Westminster Cathedral

Our final trip together was to the magnificent Westminster Cathedral, near Victoria station in central London. A stunning, almost Byzantine-style building, which is perhaps even more beautiful within than it is from the outside. We were met this time by Tom who took us inside and into the baptistry to learn about and discuss Catholicism and the cathedral. He gave us a brief history of Catholicism in England, particularly since the time the Henry VIII and the schism that would later outlaw the practice of the popish tradition in the country for 300 years. He enthusiastically regaled my avid little gang of wide-eyed English students with the history of the schism and the now age-old animosity between Catholics and Protestants and some of the implications and reverberations in modern times in parts of Scotland and Ireland for instance. He described martyrdom in the catholic church and the oppression adherents had suffered over the centuries. 

He told us that the cathedral had been designed in this astonishing fashion, because its founders had wanted to stand apart from Wren's Anglican St Paul's. Most Catholic cathedrals will adhere to either a classical style, such as St Mark's in Venice or the Sacre Coeur in Paris, or else a gothic style is used as in il Duomo in Milan or Notre Dam in Paris. But the Gothic element in London already existed in the shape of Westminster Abbey, just down the road. The Abbey has long since been the second home of the Anglicans so that wouldn't do either. The Catholics in London wanted a distinct, unique temple in London and this was the spectacular answer they came up with.

Tom went on to describe the core beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church: how Jesus, when he departed this world, left the church in the hands of St Peter, who became the first pope. 

He described how protestant groups had rejected the idea of a pope but Catholics still revere the hierarchy in The Vatican and that that was one of the key differences between Catholics and Protestants. Also that Catholics believed in praying to saints as well as Jesus. We learned a lot from Tom's introduction and everyone seemed to keep an open mind. He was then struck by a barrage of questions, which I found very gratifying as the teacher, even if the grammar occasionally missed the mark - they were making themselves understood, and that is the most important thing. 

There was some pretty tough material coming up, including such controversial issues as the prohibition of contraceptives in parts of the world where AIDS/HIV is a particularly big problem (Catholics are usually against any kind of artificial contraceptive). Tom took the questions coolly and answered with clarity, confidence and patience. His personal attitude to that specific issue seemed rather enlightened and less conservative than you might imagine. I was impressed and I think the students were too. Many of my students are from Latin-American countries and therefore have a Catholic background themselves. There were some heated exchanges between some of them and one or two of my Muslim students, but all in an amicable and respectful spirit of learning.

After the discussion time we thanked Tom and then separated to wander around the vast Cathedral with its spectacular mosaics. Tom tells us they hope one day to complete the whole of the building in this style. To finish the trip we all went up the tower together to see the view over London (don't bother with the London Eye - it's much cheaper at Westminster) and then finally we went our separate ways for the last time. It's been an amazing experience. I've learned a great deal through these visits over the past couple of months. I intend to revisit these place often as long as I live in London. The constant revelries through the modern wheel of the year: at Eid, Hanukkah, Diwali, Christmas and so on, Water festivals at the Thai temple and concerts at Westminster Cathedral: it's all there and all free! This is a side of London, in my estimation, not to be ignored by the tourist, nor by the Londoner either.

London Central Synagogue

We had two trips in our final week together to complete our temple visits project. On Wednesday we attended the London Central Synagogue near Regent's Park. From the outside it is a fairly unremarkable building, particulary in contrast with some of the other places we've visited. I suppose physical impressiveness is not a particular prerequisite of such a place. Who would they need to impress? If someone wants to go, they will find it, as we did. We were met by Raquel Amit, who had been thoughtful enough to invite us to visit the place on the week they had a special exhibition (more on that later). When we first entered, all the boys were asked to wear a kippah or 'skull cap'. According to Raquel, men need something on their heads to remind them that there is something above them (God), whereas women are altogether more spiritual beings and don't need the same reminders. I'm inclined to agree on some level...

We all went in to the synagogue proper and sat together whilst Raquel pointed out the main features of the building. She told us that, during the services, men sit together in the lower part and the women are together in the upper part (imagine a stalls/balcony kind of arrangement). This is to prevent members of the congregation for distracting one another away from the true purpose of being there. She enthusiastically went on to ask one our party to read a word 'in Hebrew'. A text was presented and a nervous student peered cautiously to where Raquel's finger was pointing, smiled and read 'Amen'. This was a fun introduction and, all being suddenly endeared to our hostess, we relaxed as she went on telling us all the ins and outs of Judaism.

