Thanks are due to those people who sent in suggestions for the Hebrew name of BHPS. I'm delighted to report that at its November meeting Council discussed a long list of contenders - and reached a decision! It wasn't easy. Suggestions reflected the core values members and friends associate with our community, and included, for example, 'Beit Yachdav' - 'House of Unity', 'Beit Tikvah' - 'House of Hope' (not my suggestion, honest!), and 'Hamiklat' - 'The Haven'. In the end, all present agreed to adopt a name and a by-line: We simply couldn't resist trumpeting the fact that we are 'beside the seaside', but felt that our name should reflect what we are about as a congregation. 'Shalom Verei'ut' 'Peace and Friendship' - a phrase that comes up in our prayers - seemed to sum up perfectly both the atmosphere we want to foster and the purpose we share: To 'reach in' and to 'reach out' - in friendship to all; to be a congregation which is inclusive, and in which different people find ways of co-operating peacefully together. The values of Peace and Friendship also reflect our hopes for the wider community - and for the society and the world in which we live.

The word congregation is very important. While the building plays a very important part in the life of our community, Council agreed that first and foremost, we want our Hebrew name to reflect, as our English name does, that people come first: Both the word, synagogue - from the Greek, sunagog - and the Hebrew word, eidah, congregation, refer, not to a place, but rather to the act of people assembling together. When speaking of a 'Congregation of Peace and Friendship', the word eidah, becomes adat - and so: Adat Shalom Verei'ut'.

Which brings me to Chanukkah: This year we shall be celebrating the Festival of Lights in a variety of ways, with the aim of including as many people of all ages as possible. Beginning with a Children's Party on Sunday the 9th. at 3pm. when we will be lighting the first candle, and ending with a Adult's Bash on Saturday the 15th. at 8pm, when we will be lighting the seventh candle, on Shabbat Chanukkah, we shall be holding two special events: An Erev Shabbat celebration, with candle-lighting, a chavurah supper and singing at 7pm, and a Family Service in the morning at 11am, followed by a chavurah lunch, singing, Havdalah and candle-lighting.

At both these Shabbat Chanukkah celebrations, we shall take the opportunity to rededicate our congregation. The word Chanukkah means Dedication. The first Chanukkah celebrated the re-dedication of the Temple, after it had been re-captured from the Syrian Greeks in 164 BCE. This year, on Shabbat Chanukkah, we shall formally rededicate our congregation as 'Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue - Adat Shalom Verei'ut - Al Sefat Hayyam', and look forward to sharing this simchah - this time of joy - with all our members and friends, with guests and visitors. Chanukkah Samei'ach - Happy Chanukkah!

© Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah