Jewish-Christian dialogue: a demanding miracle
By Juan Michel (*)
Free photos available, see below
Given the history of their relationships, interreligious dialogue between Christians and Jews may be seen as a "miracle", but it's also a complex and demanding endeavour. In the following article, three practitioners of interreligious dialogue - two Jewish and one Christian - who participated at a major interreligious conference hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) early June in Geneva share their views on what it takes to advance a dialogue often complicated by political issues.
Interreligious dialogue veteran Rabbi James Rudin, a longtime member of the American Jewish Committee, used to say that after centuries of painful relationships between the faithful of the two religions, experiences of dialogue between Christians and Jews amounted to a "miracle of the 20th century".
Rev. Dr Hans Ucko, responsible for Jewish-Christian relations at the WCC, recalls Rudin's assessment when asked about a dialogue that started in the wake of the Holocaust. According to Ucko, the last fifty years have seen a "conversion" in the relationship between Jews and Christians. "The age-old theological teaching of contempt of Judaism has been challenged," he says, "and churches have taken a clear stand against anti-Semitism".
As an example, he quotes the declaration of the WCC founding assembly, held in Amsterdam in 1948, which stated that anti-Semitism is "absolutely irreconcilable" with Christian faith, and defined it as a "sin against God and man". "To the Jews, our God has bound us in a special solidarity, linking our destinies together in his design," the declaration affirmed.
This and similar statements from different Christian confessions represented "a shift of paradigm in comparison with the previous nineteen centuries", says Dr Yehuda Stolov, executive director of the Jerusalem-based Interfaith Encounter Association.
Rabbi Naamah Kelman, dean of the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and board member of Rabbis for Human Rights, agrees: "The very fact that Christians are willing to talk to us and that, today, we can see each other as sister religions, is rather striking," she says.
Although the mere existence of dialogue is an achievement in itself, obstacles remain.
According to Stolov, the most important is that those involved in the dialogue are a tiny minority. He would also like to see practitioners adopting an attitude that allows for more openness. Understandable when it started, the dialogue remains cautious and too polite for his taste. "There are issues that we don't touch, like conversion, and we should," he says.
Ucko thinks that the dialogue, invaluable as it is, needs some new insights. "In many ways, we are at a turning point," he says. The dialogue needs to be recapitulated and broadened if its achievements are to be fruitful.
<span style="font-weight: bold; "» When politics gets into the picture
For Kelman, in the volatile Middle East situation, politics is what most complicates dialogue. In that context, the main hindrance is the difficulty of seeing the diversity of the other when that other is an adversary. As a result, the extremists on both sides are used to applying labels. "When Zionism is equaled to Nazism, that sets us back," she says. "I agree that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is evil, but we are not Nazis."
Ucko sees the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a "particularly troublesome feature" for the Jewish-Christian dialogue. For some time, he says, "those involved in dialogue somehow dodged the conflict, while those dealing with the conflict rather seemed to ignore the findings and fruits of the dialogue, and focused on a perspective that privileged solidarity with the Palestinian people".
From that perspective, certain policies of the State of Israel - in particular the occupation of Palestinian territories - have motivated criticisms from churches and Christian organizations. Are those criticisms an obstacle to the Jewish-Christian dialogue? Kelman and Stolov think that, in their current form, they are.
As an example, Kelman mentions the WCC central committee decision of last February inviting its member churches with investment funds to consider not participating economically in activities related to the occupation as a way to put pressure on multinational corporations benefiting from it. "Even if I don't disagree with some of the rationale of the decision, I have a serious issue with its terrible timing," she says.
Stolov considers that WCC decision "extremely unfortunate and unbalanced". "By accepting fully the position of one of the parties," he says, "you become completely irrelevant as a promoter of peace, since the other side is automatically alienated".
Does this mean that Christian churches and organizations should avoid any criticism of Israeli policies for the sake of the Jewish-Christian dialogue?
No, Kelman and Stolov say. The point is not to avoid criticism, but to be careful with the language used, to acknowledge the diversity and be sensitive to the human suffering on both of the sides in conflict. "We would like Christian organizations to refresh their condemnations of anti-Semitism, and to affirm the right of Israel to exist, although not its right to the occupation," Kelman says.
"Although the condemnation of anti-Semitism and the affirmation of the right of Israel to exist in security and peace are already there in many of our official statements," Ucko says, "anti-Semitism is still a danger that requires a clear Christian stance."
And, he adds, we need to understand that "what we are heard to say may be as important as what we are actually saying". As a consequence, the concern for peace and justice needs to be expressed within a framework of sensitivity for the psychological trauma that Jewish people still carry after centuries of suffering at the hands of Christians amongst others.
<span style="font-weight: bold; "» Keep trying for a richer world
What is the way forward for Jewish-Christian dialogue in the light of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict?
For Stolov, in that context the dialogue itself is the action that needs to take place. He sees it as one of the most powerful tools for ordinary citizens to shape the society they live in. "By engaging in face-to-face dialogue," he says, "people are enabled to develop inter-communal relations and to live together". Outside agents such as the WCC and the churches could help by encouraging both sides to engage in such a dialogue.
According to Kelman, the dialogue - which in that context must include Muslims too - would also benefit from involving people from other contexts. "Not to deny the Palestinian suffering, but to make the conversation bigger." In addition to that, she sees protecting Christian worship and rights in Israel as a Jewish responsibility. "We have to make sure that Christianity has a place there," she says.
For Ucko, the WCC and the churches face the challenge of "holding together the commitment to justice for Palestinians and to security for Israelis so that these two goals don't jeopardize or deny each other". Only in this way can they contribute to realizing the hope for peace for both peoples.
Also, he points out that "what dialogue has achieved is not automatically communicated or implemented". It requires sustained follow-up efforts. Face-to-face relationships are important here, as well as symbolic actions and language that gives account of the spirituality involved in the dialogue.
Although difficult and demanding, for Kelman interreligious dialogue "makes the world far richer than it would be without it". "My tradition teaches that we cannot finish the task," she says, "but we must not excuse ourselves from it". [1216 words]
(*) Juan Michel, WCC media relations officer, is a member of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Free high resolution photos of the three persons quoted in this article are available at:
www.oikoumene.org/Photos.947+B6Jkw9MA__.0.html
This feature is part of a series highlighting issues and experience of interreligious dialogue, and is published by the WCC in the context of the conference on a "Critical moment in interreligious dialogue" hosted by the WCC, 7-9 June 2005, in Geneva.
Further information, news and documents related to the conference are available on the conference website:
www.oikoumene.org/interreligious.html
Additional information:
- WCC and peace in Palestine/Israel
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/regconcerns-palestine-israel.html
- WCC and interreligious dialogue
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/index-e.html
