75th Anniversary Exhibition

As part of the Brighton Festival Fringe Open Houses, Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue will be opening its doors to the public in celebration of its 75 year history. A new exhibition, prepared in conjunction with J Trails, which documents local Jewish history, will be on view. The opening ceremony, attended by Deputy Mayor, Gary Pelzer Dunn, will be on Sunday May 2nd at 2.00pm and visitors will also be welcomed on the following three Sunday afternoons between 12.00 and 5.00pm. The Progressive synagogue has been at 6 Lansdowne Road Hove since 1939, when it took over the site of the gymnasium of Southdown College for Young Ladies in response to an increasing demand from the local Jewish population for non-orthodox worship. BHPS is committed to Liberal Judaism, which cherishes and honours our Jewish heritage but is willing to reinterpret Jewish tradition in the light of contemporary insights and circumstances. The exhibition will show memorabilia and record memories of events which have marked the lives of the congregants: the post-war ‘Youth’ Group which welcomed returning servicemen and resulted in many marriages; an era when two to three Jewish weddings were held in one day; the experience of Bar and Bat Mitzvah over the decades; and modern expressions of love and marriage within Liberal Judaism. There will also be an opportunity to buy Jewish music, judaica and gifts and to enjoy tea and delicious cakes.