| EDITORIAL
This Newsletter from Jerusalem appears at a time when discussions
about the future of the Holy City are taking place and before the final
phase of the Israel-Palestinian negotiations. It is fit that the Israel
Interfaith Association (IIA) should ask itself what its specific
contribution to the peace process could be.
The IIA is active in programs that include joint study by Jews,
Muslims and Christians of theological and historical problems; it
promotes encounters on many levels between people of different ethnic,
religious and political backgrounds.
However we could do more to reach out to the public at large
and
go beyond our routine of preaching to the convinced. I would like to
suggest steps that could attract both local and world wide interest.
We could introduce a weekly "prayer for the other" in synagogues,
mosques and churches. This prayer would draw on the three traditions
and would act as a counter measure to existing liturgical expressions
of
mutual contempt and prejudice. This text, formulated by IIA, would
be
read aloud by its members, at their respective houses of prayer.
We could introduce a monthly "day of hospitality" on which we
would invite and be invited to the homes of the "other", learning about
and granting respect to each others ritual limitations.
We could introduce an annual day of "respect for the other" on
which public events would celebrate this value both in Israel and
abroad.
These steps would bring us closer towards "Jerusalem built as
a
city in which brethren are united together" (Ps 122,3) and the time
when
"nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they
learn
war any more" (Is 2,4). -
Jerusalem, Sivan 5757 - June 1997
Ze 'ev W. Falk
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From the Activities of the IIA
Events of 1995-96
The 14th Spanish-Israel Seminar
The 14th Spanish-Israel Seminar took place from the 22nd to the 29th
of June, 1995
in Israel. The major theme of the seminar was "Tradition and Society
in a Changing
World". The seminar was organised by the Israel Interfaith Association,
the Zionish
Trade Union, the Iberian Institute, and, on the Spanish side, the Center
for Jewish--
Christian Studies, Madrid, among others.
The purpose of the seminars, which have been taking place for
22 years, is to
provide a forum for meetings and discussion between Spaniards and Israelis,
Jews
and Christians, interested in religious and intellectual themes. For
many years these
seminars provided the only meeting ground between Spaniards and Israelis
until
diplomatic relations were established between the two countries.
Participants from the Spanish side were mainly young lecturers
from Spanish
Catholic Universities, as well as people involved in Jewish-Christian
dialogue. The
Israeli contribution to the program was provided by Prof. Marcel Dubois,
Prof.
Shalom Rosenberg, Dr. Pau Figueras, among others.
In addition to the general program on the theme of the seminar,
the guests were
treated to visits and sightseeing tours to sites which have some connection
to the main
focus of the seminar. They visited, for example, Galilee and Nazareth,
Jaffa, Beer
Sheva and Massada. The sessions and discussions during the seminar
dealt with the
role of religion in history, and on the ideology of religion in a changing
historical
context, among other subjects. The theme of the seminar was situated
within a
contemporary context, which included the relationship of Israel to
other Middle
Eastern countries and anti-semitism.
An encounter - open to the public - which dealt with the relations
between Israel
and the Vatican took place in "Beit Argentina" in Jerusalem. Christian
and Jewish
experts took part in this event which proved very interesting to the
audience.
At the conclusion of the seminar, the participants expressed
their opinions on those
sections of the seminar which were useful as a learning experience,
as well as their
evaluation of topics, essential to facilitate the continuity of the
relationship (between
Israel and the Vatican).
Israel Interfaith Excursion at Sukkoth, 1995
The 19956 academic year began in a completely traditional way for the
Israel
Interfaith Association with an excursion in which its members from
local branches
throughout the country participated.
These student excursions provide an opportunity for the participants
to meet local
people from different ethnic groups with which they would not otherwise
come into
contact in their daily lives. Under the leadership of a knowledgeable
local guide our
group set off for Galilee. The tour group consisted of a variety of
people, among them
Israelis, Americans and Germans, - Jews, Christians and Moslems. During
the trip,
all the places through which we passed in Galilee, even the smallest,
merited a
commentary. The local guide explained who administered the towns, religional
policies, their history, contemprary problems and dreams.
The first stop was at Neve Sablan, where the group learned from
a religious Druze
about the the Druze community and its origins. We learned that "the
Gates" of this
religion were opened only a few decades ago; since then it is not possible
to join or to
leave the religious community. Thus the number of Druze in the world
remains
always constant. When a Druze dies, his soul leaves his body and immediately
wanders into the body of a newborn Druze baby. No on can on his own
initiative
become a Druze: "Because only someone who has a Druze father and a
Druze mother
is worthy of having a Druze soul." The Druze are obliged to protect
the secrets of
their religion. Children of the community, who have decided that they
do not want to
be religious, do not learn its secrets. The Druze prophets commanded
the Druze to
remian in the region in which they live, and never seek to establish
their own Druze
state.. They have a flag which can be found in every Druze community
throughout
the world. The flag is decorated with five colours (white,blue, yellow,
red and green),
each of these colours has its own special significance.
The position of women in the Druze community was also discussed.
Theoretically,
she has equal status with men in the community. A wife can divorce
her husband, and
understandably, the opposite is true. When this happens their common
property is
divided equally. There is an unusually high number of women in the
Druze
community who acquire wisdom in thier Holy Writings and become important
leaders
in the community.
The next stop of the trip was the village of Peki'in, mainly
inhabited by Druze, but
where there are also Moslems, Christians and two elderly Jewish women.
The town is
more than 2000 years old. One of the Jewish women, a last survivor
from among the
Jewish people who never left Galilee, watches over the ancient synagogue
in the
village, which dates back to Byzantine times. At the entrance to the
ancient quarter of
the village there is a small cave in a rock, big enough to hold a man,
if he is bent
double.
It is full of candle stubbs and bits of paper, which pilgrims
have left behind. Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai and his beloved son Eliezer, hid from the Romans
in this cave for
thirty years. It was here that, according the legends, he wrote the
"Sepher HaBahir"
and the "Zohar", the main writings of Jewish mysticism. The group also
visited the
pitta bread bakery of the village, where each one enjoyed a pitta,
hot from the oven,
and filled with cool labane, a thick yogurt.
The last stop was the Druze village of Chorfeish. The group met
Salah, the teacher
of the village, who showed us the tomb of the Prophet Shamhanzui, by
name, the
main pilgrimage centre of the Druze. He welcomed the group with great
hospitality,
with hot sweet coffee, so that each one felt at home in Salah's house.
Lecture Series on Pilgrimage
In conrast to the programs of former years, the program committee of
the IIA decided
at the beginning of the academic year to organise a series of lectures
on one theme,
instead of several lectures on different themes, interrupted and enriched
by various
other topical lectures and activities.
This year's theme was "Pilgrimmage in Different Religious Communities."
Pilgrimmage in Judaism
Professor Hananeel Mack from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem
spoke on the
topic of pilgrimmage in Judaism. One of the biblical obligations imposed
on every
Israelite is to make a pilgrimage three times a year to visit the "Holy
Shrine". This
pilgrimmage took place on the three main festivals: Passover, Pentecost
and
Tabernacles. Little is known about pilgrimmage in the period of the
First Temple, but
the practice of pilgrimmage at the time of the Second Temple, especially
towards the
end of the period, was flourishing, the exclusive goal of the pilgrimmage
being the
Temple in Jerusalem. While it is was impossible for the entire estimated
population of
3 million in the Land of Israel to undertake a pilgrimmage to Jerusalem,
it can be said
that the crowds were certainly immense. Josephus speaks about a million
pilgrims at
Passover, a number which would create, even in modern times, tremendous
logistical
problems concerning an adequate supply of water, food and lodging.
The closest
towns, such as Lod, were pracically empty of people during festivals,
recount the
ancient sources.
The culmination of the pilgrimmage was the visit to the Temple
itself, always
described in visid colors, as in the Pslams, but also in the Talmud
and the Mishna.
Among the many pilgrims were Jews from the entire world, but also pagans
and
good-fearing proselytes, who in this way showed their reverence for
the Temple,
where their special place was located in the "Courtyard of the Gentiles".
Despite the
immnse crowds, a sense of exemplary order prevailed, except during
periods of
tension when the fury of the people erupted against foreign rule or
when there had
been some incident of misrule sometimes causing revolts, such as that
against Rome
from 67 to 70 CE which led to the destruction of the Temple.
With the disappearance of the Temple, pilgrimmages ceased. During
the long
period of Exile the Jews streamed towards Jerusalem, to live and die
in the Holy City,
not mainly, however, to visit the Temple, the Temple area or the Westen
Wall, the
so-called Wailing Wall, at a particular festival.
In more recent times, in the pre-State period as well as after
the establishment of
the State of Israel, the Chief Rabbinate made an effort to renew the
ancient custom of
pilgrimmage. Its aim was to bring at least 10,000 pilgrims to Jerusalem,
but even
such a pilgrimmage cannot measure up to those which took place shortly
before the
disappearance of the Temple.
Pilgrimmage in Islam
The second lecture on this theme, on Moslem pilgrimmage, was given by
Mr. Rafat
Dibsi, from the municipality of Lod, in December. It was delivered
on the day after
he returned from the "small Pilgrimmage", which can take place throughout
the year.
The evening was introduced by the Islamic scholar of the Hebrew University
of
Jerusalem, Hava Lazarus Yafeh, many of whose students were present
within the
large audence who attended the session.
With the aid of slides, maps and blueprints Dibsi persented a
vivid picture of the
position of the Holy Places in Mecca and Medina and of the innumerable
pilgrims,
moving from holy place to holy place during the whole year, and whose
daily number
sometimes reaches almost one million.
