Israeli Group Seeks to Eliminate Inter-Religious Bias and Bigotry

By the Reverend L. Humphrey Walz

It is a tragic fact that religion has been the catalyst for some of history's grossest perversions. General Secretary Jonathan Tsevi of the Association for the Promotion of Inter-Religious Education in Israel (P.O. Box 7972, Jerusalem 91079), cites a few of the far too numerous examples: the ancient Israelite invasion of Canaan, the Christian Crusades, the 1492 Spanish deportation of Jews, the Shi'i Muslim Hezbollah's suicide truck-bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, and the widespread bloodshed throughout India in the wake of the destruction of the Badri Mosque in Ayodhya, India.

"Most people today are yearning for a world of peace and harmony between peoples, nations and religions," a report by the association declares. "The vast majority of world religions proclaim their desire" for such a world.

Tsevi attributes the perversion of such good intentions into the intellectual undergirding for pogroms and persecutions in part on believers. The convictions of many about the unique merits of their faith lead them to conclude that it makes them "special" and "superior" to others whom they are free to denigrate and permitted, sometimes encouraged, to repress or eliminate.

Another factor in religion-inspired conflict is the skill of self-serving manipulators who are able to take loyalty to institutions, creeds, traditions, scriptures, structures, symbols or relationships, and redirect that loyalty to serve their own purposes.

Such misuse of religion, mixed with ignorance, misinformation and disinformation, Tsevi sees as elements in the escalation of Israeli-Palestinian violence, and the spread of its divisiveness to other lands and to succeeding generations.

"When children grow up into that atmosphere of misconception and distortion," Tsevi explains, "the vicious circle is ever accelerating."

As they began action to counter misinformation at their own Jewish-Israeli doorstep, the association's leaders quickly discovered that all that many educated Jews "knew" about Christianity were three misconceptions: (1) Christians deliberately distort Hebrew scriptures; (2) Christians blame Jews for the execution of Jesus; and (3) Christians hate Jews in ways that can only lead to more persecution. Jews who harbor these ideas would not be likely to read books on the subject or attend university night classes, the association concluded, but they might be willing to learn about Christians by meeting some and candidly discussing their faith and outlook on their own ground.

An "Overwhelming" Response

"To our great joy," says Tsevi, the response of both Palestinian and resident alien Christians "was overwhelming." The association chose January 1990 to launch a program involving one weekend a month for five months in which Israeli Jews would seek "understanding, tolerance and even appreciation" by visiting a variety of Christians, mostly in the Galilee and in Jerusalem.

From Christian pastors, educators and laymen, and from Jews well acquainted with them, the participants would hear about and discuss the life and teachings of Jesus and the historical separation of early Christianity from the various Jewish philosophical currents of the time. They would hear directly from a Danish nun, Dr. Kristen Federsen, and from Bruno Husar—a convert from Judaism who became a Dominican brother and established the Jewish-Arab rural community of Beit Shalom—why they joined holy orders.

The Jewish participants would spend a night in the Scotch Presbyterian pilgrim hostel, formerly a hospital; tour desert monastic ruins with an archaeologist; and visit an active monastery and a convent, as well as Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox parishes. They also would participate passively in Christian rituals, including the Good Friday Way of the Cross procession along Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa.

Such experiences, plus discussion of the Bible, sin, atonement and redemption, and a lecture by Gdalia Stroumsa, head of comparative religion studies at Hebrew University, led many who participated to conclude that their understanding of their own religion had been enhanced by viewing it along with Christianity.

There were also contacts with "offbeat" expressions of Christianity. These included a meeting with Hebrew Christians, also known as Messianic Jews. They retain their full Jewish self-identity, but have been officially disenfranchised by the Israeli government for their belief that Jesus was the Messiah foretold by the ancient Hebrew prophets. The group also visited the European- and American-financed "Christian Embassy." The latter has established itself in "Jerusalem, D.C." ("David's Capital") in expectation of Jesus' return after 144,000 Jews have been converted and the Muslim Dome of the Rock has been replaced by a "Third Jewish Temple." At that time, according to "Christian Embassy" adherents, unbelievers, Jewish and Gentile, will perish in agony. (This is treated as tactfully as possible in the "Christian Embassy's" abundantly available literature.)

Favorable reactions of both leaders and learners to the 1990 experience and subsequent similar programs have been vigorously asserted. Professor Stroumsa reflected the views of many when she said it was "high time the inter-religious dialogue descended from the ivory tower to the common people."

The Gulf war cut the 1991 series to three sessions, but the original number has been restored. Prerequisite reading remains the same: the Gospel of Matthew, Mark or Luke, and Prof. David Flusser's simplified version of his book on Jewish sources of Christianity. The association has sought and achieved greater participation by teachers, administrators, media staff, community leaders and others "with a capacity to influence deeds and decisions."

The appeal of the program is evident from the fact that the quota of 36 participants has regularly been filled even before public announcements have been made, and 76 percent of those who have taken the course want more. The organizers are particularly pleased that 78 percent would like to enroll in a similar venture in Jewish-Muslim relations. Such undertakings now are stymied by the current violence in the Holy Land, but will be resumed when political conditions permit.