Christians & Jews Faith to Faith: Tragic History, Promising Present, Fragile Future (review)

In traditional Christian circles, theologizing on the faith of Judaism, the alpha and the omega appear to be the Church and its sacred texts and traditions. However, for the ecumenically minded Christian and Jew this sort of theology, while valuable, will not do in a post-Auschwitz age. Ecumenists acknowledge that a comprehensive sense of understanding Jewish history in the lands of Christendom by way of interfaith dialogue is critically important for the reciprocal respect of Judaism and Christianity

The modus operandi of Rabbi James Rudin, well-known international leader in interreligious encounter and well published essayist and lecturer, is straightforward and transforming: as a practicing Jew, who is knowledgeable about the two-millennia interface between Christians and Jews, he casts his net wide to examine the dynamics of the Jewish and Christian interchange by analytically reading select texts and events and demonstrating how a dialogical encounter with significant texts (sacred and profane) and historical events can foster mutual understanding and respect as well as personal change among its participants. Moreover, Rudin's discussion of faith-to-faith encounter transcends the objectivity and data-driven detachment of standard academic approaches. His staccato chapters encourage the reader at whatever level to enter into a confrontation with past religio-historical reality, present currents of thought (amenable and fragile), and the potential directions which they can take in a hopeful but uncertain future.

The development of an interfaith approach to appreciate and understand the current state of Jewish and Christian visions of the other, as presented by empathetic scholars who are also committed to a variety of religious faiths and confessions, offers a model for dialogue as well as an inter-subjective approach to learning. Focus on texts is only one version of what can be a model for much other research topics, and only one approach among many possible options. Perhaps another necessity is that the twenty-first century is also a turning point in terms of who the researchers are. Respectful scholars in the generation of dialogue are forthright, critical, and tolerant. They are not only modeling a way of doing interfaith research but are also modeling a style of being in the world that is ultimately the only way to say never again to religious bigotry, stereotypes, and demeaning proclamations in the name of authoritative religion. This may seem grand, but it is in fact the basic intent of all such research and teaching. That is, the aim not merely to expose the religious prejudice of the past or even just to sustain the memory for the sake of history, but the challenge to build meaningful and not demeaning visions of the other through discussion, dialogue, and action.

To illustrate. The mandate of this volume is clear and precise: to root out the anti-Jewish bias of contra Judaeos (against Jews) found at the crossroads of Christian preaching and teaching; to stress the importance of the study of Judaism on its own terms so that Christians are able to assess correctly the positive value of rabbinic cult, rite, and law on the nascent church and on the later history of Christianity; to confront the shameful "teaching of contempt"—traced back to pivotal New Testament passages and the comments of the early Church Fathers—that Christians have projected onto the Jews for the past two millennia across and beneath all denominational barriers; to take seriously the concept of the Jews as God's ongoing covenantal people, whom Christians in their understanding of God's Word in scriptures and tradition are morally bound to support and protect; to rediscover the deep Jewish roots of the corpus Christi (Body of Christ) and live the imitatio Christi without antisemitism; and finally, to avoid Christian-centered agendas (Jewish leadership killed Jesus, replacement theology, universal grace supersedes particularistic law, etc.) as well as Jewish-centered agendas (e.g., Jews are the teachers and Christians are the learners of Jewish negativity, philosemitism is benign anti-semitism...