Dibsi talked about the endless trouble of Israeli Moslems, who
are allowed to go
on pilgrimmage, about the powerful meaning of such a trip for each
one of the
faithful and his own personal efforts to take his wife along, although
she was obliged
to lose some weight from her more than100 kilos before she could envisage
to
undertake the strains of such a trip.
Pilgrimmage in India
At the beginning of January, there was a small but interested audience
for the third
lecture in the series "Pilgrimmage". The theme "Pilgrimmage in India"
was a
departure from other Middle Eastern topics in the series. The lecturer,
Jonathan
Greenspon, is Professor of Indian Studies at the Hebrew University.
Greenspon began
his lecture by saying that he would describe the efforts of Christians
missionaries in
India in the 19th c. They soon realized that if they wanted to missionize
they must
first of all learn about Indian religions. Thus it happened frequently
that missionaries
began to study these religions in order to understand them for their
own value, rather
than simply for the sake of mission. Gradually, gripped by the fascination
of Indian
religion, now and then, they fell under its spell.
The speaker then gave a lively introduction to the principles
of Hinduism, the most
widespread religion in India.
The Indian pilgrim travels to the Temple, the Indian holy space,
called "Tirta",
which contains the meaning of "to cross". It is a clear indication
that in an Indian
holy space something is being crossed over: within the holy space human
beings are
given the chance to transcend themselves when they come face to face,
in
contemplation, with the divinity.
As an interreligious association, it was most interesting for
the participants to
understand how Indian religion deals with other religions. He explained
that
Hinduism is outspokenly tolerant of other religions, because all other
religions were
only momentary manifestations, in its view, and are ultimately part
of Hinduism. In
their view Moses, Jesus and Buddha were all Hindus. The thought of
mission is not
important in Hinduism; beleivers do not bother about other religions;
the only
important thing to is to be concerned with one's one faith and to always
live one's
own life in a responsible manner.
Pilgrimmage in Christianity
The last lecture in the series "Pilgrimmage" was given by Father
Joseph Stiassny
of Ratisbonne Monastery. He discussed the Pilgrimage phenomenon in
Christianity.
The lecture about pilgrimmage among the Druze was sacrificed to politics,
since it
coincided with the visit of President Clinton in the city, and thus
the centre of the city
was sealed off, making it difficult for people to attend.
Fr. Stiassny began his lecture by saying that for the first Christians
a pilgrimmage
was unimportant, because according to the Christian faith, the the
present world will
pass away in a short time. Thus Paul wrote at the end of the 60's of
the 1st century to
the Corintian community: "the appointed time has grown very short;
from now on, let
those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn
as though
they were not n mourning...For the form of this world is passing away."
The earthly
Jerusalem is above all a shadow, the image of the heavenly Jerusalem,
for which
Christians already have a ticket and citizenship papers. It is of secondary
importance
whether the heavenly Jerusalem comes down to earth or the beleivers
ascend. What
really counts, is the fact that the present life will soon be over,
that human beings are
truly mere "guests and strangers" on this earth (Heb. 11,13)
This does not mean that the Holy Land had no attractions for
Christians from
abroad. But these visitors were not pilgrims in the real sense of the
term, but merely
explorers. In the 3rd century we hear from a certain Alexander, for
example, that he
only wanted to pray and aquire information about the holy places in
Jersuaelm.
Pilgrimmage, in the special meaning of that word, developped primarily
in the 4th c.
It was local Christians who doubtless localized events in the Old and
New
Testaments. The importance of the local community for the protection
and traditional
localization of the holy places means, for exmple that, as Origen mentioned
in the
year 250, the cave in Bethlehem, in which Jesus was born, as well as
the crypt, was
already visited. All three "Holy Caves" over which Emperor Constantinve
built
churches in the Holy Land, were already known for a long time by local
Christians.
A model of pilgrimmage was the voyage undertaken by Helena the
mother of
Constantine to the Holy Land in 324. Seventy years after its take over
by
Constantinve, Jerusalem was completely filled with monks and nuns.
They were
followed by a considerable crowd of foreign visitors who came on pilgrimmage
to
Jerusalem. Some returned home, others, many of whom were monks and
nuns,
remained. The Desert of Judea, east of Jerusalem, became a training
ground for
monks, Romans, Persians, Indians, Ethiopians and Armenians in origin.
Many
Christins were then convinced that they should follow in the footsteps
of Abraham
who had left Ur of the Chaldeas. These beleivers joined groups of ascetic
and instead
of forming monasteries in their own lands, came to the Holy Land. Pilgrims
of the 4th
c. who came to Jerusalem were overwhelmed by their eperience. The whole
of
salvation history suddenly came alive before them. They felt first-hand
witnesses to
this phenomenon. The people beleived that this land merited reverence
because the
saints of the Old Testament, Christ and the Apostles considered it
holy. Certainly the
Christians still fostered the concept of the heavenly Jerusalem, but
the earthly
Jerusalem had attained a special status; it became known as Hieropolis,
the Holy
City. The faithful sought physical contact with holy people, places
and objects. They
also wished to procure souvenirs of their life during the pilgrimmage,
as proof for
their trip. These object were originally called Eulogia and contained
relics of
secondary importance, such as water, earth or oil, which were touched
to a holy place
. In the 5th and 6th centuries, when reliquaries were in high demand,
there was mass
production of such souvenirs preserved in clay and glass.
Connected with this point, we can discuss the discovery of the
Holy Cross, a
significant event which the Roman Catholic Church commemorated until
1960 every
year on the 3rd of May. Rufin described how in the time of the Emperor's
mother,
Helena, in the year 340 three crosses were found. After it became known
which was
the true cross, half of it was left in Jerusalem, while the other half
along with the nails
was taken to Constantinople by Helena. In 614 the Persians captured
Jerusalem and
destroyed the church of the Holy Sepulchre. Zachariah, the Patriarch
of Jerusalem,
was taken to prison. He left by Zion gate, taken with him the Holy
Cross, and as he
climbed the Mount of Olives, lamented over Sion crying out "Freedom
to you, Zion,
you were my city, and now you have been given over to strangers. I
venerate you
Zion, I venerate those who live in you .. To die is sweeter than to
be separated from
you, o Zion!" Louis IX, king of France, brought the Cross back from
his Crusade, to
Paris, where it remained until the French revolution. When it disappeared,
never to be
found.
In the Middle Ages veneration of the earthly Jerusalem was strengthened
through
the important influence of the mystic, Dionysius the Aeropagite.. Dionysius
taught
that not only human beings, but also all that was visible was an the
image of God.
The border between reality and its image had almost completely been
wiped out.
Consequently the difference between the earthly and the heavenly Jerusalem
was not
sharply delineated. Ordinary Christians who lived in the 11th century,
may not have
known the name of the nearest town, but they knew about the existence
of Jerusalem.
They heard about it in the liturgy, and its image in stained glass
lit up entire churches.
They also knew that Jerusalem was the goal of all earthly pilgrimmages;
it was the
most Christian place and Christans came to visit from every spot on
earth, because of
the presence of the saints of the Old Testament, Jesus Christi and
his Apostles.
Contemporary authors of the period on the theme of pilgrimmage point
out that from
the late 10th to the 12th c the practice of making a pilgrimmage to
a certain shrine
was widespread. Also widespread was the connection between pilgrimmage
and how
the church dealt with indulgences. Pilgrimages were efficacious for
forgiveness of
sins in the church at that time. They had to be performed along with
a special
penance. In fact, a pilgrimmage was seen as a form of penance. A further
reason for
the popularity of pilgrimmages was that nuns normally lived in cloisters
without
being able to leave. But they are also human beings, as we all are.
The monotony of
monastic life was often hard to bear. What better way, therefore, to
obtain forgiveness
(and to have an interesting experience, as well) than to make a pilgrimmage?
In theory the Crusader was also viewed as an armed pilgrim, who
carried the cross
as a sign of his pilgrimage. Jerusalem, the beloved of God, sacrament
of the heavenly
city, was the guarantee of eternal salvation, whether the crusader
died on his journey,
in the Holy Land itself or at home after his return. This perspective
was very
attractive, especially because of the well accepted theory that heaven
was relatively
underpopulated and that it eventualy it should mainly be populated
by monks.
Stiassny closed with a quote from Hildebert of Laverin, the Bishop
of Mans and
Tours from the 13 c. "May Zion accept me into its bosom, the peaceful
city of David.
In this city the Light never dies... In its streets I walk side by
side with the Saints,
with Moses and Elijan, always with Halleluia on my lips."
Activities of the IIA Youth Group
Fifteen young adults, between 20-35 years old, belong to the IIA youth
group; among
them there are 10 Jews, mostly orthodox, from Israel, the USA and Greece,
and 5
Christians from Israel, Sweden and Germany. Since October last year,
the group has
met at many lectures which are followed by discussions, on subjects
such as the role
of Hagar and Sarah in Jewish and Christian traditions. Thus the group
read texts from
the Hebrew Bible, from the Letter to the Galatians and from the Midrash
Genesis
Rabba and discussed passionately the various interpretations. An especially
lively
debate took place on Paul's interpretation of the role of Hagar and
Sarah in the Letter
to the Galatians. Here he says that Christians are the only legitimate
children of
Sarah, and that the Jews have been rejected. These Bible readings and
discussion
together were very much appreciated and informative for the participants.
From the 10 - 18.3.96, during a visit to Jerusalem of the ESG
student group from
Germany, members of the IIA youth group met them here. The Israelis
showed the
Germans the Jewish quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem and Mea Shearim;
they
experienced together a hassidic shabbat "Tish", shared an evening question
session
about the present position of Israel and about how Israelis view Germany.
