First thoughts from abroad

Monday January 21, New York and Philadelphia

The night before the series’ first shoot, at Central Synagogue in New York, apocalyptic blizzard warnings were being broadcast on the news, the radio and across the internet. The warnings informed us that travel was not recommended, ‘IF YOU MUST...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT... FOOD... AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.’
So it was with trepidation that woke up on the morning of the shoot and with relief that I drew the curtain to see a snow-free, dismal and grey day outside. Day One of filming at Central Synagogue was glorious… a whole day of just myself and our cameraman Ross Keith at liberty in the Sanctuary. We were somewhat amazed - and grateful - to be allowed hours on end let loose inside this historic building with our camera.
On the second day we were joined by John, our soundman, for the shoot and the main purpose of the day was to interview the Senior Rabbi, Rabbi Rubinstein. Rabbi Rubinstein is a man whose name Major Giuliani made synonymous with ‘Hope’ after the Synagogue burned down in 1998 and was restored under his watchful eye, then rededicated just two days before the 9/11 atrocities. The Rabbi was excellent at telling us not only about the history of the Synagogue, but also about the decisions that he had had to take about keeping the restoration true to the old design, whilst also bringing it in line with worship in the twenty-first century, and simultaneously trying to future-proof it for centuries to come…
Days Three and Four of the US shoot were spent in Frank Lloyd Wright’s final architectural gem, the Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, a suburb of Philadelphia. This incredible building was designed to look like a glowing Mount Sinai and we’d heard much about how its appearance changed in different light and weather conditions. A really early start found us in position at 06.50 and ready to film the sun rise over the Synagogue. We were both happy and surprised to be present for the arrival of a crisp but beautifully sunny day. The effects of the sunlight on the outside of the building just about outweighed the frosty cold of a Philadelphian winter morning.
Our next day and a half was spent filming the awesome building – arresting both in its exterior and interior - whilst also marvelling at some of the impractical design elements that Lloyd Wright has prescribed for the Synagogue. The entire Sanctuary, for example, (which seats over 1000 people, so isn’t small) is carpeted in light sand-coloured carpet, to represent the desert of Sinai. Conceptually great, but not so convenient for the Synagogue which has to clean it regularly and replace it every couple of years!

We also filmed an interesting early morning Torah reading, with a surprisingly full congregation for 7.20am and a very diverse congregation. This service was overseen by the Senior Rabbi Glanzberg-Krainin who also gave us a fascinating tour of the Sanctuary and an insight into how it works on a day-to-day basis as a place of worship.
By the end of our stay in Philly we’d not only had a thoroughly enjoyable time at Beth Sholom, but we’d also had two tremendous and memorable breakfasts at a roadside diner we discovered. Who could resist our irrepressibly smiley waitress, Frahanna (which she told us means ‘Happy’ in Arabic), when she insisted we tried the Southern speciality of ‘grits’? Grits is a cornmeal dish, a bit like slushy white polenta and surprisingly, we found ourselves enjoying it. In Philly the snow also caught up with us, but luckily just as we were getting our final shots and about to drive off into the speckley distance and back to New York. (Nonie Creagh-Brown)