeting to decide policy on many of the issues that we have been considering over the summer and to elect a Council to replace the steering group. The issues we will have to decide on 12th September are:

• Decision about affiliation
• Amendments to the constitution (formally adopted by the steering group to enable us to apply for charitable status)
• Choice of burial ground
• Choice of English name for our community
• Election of officers
• Fixing the membership fee

Preparation papers on these issues were sent out one week before the meeting. However for some of the issues we can provide a more comprehensive and better-structured account on the website. Currently we have summaries of the discussions on:

• Affiliation
• Choice of burial ground
• Constitution