After spending 3½ hours in Friday evening traffic jams I finally arrived at Exeter. After checking in and putting my suitcase in my room, we all met at the reception to walk together to Exeter Synagogue.
It’s not the first time I have been there, and I am always in awe entering this synagogue. It’s one of the oldest active synagogues in the country, and was founded in 1763. Rabbi Anna ran the Shabbat service that evening. As this was a small building, it felt very crowded and the atmosphere was very solemn.
During our walk back to the hotel, I met lots of people coming from other isolated communities I had never heard about before. I discovered that there were Liberal communities in Totnes, in Cornwall, Cardiff and Bristol.
After dinner, I went to the relaxation workshop run by Marc from Totnes community. Marc’s soft and calm voice took us on an internal journey on a background of Jewish music.
Saturday morning, after breakfast, I went to a workshop run by Emma from Bristol Community where we reflected on how we could integrate the meaning of Noah’s Ark in our lives and the future.
Then we went to the morning Shabbat service run by Rabbi Josh and to my great surprise, I was invited to carry the Torah scroll through the room at the beginning of the service. It felt such an honour for me to accomplish this ritual.
After all these cerebral activities, we had our lunch at the hotel. The food was delicious and very healthy.
In the afternoon, I chose to go with a group visiting the Jewish graveyard of Exeter established in 1767 (4 years after the creation of the synagogue). It shows that the city of Exeter had a long continuous Jewish presence spanning at least for 250 years. The tombs were magnificently carved mostly in Portland limestone with exquisite details.
Then I went to a workshop run by Kevin about an association called Meketa which helps Jewish communities in northern Ethiopia. Their history is steeped in mystery, with theories suggesting they are descendants of the biblical Tribe of Dan or of the entourage of Menelik I, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. For centuries, they were isolated from other Jewish communities, practising a form of biblical Judaism that included unique holidays like Sigd, but not others like Hanukkah, which occurred after their separation from the wider Jewish world.
I kept a great memory of the people I met and the very interesting workshops I took part in.