Thus, for
example, an Israeli asked hisher German partner about what was taught
in schools
concerning the "Shoah" and what was his assessment of the consciousness
of the
Holocaust among young adults. An evening outing together in a Jerusalem
pub
provided even more possiblities of exchanging question and of getting
to know one
another. A continuation of this encounter was seen as very important
by the two
groups and is in the planning stage. A future return visit of Israelis
to Germany in the
winter of 9697 is being planned.
A visit is also being prepared for the same period to meet a
Palestinian youth
group from Bethlehem. The Palestinian participants belonged to the
Al-Liqa
organisation, the most important Palestinian organisation for Moslem-Christian
dialogue. Contacts between the IIA and Al-Liqa have been on-going for
some time
already (see a report in an earlier publication.). It has now become
important for the
youth groups of each organisation to meet and talk together. Lecturers
from the IIA
and al-Liqa have worked on a program together to organise several week-end
seminars, which should take place in a kibbutz on the other side of
"the green line",
to facilitate access for both Palestinians and Israelis despite the
present-day absolute
closure of the border. During these week-end seminars representatives
of the different
religions will explain their festival ritual and eventually even take
part in them. The
seminar will provide an introduction for non-moslems to the Moslem
Friday prayer
service, for non-Jews to Kabbalat Shabat and for non-Christians to
the Sunday
services. Thus the participants would learn something of the faith
and customs of the
other, something which cannot be taken for granted in Israel. These
week-end
seminars would also facilitate a mutual learning experience about the
meaning and
aims of interfaith dialogue and what must be taken into consideration.
A further project of the IIA Youth Group is a trip together for
Israeli and Jordanian
young adults to Jordan and Israel, where each will present and explain
their land and
people to the other.
Visit in the Armenian Quarter
On 10.5.96 the youth group of the IIA met with the Armenian Youth Club
in the
Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem. The Armenian Group had invited the Israeli
young
adults to its quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. This quarter is
usually strictly
off-limits to the general public, hidden as it is behind high walls.
After a tour guided by Karine Saman, the Armenian secretary of
the IIA, through
the quarter and the church, the two groups met and discussed the theme
"Living as a
Minority". The young adults of each side were thus able to learn about
the history of
hisher own people and to exchange opinions about what it means to live
as a
minority - the Armenian as a Christian minoirty in Israel and the Jews
as a minority
in the Middle East and generally throughout the world. The Armenian
genocide and
the Jewish "Shoah" were discussed, each group expressing the importance
of keeping
the memory of these crimes alive. As a result of this first important
and fruitful
meeting, a return meeting is planned for the Armenian group to the
IIA in the New
City.
Visit to Baqa al-Garbiya and Haifa - 15.5.96
Several members of the board of directors of the IIA visited the unique
College for
Islamic Studies in Israel which is situated in Baqa al-Garbiya. The
board met with the
direcor of the College, Ziad Abu Moch, and several lecturers. During
an extednded
discussion on the position of Moslems in Israel and on the work and
aims of the
College, the common future of the student seminar of the college and
of the youth
group of the IIA was discussed.
Afterwards, the director guided the IIA group through the college,
which was
founed in 1989 at the initiative of a Soufi Sheikh, through the well
equipped library
and the classrooms. Two hundred Moslem students from all over Israel
study in the
college. Among the subjects taught are Islam, Arabic, Pedagogy and
Pschology.
The group then travelled to Haifa to visit Beit ha-Gefen, a Cultural
Center which is
especially oriented to the interests of Israeli Arabs and towards fostering
better
relations between Jews and Arabs. Beit ha-Geffen organizes, for example,
trips and
seminars for Arab and Jewish school children and kindergartens, Arabic
theatre
performances and exhibitions to promote better understanding and Arab
culture.
An international interfaith conference was planned in Haifa and
the foundation of
an interfaith group.
A Trip to Northern Galilee - 15.4.96
Despite katyucha attacks by the Hisbollah in Northern Galilee and the
Israeli military
situation in South Lebanon, the IIA was able on 14.4 to visit Arab
villages in the
north.
Original folk traditions and the authentice village character
are often preserved
until this day in these villages. Druze, Moslems and Christians live
together in
harmony in most of these villages, the Christian community belonging
to Catholic,
Maronite and Orthodox communities. The first stop for the members of
the IIA was
in Beit Zarzir, where they met the traditional healer of the village,
Tabib Shabi Ali,
and were introduced to his healing methods. He works with compresses,
treated with
his special essence of herb concentrate. The recipe for this essense
was inherited from
Bedouins. Several members of the IIA, who had headaches, were treated
with these
compresses in order to test their powers of healing.
At Reine, near Nazareth, we visited the baklawa bakery. The visitors
received an
explanation of the history of baklawa, a traditional Arabic cake. We
were also able to
taste different kinds of Arabic sweets.
We then left for Eilabun, where the smithy of the village talked
to us about his
work while showing us some examples. Members of the IIA were able to
discern that
in Galilean villages Christians were traditionally the artisans, while
the healers and
"wonderworkers" were traditionally Moslems. Admittedly, there is a
lack of interest
in traditional craftsmanship among the young generation. Mainly, the
children want
to study. The children of the smithy of Eilabun, for example, are not
following in the
footsteps of their father, but have studied as engineers and psychologists.
In Eilabun
one can buy homemade olive oil, olives, and za'atar, or sit in the
village coffee house
and hear about the future.
The last stop on our trip was a visit to the house of a Druze
author, Nimer Nimer,
whose family members are also members of the IIA, where we were welcomed
with
Druze specialties. Nimer Nimer told us about the faith and traditions
of the Druze. He
told us, for example, that a Druze always wears a head covering and
that according to
Druze tradition the soul of a woman after her death always enters the
soul of a female
child and that of a man enters a male.
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Events of 1996-97
The Lecture Series "My God"
The main emphasis of the work of the IIA during the new academic year
was the
lecture series on the theme "Ha Elohim Sheli", which is translated
into English by
"My God", but which does not accurately render all the nuances of the
Hebrew.
This lecture series was organised jointly with the Konrad Adenauer
Foundation.
Through advertisemenet in the dailies "The Jerusalem Post" and "HaAretz"
this
series attracted a large and interested audience. The interest however
was mainly for
the relevance of the subject. During the summer, there appeared under
the same title
in the week-end magazine of the prestigious Israeli paper "Ha Aretz,
a long article.
Since the lectures will be published in their complete version, it
is sufficent only to
mention the contents and schedule of this lecture series.
Two symposia have already taken place. The first, under the general
title "My
God" dealt with the implication of the concept of God for state and
society. The idea
of God in Judaism was explained by Professor Rosenak from the Hebrew
University,
while Monsignor Dr. Mathes, among other things the Cultural Attache
of the Vatican
and Director of Notre Dame Centre, spoke about the idea of God in Christianity..
The
chairman of the session for the evening was Dr. Gerhard Wahlers, representative
of
the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Israel. In the meantine, Dr. Wahlers
has taken up
his new post for the Foundation in Washington.
The second evening dealt with the question "The Idea of God and
the Land".
Professor Aviezer Ravistsky from the Hebrew University and the newly
appointed
Lutheran Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan, Munib
Jounan,
spoke. The chairman for the evening was Yehezkeel Cohen of the IIA.
Further sessions will discuss the problem of women in the three
monotheistic
religions, where we will also hear the point of view of Islam, as well
as an
introduction to the subject of the concept of God for secular people
who don't feel
comitted to any particular religion.
The Arab-Jewish Seminar
the Arab-Jewish Seminar project was undertaken in cooperation with the
David
Yellin Teachers' College in Jerusalem and was discussed in number 1
and 4 of a
pervious issue of this publication.
At a meeting with one of the two psychologists who guided the
project,
representatives of the IIA and the directors of the Yellin Seminar
agreed to evaluate
the results of the seminar and subsequently plan a continuation at
a later stage. In the
meantime a similar seminar was held at the faculty of social sciences
of the Hebrew
University with great sucess..
Meeting of Young Adults with the Moslem-Christian Center of Al-Liqa
The IIA also receives financial support directly from the "New Israel
Fund" for the
project which involves a series of meetings between the respective
members of the
youth groups of IIA and Al-Liqa. (This Moslem-Christian Dialogue Group
has its
centre in Bethlehem. See publication #1 of 1995 in this series.) The
first meeting took
place in December 1995 in Bethlehem. It's purposes was to enable the
young Jews
and Palestinians to get to know one another. The discussion was often
stormy and
accusations against the Jewish side sometimes bitter. The meetings
are continuing.
The theme of "prayer" was decided on, specifically, what prayer do
I prefer; we also
had a song evening, where songs about Abrham, the father of all predominated.
A New Branch in Nazareth
Since the summer there is a new branch group of the IIA in Nazareth.
The decision
was taken at a meeting of the IIA in December 1995. There was a circle
of individual
members in Nazareth, mostly Christian Arabs, but there was no branch.
Joseph
Emmnauel, the former General Secretry of the IIA, was charged with
following the
development of the Nazareth branch. The following report was filed
by Mr. Emanuel.
Meeting of the IIA Group in Nazareth on 10.7.96
This meeting began in the Saint Gabriel Hotel at 16.30. About 30 participants
from
the former group and several new visitors were present. The chairman
of the meeting
was Bishop Markutzo, the bishop of the Latin Church in Nazareth and
Galilee and the
envoy of the Latin Patriarch for Israel . He spoke in English about
the relations
between religions, about religions in Israel in general as well as
about the situation in
Nazareth and surrounding area. He spoke positiviley on this phenomenon
and did not
fail to mention that a good example of the positive situation was the
conferring of the
Israel prize on Marcel Dubois). He quoted many Christian sources and
cited many
funny anecdotes. The people present from Nazareth were full of admiration
and
thanked the Bishop with moving words. The meeting was opened by Joseph
Emanuel. Together with Mr. Antoine, he introduced the speaker. Mrs
Nuha Kauwar
also spoke a few words. Words of thanks were expressed by Faud Farah,
the secretary
of the Orthodox community in Israel and the director of the YMCA. The
journalist
Atalla Manausr and his wife was also present.
