Dialogue in a New Millennium: Religious Identity and Encounter
By RABBI DAVID ROSEN
The millennium is a religious event with inherent significance for Christians, yet it has the potential to be a significant time for Jews and Muslims as well. The major religious focus for the millennium has come from Pope John Paul II, who envisions the approach of the year 2000 as an occasion to connect the faithful with their heritage, as well as an opportunity for the Catholic Church to engage in a historical retrospective; looking back on the past, recognizing its faults and failures, and looking forward to a new future. Thus, the year 2000 presents a unique opportunity for interfaith dialogue.
The pope has referred to the Jewish people as the "elder brother" of the church, and the issue of Catholic-Jewish reconciliation has been a prime focus of his agenda and a major component of his interfaith mission. As he has stressed, the approach of the millennium offers important opportunities for significant exchange and dialogue. Indeed, people of all faiths must work together to realize the aspirations of peace and dignity and to create a world where people of all religions will respect one another.
On Dialogue and Jewish Relations with Other Religions
Dialogue is a pragmatic imperative for the well-being of society. This is more obvious if you are a minority: In order to be understood by the majority, you will seek some means of communication to promote your interests and to reduce misunderstanding and negative stereotyping through constructive relations. Interreligious dialogue is based on a recognition that there are certain fundamental values common to all religions, such as justice, peace, and family unity, and that by joining together we can bring about societal well-being.
Both the 11th century Jewish thinker Yehuda Halevi and the 12th century philosopher Maimonides recognized that Islam and Christianity seek to bring about a better world, and therefore, despite theological differences, the three monotheistic religions share a certain degree of responsibility. But it was the 14th century French scholar Rabbi Menachem Hameiri who made a quantum leap in Judeo-Christian relations, when he spoke of "nations bound by the ways of religion." This definition became the central determining factor in a Jew's relationship with the gentile world: distinguishing between those who are bound by moral religious-ethical structures and those who are not.
Indeed, this definition was the basis for the rulings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook, Israel's first Ashkenazi chief rabbi, regarding how to relate to gentiles within the newly founded Jewish state. Kook ruled that Christians and Muslims were to be regarded as "gerim," inhabitants of the land entitled to full citizenship and all civil liberties under the Jewish majority, because they were products of cultures bound by the ways of true religion. This ruling has been put to the test on many levels, dialogue and otherwise, and no less so as the year 2000 approaches.
Millennial Opportunities, Millennial Challenges
The pope, by encouraging the Christian faithful to come on pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem, presents us with fascinating opportunities and incredible logistical problems. The mere fact that several million Catholic pilgrims are expected to visit a country that receives only two and a half million tourists a year will present enormous complications for Israel's citizens and the forces of law and order, as well as a major test to Israeli-Palestinian and interfaith relations.
Even the smallest negative event is likely to be blown out of proportion by the press, which is ever-hungry for sensationalism. As we are well aware, it is much easier to blow up a bridge than to build one.
Education is needed on all sides. People of good will must begin planning for the millennial millions by educating Israelis who deal with the public. They must also educate the pilgrims who will come here about the peoples of the land so that their pilgrimage to the Holy Land will be a human encounter, and not just an encounter with the dead stones of the past.
Religion's Defining Roles: Nurturing the Security to Encounter and Exchange
Religion is inextricably bound up with all the components of human identity. Religion seeks to tell us who we are: as part of a family, a congregation, a community, a nation, and as a part of all humanity. The more comfortable we are within our more intimate communities, the more we can feel ourselves as part of a broader group, without compromising our individuality. Likewise, the more insecure we are, the more we tend to cut ourselves off and nurture the insular components of our identity instead of focusing on the broader universal dimension.
The ancient prophets of Israel realized this, so that when Israel was being exiled and destroyed, they sought to comfort the people rather than exhort them to behave better. The prophets knew that the challenge of greater universality can only be met when the people are secure in their land. Thus the primary focus of institutional religion in a situation of suffering is to try to nurture the identity of the community, while in situations of security religion becomes more responsive to dialogue.
With this in mind, we must not forget that neither the Arab people nor 95% of the Jewish population of Israel come from modern Western backgrounds, with the luxury of secure cultural contexts. Moreover, since most members of our society, whether Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, have suffered persecution or alienation at some point in their histories, they experience substantial degrees of fear, suspicion, and paranoia when presented with the idea of interfaith dialogue.
Those of us who have been exposed to Western culture and experienced its blessing of tolerance have the responsibility to be pioneers in the process of dialogue. But we should not be surprised if some people are not sympathetic to this process, because they see it as a threat to their own well-being. We must understand that they do not feel secure within the wider society, and should patiently demonstrate the advantages of dialogue, inform and educate so that they will become more willing to engage in fruitful exchange.
In our time, Judaism, Christianity, and, increasingly, Islam have become allies, seeking to provide a spiritual and moral worldview to society in a world that is disoriented and wracked by the ennui of consumerism. The need for cooperation continues to increase. The millennium presents us with an opportunity to ensure that the three major religions are a blessing for all mankind.
Rabbi David Rosen is the director of the Anti-Defamation League-Israel office as well as ADL's co-liaison to the Vatican. He also serves as a president of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), president of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), and co-vice chairperson of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel.
Toward the Third Millennium
Trialogue in Jerusalem: Jews, Christians, and Moslems
The 1998-99 Lecture Series
Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel
Konrad Adenauer Foundation
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