We were led up to the ark of the covenant at the head of the hall, which was unchained and opened to reveal some rather fantastic looking scrolls - proudly embellished copies of the Torah. From in front of the scriptures, Raquel answered a number of questions about the scripts, the building (which had been bombed during the war and so was apparently only a shadow of its former self), the community and her own personal beliefs. She explained that at this particular synagogue, they were all orthadox Jewish, as distinct from the more liberal 'reform' Jewish synagogues and the far stricter haredi or 'ultra orthadox' communities.

Out of sincere curiosity I asked her about creationism and the origins of man in the face of the scientific proof of human communities living many thousands of years before that which is asserted by come creationists. I had recently heard an interview with an ultra-orthadox rabbi who insisted that the age of the earth was less than 6000 years. I was asking in earnest but she seemed a little nervous. She said that the age of the earth was unknown, and that the 'six days' of creation described in the Torah may have been figurative ones, but that the first human was certainly Adam, and he was created in much the way described in those scriptures. We could have spent all day learning about and discussing the particulars of the faith and I'll certainly go back for more, but we had to move on with our experience.

We were taken out side to the sukkah - an outdoor space, annually converted into a temporary hall, decorated (in this case) with plastic fuits and branches. The sukkah space is used during the week of the sukkot festival, when remind themselves that it is a priveledge to have a roof to sleep under, and that you walls may fall down any time and you could be stuck outside. Raquel told us that during the festival, the community would eat outside together in the sukkah, and that some people even slept out there. Now being in London, and being aware of this town's sky's propensity to rain and any given moment, one of my students asked whether they really stayed outside if it rained. Raquel smiled sheepishly and admitted that if it started to rain, most people tended to move inside and simply remembered to be grateful for the roof.

From the Sukkah, we were taken into the Shul - the children's synagogue. It was like a miniature version of the main synagogue, but just for the kids. I wonder if the word 'school' is related to 'shul'... We sat down in the pews and Raquel went on to explain a few more bits and pieces. For example there is a tablet above the children's ark with ten characters inscribed on it. It represents the ten commandmets received by Moses on mount Sinai. Each of the characters, we're told, represents the first letter of each of the commandments in Hebrew. There are alos a couple of prayers inscribed on plaques and placed on the walls. One is a prayer for the British royal family. We're told that all synagogues bear plaques and recite prayers for the ruling family of whichever country they are in. It is a way of expressing gratitude for the hospitality of that nation.

Raquel then took out a miniature scroll from the ark and invited us to have a look. In small groups we filed to the front to get a good look at a real parchment copy of the Torah - the first time most of us (including me) had seen one. while we were all taking it in turns to peruse the curious scroll we continued to bombard poor Raquel with endless and annoying questions whcih, to her credit, she answered patiently and clearly enough for my students to really get an education. I learned a lot as well - Judaism has such a rich religious tradition and I knew so little about it all. I'm grateful to our teacher for her patience and clarity - we all gained a lot.


To finish our visit we were taken to the aforementioned exhibition via the open doorway of an international conference of canters downstairs, and listened awhile to one of them (I believe he was Hungarian) singing to a room full of solmen-looking, well-dressed men. It was clearly the perfect day for our visit. The exhibition had been produced to show what life had been like for the Jewish people in Lithuania during the seconds world war. It included artworks, texts and film, largely derived from a series of interviews with holocaust survivers from the once thriving Lithuanian community. This eshibition has since moved on from London but most of the work is available to see online at http://www.livingimprint.org/survivinghistory.

We were left to explore the harrowing but often inspiring texts and images from the project to finish our time in the synagogue before wandering back out into the middle of Englsnd beating Slovenia in the world cup match - the excitment had spilled out of all the local pubs and it was a little strange for us to come out of this curious little world behind the doors of the synagogue, into quite another. We managed to find a pub that wasn't showing the game though (so it was empty), and we discussed our experiences together over a drink.

http://www.centralsynagogue.org.uk/