Meeting of the IIA in Nazareth on 11.9.96
This meeting took place in the YMCA. The speaker was the journalist
and writer
Atalla Mansur, who spoke in Hebrew on the theme "Nazareth - Past, Present
and
Future". There were about 30 participnts present, among them several
Jews, who had
been active in the earlier group at the beginning of the 80's. Mansur
described the
place of Nazareth in history and in the historical records of Turkish
and British times.
But the real significance of Nazareth is in its connection to the story
of Jesus, the
founder of Christianity and the home of his family. The city is not
important on any
other grounds. Only with the establishement of the State of Israel
did it become the
center of adminsitration and culture for Israeli Arabs and a center
for writers and
journalists. The speaker expressed his hope for a quick development
of the city in
view of the celebration of the year 2000.
December Meeting
The third meeting took place on 11.12.96 in the YMCA. Speakers were
Amal Khoury
from Nazareth, a lawyer and expert in family law. Her theme was the
"Legal Rights
of Women Caught Between Religious and Civil Law". Mrs Khoury spoke
in Arabic.
Her lecture was very interesting for the audience and the follwing
discussion was
very lively. Dr. George Khoury, husband of the speaker, and lecturere
at the
University of Haifa in Psychology and Religious Law added some facts
and details to
his wife's lecture.
Awards
This report will end with an event, which, although not organized by
the IIA,
nevertheless honoured members of its executive committee.
The Jerusalem Ecumenical prize was awarded to three representatives
of the
monotheistic religions, in a ceremony at Casa Interamerica, Jerusalem,
in January
1996, to the Moslem teacher Muhammad Hurani, the Jewish educator Sara
Fleiderman and the Protestant theologian Michael Krupp. Muhammad Hurani
and
Michael Krupp belong to the Secretariate of the IIA, Hurani as one
of the vice
presidents and Krupp is chairman of the Secretariate. Muhammad Hourani
is
lecturere at the David Yellin Teachers' Seminar in Jerusalem, and stands
out for his
educational work in a mixed Jewish-Arab students group at the Institute.
As translator
of the work of Janusz Korczak into Arabic he has become known in international
circles. Sara Fleiderman as also an active member of the IIA. For many
years she was
the general secretary of the office for interreligious relations in
the World Zionist
Organisation in Jerusalem.
The awards were given to the three for their many activities
in the area of
interreligious trialog in Jerusalem. Former prize winers include the
president of
Argentina, Carlos Menen, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires Antonio Quarracyno,
and
the American Rabbi Leon Klenicki.
The Casa Interamericana is a foundation of Argentine Jews and
Catholics. It was
established in Buenos Aires in 1967 by Monsignor Ernesto Segura and
the Jewish
insdustrialist Baruck Tenenbaum, to foster cultural and religious relations
between
Argentina and Israel. Casa Argentina was aquired in Jerusalem in 1969,
and soon
became a gathering place for interreligious relations between South
American
countries and Israel. The organisaton's president, Carlos Menen, supports
this house
in his personal capacity as a Syrian Moslem who became a Christian
convert to
Catholicism, and in his public position as president of a State in
which the three
religious traditions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, play and important
role in
interreligious dialogue. Professor Zeev Falk, professor Emeritus of
the Hebrew
University, Rector of the Conservative Rabbinical Seminar at Jerusalem's
Neve
Schechter, president of the IIA and long-time spiritual leader of interreligious
relations in Israel, gave the talk.
Two members of the IIA were awarded prestigious prizes this year.
Professor Zeev
Falk received the title of "Yakir Jerusalem" (Freiend of Jerusalem),
and Mohammad
Hurani received a prize from the "New Israel Fund" for his work on
the Jewish-Arab
Seminar for the David Yellin Teachers' College.
The "New Israel Fund" distributes prizes since 1985. This year
it has given
financial support to 30 organisations with a sum of
13 m.- The money was donated by a Jewish family in the United states
to promote
democracy in Israel. Four projects were signalled out, among which
was the Yellin
project. All the projects received funds. The former Interior and Tourism
minister,
Uzi Baram (Labor Party) said that these organisations represented the
"other Israel",
the "beautiful Israel" which must be supported at a time when other
factors are
working for the destruction of democratic values in Israel.
go top
Religion and democracy in Israel
by Yaacov Cohn
This is about democracy and religion in Israel, a state, which
by definition, is a
Jewish state. The United Nations gave this designation legal sanction.
The state of
Israel was created to solve the problem of Jewish homelessness. Can
such an ethnic
state be genuinely democratic? Can non-Jewish citizens of Israel regard
it as
democratic if they cannot conscientiously sing the national anthem
as representing
their devotion to the State? Does Israel's current handling of its
minorities correspond
to what is expected of a democracy? How far, for example, should Israel's
Arabs be
permitted to give political expression to their distinctive nationalism?
Or consider the
law of Return. Every state has its immigration laws, and all of them
discriminate in
one way or another. But for how long should Israel adhere to its positive
discrimination toward Jewish immigrants?
Is Israel the only Holy Land in the world? Who is to determine
what is and what is
not holy? The Western Wall has been assigned to the Ministry of Religions,
but
Yeshaia Leibowitz described the site as a disco and a place of idolatry.
In a lecture
delivered in May 1994, Prof. B. Z. Kedar documented some of the many
instances
throughout history when so-called holy places were in dispute, with
two or more
religions claiming the right to define holiness and to establish their
ownership of
certain places or structures. Can holiness like that of Jerusalem,
with its rival
claimants, really be shared? Can there be a democratic solution to
the problem,
especially when the entire land is declared sacred? When holiness is
at stake, votes
are irrelevant.
The best way to deal with this incredible mass confusion is to
analyse it with
biblical insight. We are on the threshold of a second biblical period,
in the sense that
the Jewish people is once again settling into the soil of its homeland
and must rise
and try to answer the same questions that it faced during the biblical
epoch.
1. What is the desirable polity for the State of Israel and its
varied citizenry? How
should Jewish identity be defined today? This question was a major
factor in the
evolution of Jewish religion in the biblical age. The thrust of the
Bible is, after all,
historical and developmental, and religion emerges in it in social
and political
contexts. Furthermore, the Bible, while Israelocentric, is deeply concerned
with the
fate of the nations and of mankind as a whole. Are not these the very
core of the
biblical scenario of Jewish religion?
2. Moreover, the Bible presents a panorama of theological, ethical
and cultic
problems that still occupy us today. I include the questions of identity,
polity and
religion of Israel's non-Jewish population. If we learn anything from
the Bible, it is
that the search for answers to these perplexities must continue unabated.
Answers are
long in coming and short in proving satisfaction.
In suggesting recourse to the biblical perspective, in no way
do I wish to ignore the
rich development of Judaism since the canonization of the Scriptures.
No proposal for
a solution to the problems of Jewish life can gloss over the fact that
Judaism has gone
far beyond the biblical achievement. My purpose in referring to the
Bible is to set the
agenda for the issues that have to be faced when the Jewish people
resumes its
national existence in Eretz Yisrael.
Let us reflect on the biblical message. Is it not obvious that
the division of the
sacred and the secular is not applicable to the Bible? True, the stories
of the Patriarchs
can be examined from a modern literary and scientific perspective.
We are right to
probe the biblical account with the instruments of linguistics, sociology,
anthropology, psychology and demography. Such studies point to why
and how
certain peoples became identified as Hebrews or Israelites and why
others did not.
But such research has to be undertaken with full awareness that for
the Bible, this
family history is orchestrated as a theological and religious composition.
How did
Israel come to play a unique cosmic role, which distinguished it from
the other
nations? The biblical authors undoubtedly took into account the historical
and
cultural background of the peoples encountered by the Hebrews. They
recognized
that their ancestors had close ties with some of these peoples but
that they also
wanted to establish a distinct Hebrew identity. Hence the breaks between
Isaac and
Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, and the confused picture of the naturalization
of foreigners,
alongside the biological and cultural restrictions that limited accretions
to Israelite
ranks.
In the biblical perspective, the relationship between religion
and the type of polity
in which it is embodied was quite different from what it is in modern
democracies
that favor separation of religious establishment and state. Until Ezra's
draconian
dismissal of the foreign wives whom the returning Israelites brought
with them from
Babylonia, there seems to have been no official forum to make such
a decision about
Jewish identity. That authority became fixed in the rabbinic era and
held sway until
recent times. It is now challenged by an utterly new mindset and unprecedented
social
conditions. Are Jewish identity and the conduct of Jewish nationhood
today to remain
an issue for determination by religious authorities? Or should it be
left to democratic
decision? And if it is to be the latter, is the question any less religious
in the Jewish
context than it was before?
No one has stated the problem more clearly than Rabbi Isaac Halevi
Herzog did in
1949: He wrote: "The aspiration of religious Jewry in Israel and in
the Diaspora must
be that the constitution will include an article to the effect that
the law in the Land
will be based on the foundations of Torah. But in order to make that
article acceptable
to the majority of Jews in Eretz Yisrael, who are distant from the
knowledgement of
Torah and, to our sorrow, do not cling to our sacred tradition and
as a result cause
Torah and democracy to seem to be rivals, we have to formulate a position
now
which will take to account of the democratic character of the State.
