Media Watch: an insight into Orthodox Judaism and an interview with Michael Rosen

Inside the BBC’s New Series Prayer and Reflection : Orthodox Judaism

There's a new addition to the already generous religious output on the BBC, a TV programme called Prayer and Reflection, which is being broadcast on Sunday mornings on BBC1. According to the programme’s website it is ‘an invite into sacred spaces across all four nations, from six of the UK's major faiths, during personal moments of spiritual and religious connection’.

The first episode appeared, to my surprise, at 10:30am on 14 September, after the Politics South East programme and my first reaction was to quickly grab the remote to turn it off. However, I paused when I learned that this first programme would be coming from St. John’s Wood United Synagogue in London. I have only once been inside a synagogue and that was on a visit to Prague, where the synagogue is open for tourists to see, but I have never witnessed any Jewish ceremonies and know little about what goes on in them, so I was intrigued and watched on.

The episode featured a traditional Orthodox Jewish morning prayer service, known as Shacharit. The description on the website reads: ‘Led by Rabbi Yossi Binstock, the Shacharit includes various prayers from the Jewish prayer book, the Siddur, such as Morning Blessings, the Rabbi and Mourner’s Kaddish, Verses of Praise, the Shema, the Long Tachanun and the Amidah. There is also a public reading from the Holy Torah Scroll.’ 

After Shacharit, members of the congregation take the opportunity to catch up with one another, and we hear what their faith means to them and why this service is a key part of their daily routine. This daily service lasts 30 minutes so it would be quite a commitment to attend it every day. The congregation is segregated, with the women sitting separately from the men. According to the commentary, this is so that the congregation can focus on prayer.

The men prepare by draping themselves in a prayer shawl and strapping on small leather boxes (tefillin) containing prayer texts. The women do not undertake these preparations and seem to play very little active part. They then face Jerusalem as various prayers are recited in Hebrew, with the English translation appearing as subtitles on the screen. God is frequently addressed as ‘King of the Universe’.  The first prayer praises God for not making them ‘heathens’ or slaves. Another prays that the Temple will be ‘speedily rebuilt in our days’. It’s a striking thought that this prayer must have been said continuously since the destruction of the second temple in 70CE. If the temple ever is rebuilt it will certainly be a reward for patience.

Subsequent episodes feature services from a Presbyterian church in Northern Ireland, a Hindu temple in Wales, a Buddhist monastery in Scotland, and a Sikh Gurdwara in Kent.

Michael Rosen (Wikimedia Commons)

Michael Rosen on Sunday Morning Live

Also on BBC1 is the new series of Sunday Morning Live, and the episode on 12 October (49.29) featured an interesting interview with well-known humanist and children's author Michael Rosen. The conversation ranged from his near-death experience with Covid to his reflections on losing his son and mother, highlighting his belief that life’s finitude gives it value. His new one-person show, entitled Getting Through It is currently touring the country.