Our final field trip was to Exeter Synagogue, in preparation for the next stage of our journey through early Hebrew traditions and our first encounter with the Hebrew Bible. Even those of us who thought we knew Exeter well had difficulty finding the building; it is hidden away down a small unprepossessing alley, unassuming and unannounced. Once through the door, however, we had a real sense of entering a sacred and much loved space – a deep well of worship behind the anonymous façade.
During our fascinating 2½ hour visit we were given an idea of the long history of Jews in the West Country, whose roots stretch back to pre-Expulsion times. Indeed, Jews have lived and worshipped in Exeter for over 250 years. The synagogue, which was built in 1763, is the second oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in English speaking countries and is small, beautiful and happily, still used regularly for services. Although neither the synagogue nor the community are big enough to support a full time Rabbi, it is maintained and run by volunteers; one of them, Richard, was our welcoming guide for the day.
Once the Anglo-Jewish historical context had been set, Richard gave us some insights into the form of Jewish services and talked about Jewish prayer and ritual, including the ways that the sacred scriptures are used. The Torah is at the very centre of worship and study, and the beautiful Hebrew scrolls are housed in a tabernacle/ark which is one of the focal points of the synagogue building. They are brought into the body of the synagogue during services with deep reverence and ritual, and then the appropriate reading for that day is given in Hebrew (with worshippers following in a parallel translation Torah if needed).
We left the synagogue and headed to Claire’s home for some lunch and a period of reflection.
We were all moved by the new insights into the Jewish story of rejection, exile and persecution. The Ashkenazi Jews came to the UK from Germany and Eastern Europe, and so the connection with the events leading up to, and during, the holocaust is strong.
At the same time the story of survival, and its roots in strong faith, was also profoundly moving and inspiring. The reverence for the sacred scriptures and the rituals of the Jewish faith (both in and out of the synagogue) seemed to us to create a rhythm of living which goes back to ancient times but creates meaning for people today. This feels particularly relevant as we explore the ancient roots of our own faith tradition and how that exploration and understanding may deepen our connection with the Divine in our own daily lives.
Our heartfelt thanks to Richard and to all members of the Exeter Synagogue community for sharing so willingly with us.
So our journey continues through the deep stream of the Western spiritual tradition, following the beginnings of the Bible and again meeting older and less familiar mythology through the characters of the stories more familiar to our culture today. The characters that lead us now are Jacob and Rachel, and Joseph and Asenath, and through them we hear the story of Isis and Osiris, Nepthys and Seth; Gods and Goddesses from the time and place in which our characters lived, namely Ancient Egypt.
Our explorations are enriched by opening to the mythic mind but also by drawing upon archaeology and ancient his/herstory and this time we had inspiration to draw on from a recent field trip, which for some included a visit to the Ancient Lives, New Discoveries exhibition at the British Museum. Through current scanning technology this exhibition reveals details of the lives of several men and women from ancient Egypt without disturbing their remains. So as well as mythic characters, we were able to meet a few Egyptian ancestors, such as Tamut (first left, below), a high ranking priest’s daughter, who may have been not unlike Asenath, daughter of the priest Poti-phera and married to Joseph, who Jewish tradition suggests is the daughter of Dinah and grand daughter of Leah from the Bible stories (popularised through Anita Diamant’s book ‘The Red Tent’).
The story of Isis and Osiris is one of descent and return, and it follows the annual drought and flood of the River Nile, as depicted above in Helen’s painting. When the tears of Isis, heart-broken from the loss of her beloved Osiris, flow down onto the plains, the river fills and as her tears and the waters diminish, the land is left once again fertile. Tears of pain and grief re-alivening dead ground, love lost transformed into new love and new life. “Lips wet from tears are ripe for kissing”… Joy birthed from pain, the cracked ground healed by the moisture of weeping and sorrow. In the ancient myth Osiris becomes the green faced God of the Underworld, while Isis and their son, Horus, care for the land of Egypt, and ancient hymns to Osiris reveal a deep mythic motif that will later take new form in the Christian story:
“Rise,Osiris! You went away, but now you have returned.
Rise, Osiris! You were asleep, but now you are awake.
Rise, Osiris! You dies, but now you are alive again.”
And the story ends with a celebration!… which was the theme of our Sacred Space workshop the following day.
So what does celebration mean to us? There were some negative associations with the term; memories of overly structured and highly pressured parties with meaningless and boring conversations, finding abundance in food and drink rather than each other. Asking the question what we would like celebration to be about, the common features agreed upon was an intention of presence and awareness, finding abundance in simplicity rather than gluttony, and meeting each other on shared heartfulness rather than over-consumption.
The priestly role can be to bring a gentle focus to this, not overly structuring but simply holding a space that invites intentionality and love. Sam, inhabiting this role within the group, held and encouraged us to celebrate communion together, following the simple and deep four-fold structure at the foundation of traditional church services:
The first stage is to gather together, which is traditionally expressed in prayers, hymns and sharing of peace, but for us was an emergent chorus of sung harmonies, gathering our separate selves into melodic and vibrational union. The next stage is to engage; traditionally with Bible readings but for us contemplative sharing of our own wisdom procured from the day, learning from the truths salvaged “from the splitting open of our lives”. The third stage is the sharing of bread and wine, representing for us the sacred nature of all the Earth’s bounties, and the ceremonial eating and drinking of which brings us into sacred union as one body. However, rather than from priesthood to lay, our sharing was from one person to the next; each receiving from one neighbour and giving to another. Finally, the last stage is to bless each other and to carry what we have created and received back out into the world.
This was a very powerful ceremony, for many bringing fresh meaning to what has been experienced as a stale ritual lacking in meaning. Getting to the core of what it means to celebrate with one another with presence and heartfulness, our expansive and epic weekend ended in our own collaborative celebration of Holy Communion.