This is even more
vital when we consider the fact that the State was made possible by
the decision of
the United Nations which demands that it rest on a democratic base.
Also pertinent is
the fact that a significant minority of our citizens are non-Jews.
That is to say, even
though Israel will be a Jewish state, it will have to be common to
both Jews and
non-Jews."
The process of identity and polity has turned in directions unforeseen
by previous
generations. There are at least four different approaches to defining
of Jewish
identity: One approach is to ignore it. Another calls for a halahkic
decision. A third
opinion favors a democratic determination. And a fourth approach argues
that identity
is nobody's business except that of the individual. The proponents
of all these
positions have to attend to the fact that the debate between them will
have to take
place in Israel, within the democratic settings of the Jewish majority,
and in the
Diaspora, against the cetrifugal pulls of increasingly voluntaristic
societies.
As of now, we are caught in the absurd situation of having Jewish
identity
dangling between two power structures. One is made up of the fundamentalist
and
Orthodox rabbinates whose decisions are bound to run counter to the
understanding
of most Jews concerning human and civil rights. Perhaps, under a more
liberal
rabbinical leadership, some of the stringencies could be lightened.
But even then, the
method of halakhic legislation and form of authority would still collide
with the
democratic ethos. That ethos, in turn, is badly formalized in the Knesset,
a pluralisitc
body whose non-Jewish representatives can theoretically vote on issues
that should
be decided by Jews alone. Clearly, if Jewish identity is to be a matter
of group
concern and legislation, a new body will have to be inaugurated,consisting
of and
supported by world Jewry. But there is not the slightest chance that
such a body will
be established in the foreseeable future. Jewish identity in the State
of israel will
remain a football, to be kicked back and forth by religious and secular
political
forces.
What is the nature of this mishmash? Is it a display of tribal
anthropology? Or is it
a profoundly religious controversy, a continuation of the biblical
search for Israel's
cosmic vocation? I maintain that in the context of Judaism, it is a
religious question. I
shall return to this point later on.
Meanwhile, Israel's Arabs, in contrast to their self-perception
before the Six Day
War, regard themselves as Palestinians. What, then, does it mean to
be an Israeli
Arab? What does he share in common with non-Israeli Palestinians and
with other
Arabs? What, aside from language, unites Palestinians and their fellow
Arabs? What
are to be the international involvements of Israel's Christian and
Moslem Arab
communities? Is Moslem Fundamentalism a potential threat to the security
and
democracy of Israel? Obviously, in this complex, there is a religious
dimension which
is as confusing as it is in the Jewish context.
Suppose we regard the Jewish "yishuv" and the Christian and Moslem
Arabs as
religious entities. Is such a generalization justified? Agnostic and
secularist Jews are
still Jews, but are they religious? What about secularist or atheistic
Arabs? Are they
still Christians or Moslems? Or, in the Israeli context, should they
all be lumped
together as members of an Arab or Palestinian community? If this reversion
to the
millet system is warranted, what happens to the rights of individuals?
Jews are
currently governed in matters of personal status by religious laws
and administrative
fiats that obviously deprive the majority of them of fundamental rights.
Eliezer
Goldman pointed out over thirty years ago that "...whatever religious
law is in force
derives its validity from the political authority". The system was
established by
democratic procedure, but its guide-lines are the antithesis of democratic
conceptions
of legislation and administration.
Space precludes may be dealing with the impact of Christianity
and Islam on
matters of personal status on the Arab sector. Clearly, this issue,
too, would have to
be analyzed in a more comprehensive paper than this.
As I understand Abrahamic monotheism in all its embodiments,
the oneness of
God and the unity and sanctity of human life are correlatives. God's
unity demands
human equality, and the unity of mankind must be contemplated within
what Harav
Kook has called the "Godly context". It would seem obvious, therefore,
that the
values of equality of opportunity, freedom and brotherhood are, or
should be,
common to both religion and democracy. But, as we all know, this truism
is an ideal,
not a fact. The kabbalists were correct in their assumption that even
a good God can
botch things up when He goes about doing something concrete with Himself.
Similarly, there is an enormous gap between the monotheistic vision
and its
implementation in society. Once put into social form, monotheism, like
other ideas of
God, becomes corrupted by the forces of vested interest, hunger for
power and fear of
difference that seem endemic in Creation.
For the foreseeable future, it is clear that, just as in the
biblical era, the Jewish
determinant will be decisive in shaping the character of the state
of Israel. The Israeli
Jews are challenged to determine whether or not democracy and Jewish
statehood can
be made compatible and mutually fructifying.
Shortly after Israel began to function as a state, Yeshaiahu
Leibowitz perceived the
need to distinguish between the categories of religion and the social
forms in which it
is embodied. He asked: "Is society a religious problem? Do the needs
and functions
of organized society impose on its members a particular point of view
regarding
questions of society and state?" Leibowitz acknowledges that opinions
are divided.
The division between religion and secularism is not easily perceived.
What is a
religious answer to the question of what is a desirable polity? What
defines a secular
answer? There is another aspect to our problem, and that is the matter
of an ethnic
state.
The complexity of the problem began to emerge in 1948, when the
Jewish majority
committed itself to the democratic cause. Non-Jews, as well as Jews,
became full--
fledged citizens of the new state and, in theory and under the law,
are eligible to
participate in all facets of government. Like minorities everywhere,
however, non--
Jews in Israel are unlikely to gain many positions of power for a long
time to come.
Israeli Jews, like non-Jewish majorities in other countries, are unwilling
to share
power. Moreover, while Israeli Jews are determined to preserve their
democratic
institutions, they remain deficient in the quality of their social
democracy--for
historically understandable but not justifiable reasons. Christians
and Moslems will
have to exercise great patience, before they can become ministers and
officials in
politically sensitive positions. It is noteworthy, however, that Israel
has rejected the
biblical concepts of citizenship and statecraft. Laws are made by the
people as a
whole, including non-Jews. The Jewishness of the State and its Israelness
overlap by
virtue of historical circumstances, but as time goes on, their distinction
from one
another will become increasingly apparent. The Jewishness of Israel
will eventually
become less a function of law and more a result of a cultural ethos.
As Israel's
minorities become more accepted, they can be counted upon to put a
rein on
conscious or thoughtless legal discrimination against them. For the
legal system in a
democracy is, by definition, a means of affording maximum equality
and access to
the benefits of citizenship. This quality of democracy is precluded
by the demand of
the first Minister of Religions, Yehudah Leib Maimon, that law in the
state of Israel
must be "...founded on the Torah and Jewish tradition" and by the insistence
of MK
Yitzhak Meir Levine that "...only the laws of the Torah will be determinant
in all
areas of life in the State". Presumably, Jewish law will influence
legislation in Israel
as the natural expression of the Jewish majority. But democratic minded
Jews,
although open to the ethical intent of much halakhic legislation will
resist the
restoration of a halakhic nomocracy in Israel.
In order for Israel's democracy to fulfil its mandate, Jews will
have to respond
creatively to the revolutionary condition of religious pluralism that
has come about in
the wake of the Emancipation and Enlightenment that are still in progress.
The
Emancipation led to the restoration of Jewish nationalism and highlighted
the need
for new forms of Jewish polity. The Enlightenment undermined some of
the
ideological foundations on which the halakhic, nomocratic system rested
for many
centuries. It seems unlikely that the question posed by Menahem Elon
will receive a
positive answer. He asked in his monumantal study, Jewish Law: "Is
the collective
will of Jews to preserve their people strong enough to continue at
least a common
national-religious core of the halakhah as a matter of personal commitment?"
The
desperate efforts of traditional Jews to restore the Halakhah as the
basis for governing
a Jewish state, even if there were no non-Jewish citizens with whom
to reckon, are
noteworthy for their passionate idealism. But while political conditions
give the
halakhic loyalists an occasional victory, the war has long been lost.
The question for
the Jewish state can no longer be, how best to reinstate the Halakhah,
but what in this
vast heritage can be salvaged for adaptation to Israel's democracy?
Non-halakhic Jews have the power to push Israel's democracy in
any direction
they wish. But in what sense will the State of Israel be Jewish for
them? The early
Zionist settlers thought that they could divest themselves of the Judaism
of their pious
forebears and create a Judaism of their own. The halakhic tradition
would be
permitted to atrophy and die. The Zionist roots would be traced back
to the Bible and
to the natural life it depicted. Jewish national life would be restored,
and the ersatz
culture of minority existence in foreign lands would be discarded.
Of course, this
truncated account of Jewish history could not work, and the spiritual
life of several
generations of Jews was distorted. The result is the current shallowness
of much of
the new culture. The Zionist leaders recognized the importance of the
Bible, but they
never seem to have grasped its lessons for nation-building.
By the advent of biblical historiography, the Hebrew people had
evolved into a
significant culture, recorded in the reflections of the biblical authors
on Israel's proto--
history, in the stories of the patriarchs and in the account of the
settlement of Canaan.
Today, we tend to forget or suppress the fact that before the State
of Israel was
established, several generations of Jews had developed social structures,
including the
socialist experiments of the kibbutz, moshav and Histadrut, had revived
Hebrew as a
spoken tongue, had established new national networks, had expanded
prophetic
ethics, and had begun to grope for reinterpretation of Judaism in the
key of an
ill-defined secular humanism. A minority of the people, who remained
loyal to the
halakhic tradition, enriched it by restoring practices that apply only
in the Holy Land
and by setting up their own effective educational system. They were
assisted in their
efforts by the secularist majority, who, despite their rejection of
the halakhic
conception, regarded the traditionalists as partners in the rebuilding
of a national
Jewish life.
