New York Study Tour 2009-2010

Student Elaine Nicholas describes the School's Study Tour to New York

Elaine Nicholas
BA Religious Studies  

“Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today, I want to be part of it, New York, New York”.  This refrain from the theme song of the musical drama “New York, New York” by Martin Scorcese was never far from my lips in those days leading up to our departure to the Big Apple. Not that we did leave on the scheduled day - the flight a casualty of the seemingly ever-present ash cloud that blighted the skies and brought air silence to middle England for the first time in many a year! As tension mounted and optimism about flying faded amongst the group, I realised that I very much wanted the city of Scorcese’s birth and the home of such personalities as Walt Whitman and Woody Allen to also be home, for this brief week in May, to our group. I wanted each of us to experience being “king of the hill, top of the heap, to wake up in the city that never sleeps!”  

And eventually we did – on five consecutive mornings. Well, apart from those of us who stayed up all night! The waking hours were packed – partly with making use of the extensive sporting facilities situated within the hostel, partly with planned academic visits, partly with the personal research element of the module and partly with the serious business of sightseeing, shopping and having FUN!  Between us all we had many of New York’s key attractions covered: Ellis Island – the historic immigration centre, the iconic Statue of Liberty, the site of the World Trade Centre ‘Ground Zero’, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Chinatown, the Top of the Rock Observatory with its breathtaking 360 degree views, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, Tiffany’s, Macy’s, baseball games, theatres … and the list goes on. These were days that started early and finished very, very late… Still, we were sprightly enough on that first morning as we set off, accompanied by a Conservative Jewess, to explore aspects of New York Jewry from Orthodox and Reform perspectives.   

To begin our education of the Jewish people and their experiences, past and present, we were taken to The Jewish Heritage Museum.  It was a great place to start as it is devoted exclusively to exploring the remarkable scope and diversity of Jewish culture. Splitting into small groups we carried out our own exploration of the Museum discovering paintings, sculpture, photographs, ethnographic material, archaeological artifacts, ceremonial objects, and broadcast media materials. All of which serve as testimony to the endurance and adaptability of Judaism as an evolving continuous tradition.  With body clocks still playing catch-up the collection also served as a test of our endurance! Thankfully, it was lunchtime - time to feed the body as well as the mind. Regrouping in the Museum’s café we tucked into delicious, creative kosher cuisine.  And had some much needed rest and recuperation!  

Refueled it was on to Park East Synagogue, an Orthodox house of worship, and Temple Emmanu-El, synagogue and sanctuary to Reform Jews.  It has to be said that both synagogues were absolutely ‘gasp-inducing’! Amid the chaos and congestion, the traffic and the tumult, architectural jewels arose.  These historic buildings embodied the art, architecture and spirit of the past giving us a glimpse into the soul of the immigrant communities responsible for the existence of such magnificent structures. Each was also caretaker of Judaica objects fashioned to enhance and enrich Jewish ceremonial life. Made available for us to view, these objects provided a vivid sense of the collective history of the Jewish people. It also has to be said that we were greeted warmly and enthusiastically by the respective Rabbi’s, each spoke warmly and enthusiastically of neighbouring Jewish communities of different persuasions, each spoke enthusiastically of their inter-religious work and of their social activist programmes, and each spoke tentatively about aspects of the Zionist movement and the State of Israel.  

The second day of the study tour saw us visiting the Christian Scientology Church. It was also a building that was ‘gasp-inducing’ - but more for its central position in an expensive real estate area just off Times Square than for its architectural detailing.  Indeed this prime location, in the busiest single commercial district in America, should have led the group to expect what we received - the ‘hard sell’ approach! It was an approach that would cause the group once again to split – this time emotively rather than physically.  For one student, the pastor of the Scientology Church was “no more than a tele-evangelist” presenting a “manufactured, marketed medley of mumbo-jumbo”, whilst another, invited to undergo the process of dianetics for a day reported, “having an experience that made a difference”.  Somewhere, on the metaphorical line between these two poles, stood the rest of us. They were positions that were discussed animatedly over the following days. As with many ‘hard-sells’, the product can be loved or hated but cannot be ignored!  

Being in New York was a little like falling into Alice’s Wonderland. We encountered conflict and resolution in the form of re-negotiating hostel accommodation, engaged in Tweedle-Dee/Tweedle-Dum-like-dialogue over ‘best’ routes to destinations and spent many-a-happy-moment grinning like the Cheshire Cat as we congratulated each other at our eventual successful negotiation of the subway! We visited eateries throughout the city partaking in ‘food fests’ that could be loosely described as ‘Mad Tea Parties’, ultimately concluding that eating and drinking may make one larger but definitely not smaller!  Just as the Caterpillar teaches Alice of the importance of adapting to the presenting environment, so we learned from various Rabbi’s of the transformation of Jewish identity in the Diaspora and, reflecting Alice’s encounter with the Red Queen’s alternative reality, we walked a mile in the shoes of the Christian Scientologists.

Needless to say we all had our Jabberwock’s to slay; whether it was in the striving to maintain a phenomenologist head at the Christian Scientology Church and whilst seeking answers from the Jewish community about Zionism and the State of Israel,  or in the wrestling with the relatively simple decision of wearing heels or flats (we did A LOT of walking)! New York, as Wonderland, is no ordinary place whilst New Yorkers are an extraordinarily diverse mix of the cultural, social, ethnic and religious!  It made for a fantastical adventure! News we would definitely start spreading on our return to Britain.