Thus, what is happening today in Eretz Yisrael is the following:
1. Jews and non-Jews are wrestling with their respective problems
of identity and
polity. The 1948 decision for democracy has taken root, but the parameters
of this
democracy are unclear in the following areas:
a. The scope of human, civil and national rights.
b. The full nature of religious freedom and the relation of the
state and the
religious establishment.
c. The electoral system.
d. The respective powers of legislative, administrative and judicial
authorities.
As in the biblical era, so today these issues have to be resolved
with due
consideration for the needs and interests of both the Jewish and non-Jewish
populations.
Theological assumptions underlie the answers that have to be
given to the
foregoing questions. I cannot undertake here a clarification and defense
of this
assertion. Suffice it to say that authority and power are more than
technical matters.
Let me cite just one instance suggestive of what I have in mind. At
one of the joint
press conferences of Rabin and Clinton, a journalist, who appeared
to represent a
fundamentalist position, asked the president, "In view of what the
Bible has to say
about God's gift of Eretz Yisrael to the Jews, is the Israeli government's
policy of
handing over great tracts of the land to the Palestinians, Jordan and
Syria justified?"
Clinton fielded the question by turning it over to Rabin. In his answer,
Rabin did not
counter by casting doubt on the presumption that ownership of any soil
on our planet
can legitimately be traced to God's will. When political stakes are
high, a secularist
like Rabin will not risk his neck by hinting at his belief that the
Bible, after all, is
manmade. Thus, when the Bible is used to justify national claims to
land, the
theological question is manifest.
The issue of identity is critical for both Jews and Arabs alike.
We Jews once again
have to sort out the tangled threads of our religion and nationality.
The problem is
more complicated than in biblical times, as a result of the spread
of freedom and the
availability of many more theological and spiritual options. We can
no longer
confront our people with an eitheror choice, such as Joshua presented
to the
Israelites--either the old-time religion of the Hebrew ancestors or
the new Mosaic
dispensation. Jews have to rethink their status as a transterritorial
people, united by
bonds of history, religion and culture. However, to put the Jewish
condition in this
way is merely to state the problem and not to provide an answer. The
solution to the
problem of Jewish identity obviously has not been provided by the creation
of an
autonomous and democratic Jewish state. Some other form of spiritual
polity,
expressed in a new Jewish covenant, will have to be invented. But that
is a long way
off. The international Jewish people is today too confused to enable
it to come to the
requisite self-understanding.
2. Israel's Arabs, meanwhile, have to grapple with their minority
status in an
imperfect Jewish democratic state. They, too, have to reexamine their
religious roots
as Christians, Moslems and Druse. Not the least of their problems is
to come to terms
with the Western culture that many Jews have brought with them and
which wreaks
havoc with traditional Arab mores and habits of mind. For instance,
Israel's
Moslems, like their brethren throughout the Moslem world, have to choose
between
one of the varieties of Islamic fundamentalism and a secularized Islam
which leaves
them with a deculturated nationalism lacking in spiritual roots. Chri\stian
Israelis, on
the other hand, must ask themselves what their Palestinian identity
is all about.
Wherein, if at all, can their Christian beliefs contribute to their
identity as Palestinians
and as Israelis? And for both Christian and Moslem Arabs, how are they
to relate
their traditions to Israel's democratic ethos?
3. Israel is hard put to harmonize the seeming contradiction
between its democracy
and its Jewishness. Here are just a few of the complexities.
a. What are to be the features of the public domain? Are they
to be determined by
halakhic standards? Are the decisions to be local or national? To what
extent are
non-observant Jews to be permitted to establish their own patterns?
What is to be
permitted or denied to Non-Jews?
b. How much of the halakhic tradition should be or can be adapted
for use in the
legislative, judicial and administrative apparatus of the state? There
are those who
argue that halakhists should not agree to this secularization of Jewish
law. Others,
however, concede that precisely such adaptation of Jewish tradition
is to be expected
of a Jewish state.
c. The laws of personal status which the Israeli government haas
put under
halakhic control are of acute difficulty. Marriage and divorce laws
generally do not
bespeak the democratic ethos. Clearly, this creates a spiritual dilemma
which can be
resolved only by the surrender of one side or the other. A democratic
government can
modernize and equalize laws of personal status, which would mean a
departure from
Halakhah no less great than the opting for a democratic form of government.
Although the halakhists came to terms, long ago, with civil governments
in the
wide-flung Diaspora, they never agreed to relinquish halakhic control
over the
demography of the Jewish people. Were civil marriage and divorce to
be allowed in
Israel, the outcome would probably be an irrevocable split in world
Jewry. But if
Israel is to remain a democracy, it will eventually have to deal with
this problem.
Reflect, however, on the history of the family in the days of the First
Temple. All
evidence points to a succession of revisions in the way families were
established and
who could or could not receive his or her Jewish identity card. I suspect
that the
Halakhah has lost most, if not all, of its power in regard to handling
this ongoing
problem. Fundamentalist Jews have no identity crisis, because they
do not marry
outside their own community. But the rest of Jewry will either back
passively into
new forms of Jewish identi\fication or struggle toward a new compromise.
4. I touch now on the theological challenge to the Abrahamic
religions that is
implicit in democratic notions of authority, polity, decision-making,
pluralism, this--
worldliness, freedom and equality. Judaism, Christianity and Islam
can each point to
ideas and values in their respective traditions which have entered
into the democratic
ethos. But on the whole, the historical religions have to come to terms
with
democracy's eschewal of all exclusivism and claims to absolute truth
or goodness,
and its espousal of the right of each person to follow his or her conscience
and
spiritual or esthetic taste in worship and ritual observance.
5. Religion and democracy need each other in the formulation
of ethical values for
the century of peril and opportunity that lies before us. Democracy
frees the human
mind for imaginative experiments, but religion is needed to prevent
imagination from
losing touch with moral responsibility. The possibility that man will
destroy himself
and the earth with him is frighteningly apparent. In building the Tower
of Babel
mankind sought to gain divine power. In our current attempt to master
the art of
ultimate destruction, we seem to worship Satan. Freedom has been distorted
into
exagge\rated permissiveness, and science has been twisted into scien\tism.
The
response to these and other debasements of human worth must not be
a wholesale
return to systems of ethics that were responsible for monstrous suffering
in the past.
Rather, religionists and democrats together must refine old values
and seek new
standards to be adopted by all who wish to work for the unity of mankind.
In the light of all I have said, Israel has to regard itself
as the locale of a new
biblical adventure. It must be a place where the universal vision of
the prophets can
be updated, where the revitalization of Jewish nationalism will be
a blessing to all
men. In Israel, the Abrahamic religions, all of which will remain particular
in form,
must become universal in intent. While deepening ethnical and religious
ties, all of
Israel's citizens have also to seek areas of commonality which will
characterize their
Israel identity and justify Israel's statehood. The State must fulfill
its purpose as the
Jewish homeland, but it can be consi\dered democratic only if its minority
groups can
come to regard it as the locale of their fulfilment, individually and
as historic
communities.
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Rabin, as a Saint of Peace
- (Post 19.11.95)
Secular Israelis, Too, Have a Faith
by Joel Greenberg
At the spot where Yitzhak Rabin was gunned down, two makeshift monuments
remained last week, surrounded by flowers and memorial candles.
One was a pair of stone tablets representing the Ten Commandments
and engraved
with the Hebrew words: "Thou shalt not kill. 11.4.95." The other was
a bullet-riddled
barrel brought from an army firing range, a sculptured dove huddling
inside.
The memorials were a blend of Israeli and Jewish symbols, like
the public
mourning for the slain Prime Minister itself - a surge of secular spirituality
with
rituals of its own, drawn mostly from Israeli popular culture, but
also from Jewish
tradition.
Much attention has been given to the political cleavages in this
society in the two
weeks since the assassination. At the same time, the killing has illuminated
a spiritual
divide - between the approximately 20 percent of Israeli Jews who keep
the
commandments of Orthodox Judaism, and the 80 percent who do not. That
divide
was nowhere more evident than in the way most of the nation mourned
Mr. Rabin's
passing.
Israelis, many of them teen-agers who feel deep alientaion from
any synagogues or
rabbis, created their own rites and developed what looked like spontaneous
forms of
prayer. They lit candles, sat in silent circles, sang songs, and wrote
poems, letters and
graffiti in memory of Mr. Rabin and in support of peace. Many engaged
in public
confession, declaring their guilt for not speaking out against the
political hatred that
had struck down Mr. Rabin.
Makeshift signs put a creative twist on the Jewish prayer of
penance on Yom
Kippur: "We are guilty," they said. "We were silent."
This country is not like the United States, where Jews can practice
a recognized
form of their religion along a wide spectrum - choosing among Reform
or
Conservative congregations as well as Orhtodox ones. Here, only Orthodox
Judaism
functions as an established religion, and this leaves most Israelis,
who do not follow
its rituals, to call themselves "secular." They accept rabbinical authority
in matters
like circumcision, marriage, divorce and death - they have to, because
Israeli law
gives them no alternative - but in little else.
While the pious go to synagogue on Sabbaths and holidays, many
secular Israelis
flock to the beach, or go on trips and to barbecues. Even on Rosh Hashanah
and Yom
Kippur, solemn days of introspection for the observant, there are non-religious
Israelis at the sea.
Over the years, this had led many Orthodox to look down on the
secular Jews as
soulless admirers of foreign ways. But what is showing through now,
particularly
among the young, is just how much of Jewish spiritual tradition flourishes
beneath
the materialistic Israeli facade.
This is not altogether surprising, since much of public education
here is, in fact an
education in Jewish history, culture and tradition. So even though
the secular, for
their part, often look down on the pious as hidebound and medieval,
even fanatcial,
they still often gather on Friday night for dinner with family and
friends. It is not a
religious observance for these Jews, but it is close enough to the
traditional Sabbath
meal.
Many secular Jews, as a matter of national identity and belief,
also hold the
traditonal seder on Passover, fast on Yom Kippur and light candles
on Hanukkah,
their lives regulated by a national calendar that follows the Jewish
year. And while
the fantastical costume festival that fills Tel Aviv's worldly streets
every spring could
almost pass for Halloween, it is not that at all; it is a celebration
of Purim.
Consider, then, a gathering in Tel Aviv a week ago that drew
more than a quarter
of a million Israelis. This was a memorial service without rabbis.
Under a huge
picture of Mr. Rabin, singers sang melancholy ballads as the crowd
held candles,
waved arms and swayed in what looked like both a mass prayer and a
rock concert. It
seemed fitting that Mr. Rabin, Israel's first native-born Prime Minister,
should be
mourned in this way. Distant from taditional relgious practice, Mr.
Rabin represented
in his blunt talk and unmistakable body language the hopes and fears
of many
Israelis. In death, he became their saint, and his visage an icon in
a new kind of
national religion.
"Rabin was us," wrote the songwriter Yehonatan Gefen in the newspaper
Ma'ariv.
"He was you and me, so when he was murdered, something died in you,
something
was murdered in me."
Avi Ravitzky, an Orhodox professor of Jewish thought at the Hebrew
University in
Jerusalem, said he felt contradictory currents in the public in the
wake of Mr. Rabin's
death. There was, he said, a surge of hostility against the Orthodox
because the killer,
Yigal Amir, said he had religious motives. But at the same time, there
was a burst of
spirituality in the streets.
"In facing death, people suddendly adopted symbols taken from
Judaism: the
memorial candles, the seven days of mourning, writing notes and putting
them on
walls, a new version of the wailing wall," he said. "The young people
of Tel Aviv,
considered the most individualistic, were suddendly looking for community.
There
was a tremendous contradiction between organized religion and their
display of
religious feelings, which run very deep."
The paradox, Dr. Ravitzky said, was that the killer was called
religious, while the
songs sung by the teenagers were considered secular," he said.
To some extent, what is happening here happens elsewhere; orthodox
hierarchies
in Christian lands, for example, can find themselves at odds with modernizing
younger people with deep spiritual yearnings. But while in those lands
this often
produces innovative new churches or prayer groups, in Israel the young
have not
sparked a mass movement, for example, to get alternative branches of
Judaism
recognized. Rather, the state itself seems to be enough of an organization
to let these
young identify themselves as Jews.
In a sense, the tables have been turned on how spiritual identity
is identified in the
Israeli mind with patriotism. It used to be that the right-wing religious
laid special
claim to patriotism, based on their fervor for the land.
But now, said Tom Segev, a historian and newspaper columnist,
Mr. Rabin's death
has made peace seem patriotic. "Rabin's own hesitations," he wrote,
"gave peace
with the Palestinians a bad name here, nothing to get excited about.
Tragically, in his
death, he filled people's need for a hero of peace, and mourning for
the Prime
Minister who was murdered at a peace rally became patriotic."
For Mr. Rabin had come to represent a kind of secular ethos -
an openness to the
world and a readiness to deal with Arab neighbours that challenges
decades of Israeli,
and Jewish, insularity.
"Rabin made Israel part of the larger world," said Rabbi David
Hartman, a
philosopher and educator. "He took us out of the ghetto."
Easy pray
The Jerusalem Post, February 5, 1997
The approach to the year 2000 has led to growing Christian missionary
activity
among Jews, Semi Kahan reports
SITTING at home one afternoon a few months ago, Tunisian-born Rivka
Adir opened
the door to two young female visitors to area "D" in Beersheba. They
were very
polite and opened the conversation by talking about different items
in the news,
before switching to talk about the coming of messiah.
They soon declared their belief in God and Jesus, and at this
point Adir understood
the real purpose of their visit.
A similar visit was experienced by her neighbor, Tamar Chazi,
who initially
thought that the visitors' aim was to turn her into a religious penitent,
as they seemed
to have a deep biblical knowledge.
And now both express concern that their neighbors - many of who
are immigrants
from the CIS - seemed confused after their experience with these two
missionaries.
They knew about families in distress who were offered various kinds
of economic
assistance by those women, as well as a variety of reading material
with evangelical
messages.
Meir Kobi, a community worker in Kfar Shalem in Tel Aviv, has
heard similar
stories from quite a number of families in his neighborhood. Many are
welfare cases
whom missionaries had visited with an evangelical message and an offer
of assistance
in paying debts and funding activities for the children. The missionaries
also invited
the parents to weekend vacations in hotels. According to Kobi, most
of the families
refused to cooperate, but he knew of some cases of subsequent participation
in
community activities at Christian centers.
And these are just a few examples of growing Christian activity
among Jews in
various parts of Israel, focusing mainly on immigrants and families
in distress. These
activities have been accelerating with the approach of the year 2000,
which has a
special theological meaning for Christians. According to one of the
beliefs adopted
by many of these evangelizing groups, 2000 is also an important landmark
for Jews
in the Diaspora - a time for them to move to Israel and convert to
Christianity. This
explains why these Christians feel a pressing need to intensify their
work among
Jews.
In a conference held by Southern Baptists in the US last summer,
15 million
believers were called upon to "direct the proclamation of the gospel
to the Jewish
people, and to establish a strong witness among them by the year 2000."
The Southern Baptists have produced a handbook for its missionaries
which
advises them on how to approach Jews and how to "share the gospel with
them
wisely."
These Christian groups and organizations, many based in Scandinavia
and the US,
declare their strong love and attachment to the Chosen People but,
judging by their
publications and by watching their activity among Jews, this love does
not appear to
be altruistic.
"Let us love the Jews and tell them about Jesus," declares Vartio
in Finland, a
group which organizes annual summer camps for Jewish children from
the area in the
CIS which was most affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe. According
to some of the
children's own stories presented in Vartio's bulletin, they were subjected
to
missionary work in these camps. A publication distributed by the Swedish
group
Exodus said: "Our work is done in cooperation with Jewish organizations,
and
religious Jews are following our activities. It is therefore preferable
to use Messianic
Jews to evangelize, as they arouse less suspicion among their brethren."
When Jews in Israel and abroad join the Messianics, they are
usually asked to
commit themselves to convince other Jews to join them. According to
Lev Ahim, an
organization combating missionary activities in Israel, there are about
20,000
Messianic Jews in the country and their numbers are growing. According
to the same
source, they are now volunteering in hospitals and old-age homes, and
manning hot
lines. This is in harmony with their policy of focussing on people
who are under
stress or have social and others needs.
So what fires these Christians? Most of them are Protestant but
don't belong to the
official Protestant establishment, which is distancing itself from
some aspects of their
activities, including in most cases missionary work among Jews. The
followers of
these largely Protestant groups ascribe to the tenet that at the "End
of Days" their
messiah will redeem the entire world, but unlike their Christian brethren
they
consider the Jewish people as an important part in their eschatological
construction,
and according to their Old and New Testament interpretation, this redemption
will
come when the Jews move to the Holy Land and convert to Christianity.
Among these groups there are different views about their missionary
task in
relation to Jews. Some are ready to wait until the "End of Days," believing
that the
Jews will then, by their own conviction, have accepted Jesus as their
messiah. Others
think that they have to "assist" God in His task, which for them means
that they have
to bring their Christian message to the Jews as a preparation for the
redemption. This
strategy is now being used more frequently.
The Christian Embassy in Jerusalem has declared that it doesn't
support
missionary work among Jews, but as an institution it does host Christian
groups
which are strongly missionary. At the same time, the Christian Embassy
also supports
those in the Israeli political arena who are against the Oslo Agreement,
and is
advocating keeping all of Judea and Samaria under Israeli sovereignty
- to leave
more room for returning Jews to settle.
The readiness of Jewish and Israeli organizations to receive
various forms of
assistance from these Christians reflects some elements of hypocrisy,
as they are
aware of the real aims of this Christian activity.
Up until now there has been minimal reaction to this phenomenon.
The existing
law against missionary work has not been enforced, not only due to
its limitations but
also because of instructions by the attorney-general not to implement
it. This is often
explained as a will to refrain from acts that may cause negative reactions
in the
Christian world.
Besides, today voices are heard in the Christian world that distance
themselves
from evangelization among Jews for theological and moral reasons. The
World
Council of Churches declared in 1988 that "the living tradition of
Judaism is a gift of
God. With St. Paul in his letter to the Romans, we recognize the continuing
vocation
of the Jewish people, and the promise given to it as a sign of God's
faithfulness.
Proselytism is incompatible with Christian faith; claims of faith when
used as weapon
against anyone are contrary to the spirit of Christ."
The Lutheran European Commission in 1990 declared that: " Israel
is not replaced
by the church... Christian triumphalism, which has long weighed heavily
on the
relations between Christians and Jews, is incompatible with a serious
encounter and a
honest witness."
Lawyers acquainted with the decisions by the UN's Human Rights
Committee for
Religious Freedom hold that there are certain paragraphs claiming that
proselytism is
against the spirit of freedom of religion.
The rise of evangelism in the runup to the next millennium is
a diversion from
these statements. The time has surely come to say to the Christians:
Yes to dialogue;
yes to cooperation, but based on complete equality and mutual acceptance
as entities
in our right.
In Dubious Battle
In Jerusalem, 29.11.1996
The friction between the religious and secular communities-has reached
the Supreme
Court. Eli Groner spoke with representatives of both sides.
The battle is brewing. Not the inevitable clash between Arabs
and Israelis over the
future political identity of Israel's capital, but the internal struggle
over the Jewish
identity of our city.
A recent court decision required the Jerusalem Municipality to
nominate the
Meretz party's candidates, Conservative and Reform Rabbis Ehud Bandel
and
Nehama Kalman-Ezrahi to the local Religious Council. The court order
concluded
that the City Council's original refusal to accept the Meretz nominations
was based
on the candidates' religious affiliation.
Bandel sees this decision as a giant step toward building bridges
among
Jerusalem's various religious affiliations. When asked what he will
be able to
contribute in the Religious Council, Bandel said that his primary concern
is to "create
and cultivate an atmosphere of tolerance, mutual respect and equality,
while looking
out for the rights of members of the Conservtative Movement."
When asked specifically what he will do on the council, Bandel
cited the
McDonalds restaurant chain as an example of the Religious Council's
"all or nothing"
attitude that he hopes to change. According to Bandel, "the Religious
Council refused
to give McDonalds a kashrut certificate." He claims that the council's
policy dictates
that any restaurant with non-kosher branches will not be given a kosher
certificate in
Jerusalem.
Needless to say, Rabbi Yitzhak Ralbag, head of the Jerusalem
Religious Council
sees the issue quite differently. He claims that the Reform and Conservative
Movements' desire to enter the Religious Council stems from a desire
to acquire
legitimacy, and not to help with the services provided by the council.
"How can they
help us with Kashrut, mikvas, slaughtering and marriage ceremonies
when they
themselves, by and large, don't adhere to these halahic laws?"
Regarding McDonalds, Ralbag says that the council was never approached
by the
restaurant's representatives and that they could and would receive
a kashrut
certificate if they decided to adhere to the requirements. "It's ridiculous
to claim that
the reason is nonkosher branches. We've given. a hechsher (kosher
certification)
to Burger Ranch, to name one other restaurant, knowing full well that
they have
other, non-kosher outlets. This is another example of the other movements
claiming
to be building bridges, while in reality, the results are very divisive."
Ralbag and Bandel agree that the Conservative and Reform Movements
are
entitled to financial allocation. However, Ralbag claims that they
are barking up the
wrong tree. and says that the staterun Ministry of Religion should
provide these
groups with their fair share. "The Municipal Religious Council is just
that: a council
that deals solely with religious Jews' needs. That means those people
who adhere to
the Torah received at Sinai," Ralbag continues.
The uncompromising attitude of the Religious Couneil is something
that Bandel
hopes to change. He recognizes the fact that he has an obligation to
all of Jerusalem's
residents, including the orthodox, and he hopes that his attitude of
cooperation and
patience will prove contagious.
Ralbag counters that solidarity takes more than rhetoric, and
that the stated desire
must be followed by constructive action. While mentioning that on a
personal level
he actually likes Bandel, "we have to remember that Bandel represents
a group that is
destroying our national fiber. The orthodox community has been in Jerusalem
for
generations, before there was electricity, bread and water. This group,
whose
numbers pale in comparison, comes over from America relatively recently,
in order to
solidify the nation!"
In any event, it appears that neither Bandel nor Kalman-Ezrahi
will be joining the
council in the near future. The law stipulates that whomever is approved
by the
Jerusalem Municipal Council must also be approved by the Jerusalem
Chief
Rabbinate. Since there is no chance of that happening, the issue will
be forwarded to
a ministerial council headed by the prime minister, which will also
veto the proposal.
The next step is a government vote, where coalition considerations
do not better
Bandel's and Kalman-Ezrahi's chances. It appears that the Supreme Court
has not
heard the last of this case, although in its next incarnation it could
include a contempt
of court charge against the Chief Rabbinate.
Jewish-Christian dialogue: Root and Branch
By Haim Shapiro, The Jerusalem Post February 13
Jews have good reason to be satisfied with the results of their dialogue
with the
Roman Catholic Church; the Church has undergone a virtual revolution,
expunging
anti-Jewish elements from its prayers and textbooks, fighting antisemitism,
and
perhaps above all, extending full recognition to Israel.
And yet it appears that in spite of these achievements, or perhaps
because of them,
the dialogue between Jews and Catholics seems to be under some strain.
Could it be
that now that Jews have what they want, they are no longer interested
in talking to
Catholics?
At a public symposium in Jerusalem this week on The Future of
Jewish-Catholic
Relations in the World and in Israel, Rabbi David Rosen of the Anti-Defamation
League spoke of a "creeping paralysis" of IJCIC, the International
Jewish Committee
for Interreligious Consultations, a body specifically set up to represent
Jews in talks
with the Roman Catholic Church.
Rosen admitted that the justification for such talks has often
been to fight
antisemitism and galvanize the Church into reforming its doctrine.
In simple terms,
this can perhaps be best illustrated by an experience of mine while
attending an
interfaith gathering in Europe a few years ago. One of the participants
was a haredi
rabbi complete with a black hat, coat and beard - a far cry from the
liberal clergy and
secular lay people who usually make up the Jewish contingent at such
gatherings.
When I asked him why he was taking part, he expressed himself in terms
of pure
self-preservation.
"They are looking for their Jewish roots, and we want them not
to kill us," he said.
While the Jewish participants in the dialogue with the Church
were not concerned
with averting an imminent pogrom, they were anxious to follow up the
revolution in
the way the Church looks at the Jewish people, which came in the wake
of the
Second Vatican Council. Sister Maureena Fritz, president and founder
of the Bat Kol
Institute in Jerusalem, which is devoted to teaching Christians about
Judaism,
distributed a questionnaire given to Catholics to determine whether
their textbooks
were in keeping with the new outlook.
"Is the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish tradition founded upon it
compared with the
New Testament in such a way that both traditions are seen to be founded
on love and
justice, or in a false way that sees the Hebrew Bible as forming a
religion of justice,
fear and legalism in contrast to a New Testament stress on God's love?"
reads one
question. "Do texts treating Church history honestly admit to Christian
mistreatment
of Jews in various periods of history?" reads another.
"In terms of the doctrine, there is little more that needs to
be said," Rosen
admitted.
JUST AS important for Jews is the issue of Catholic recognition
of Israel.
Although Catholic spokesmen were at pains to stress that there was
no connection
between the "religious" discussions of Jews and Catholics and the "political"
issue of
diplomatic relations between Israel and the Vatican, for the Jews it
was of utmost
religious importance. As long as there were no diplomatic relations,
Jews felt, the
Church was ignoring what Rosen described as "the inextricable relationship
between
Jewish and identity and Israel," and worse still, appeared to be adhering
to the
teaching that the Jews were being punished for deicide.
Cardinal Edward Cassidy, head of the Vatican Commission for Religious
Relations
with the Jews, while reiterating the distinction between "religious"
and "diplomatic,"
admitted that with the signing of the Fundamental Accord between the
Vatican and
the State of Israel, a new stage had been reached in Catholic-Jewish
relations.
Reviewing the achievements of the past, he noted that these achievements
had put
into question the need for further high-level meetings and action.
What remained, he appeared to say, was action and education on
a local level so
that religious leaders and their communities would actually know what
had been
achieved. At the same time, Cassidy expressed the frustration of the
Catholics who
see the Orthodox rabbinate as their natural partners in dialogue, while
those who
engage in such talks on the Jewish side are most often Conservative
or Reform rabbis
or leaders of Jewish communal organizations.
"The question that arises for many of us concerns the fact that
often the
representatives on one side of the dialogue are clergy and theologians,
while those on
the other side are lay representatives of community organizations.
Yet, the questions
dealt with in our dialogue have a religious significance and... we
are meeting as
communities of faith," Cassidy said.
The problem was faced by Rosen, himself an Orthodox rabbi, who
noted the
demise of the Synagogue Council of America, a part of IJCIC, following
the
withdrawal of the Orthodox. Reservations by American Orthodox rabbis
toward such
participation had come, Rosen said, following an article by the late
Rabbi J.B.
Soloveichik, spiritual head of Yeshiva University, expressing doubts
about
theological dialogue, while encouraging cooperation with non-Jews on
civil, social
and ethical issues.
In fact, Rosen pointed out, Soloveichik himself had participated
in many
theological meetings. The article, Rosen suggested, was intended to
encourage more
narrow-minded rabbis by suggesting a series of boundaries within which
they could
live.
In any case, Rosen added, Orthodox rabbis in Israel and Europe
make no such
distinction. They view close relations between Jews and Christians
as either desirable
or undesirable. As Rosen pointed out, even the highest levels of the
official rabbinate
in Israel are willing to participate in interfaith gatherings, albeit
usually far from
Israel and from the criticism of their haredi colleagues. (In fact,
Haifa Chief Rabbi
She'ar Yashuv Cohen attended the opening session of the symposium and
gave his
blessing to the gathering.)
However, if the participation of Orthodox Jewish clergy in Israel
is problematic, so
is that of the higher ranks of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. In a rare
appearance at
such a gathering, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah noted that dialogue
is a Western
reality. Even in Israel, it is mostly between Westernized Jews and
expatriate
Christians.
In order to talk to local Christians, Sabbah said, it was necessary
to relate to them
as Palestinians. "Christians are not only a separated religious community.
As any
Christian in the world, they belong to a people and nation; any attempt
to separate
them or eradicate them from their people will only harm them," he said.
Noting what he called the Palestinian suffering under the yoke
of oppression
created by the policies of the government of Israel, Sabbah suggested
that just as
Western Christians had had to repent for the treatment of Jews, so
Jews would have to
repent for their treatment of Palestinians.
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