Transforming Vision: Explorations in Feminist Theology

6: Christian Anti-Judaism: Prejudice and Accountability in Feminist The*logy

125 6 Christian Anti-Judaism Prejudice and Accountability in Feminist The*logy The lively discussion about anti-Judaism in Christian feminist the*logy indicates how much even feminist scholarship and the*logy remain caught up in malestream kyriarchal thought patterns that unconsciously re-inscribe their exclusions and limitations, despite feminist scholars’ aim to disclose and combat them as oppressive. Therefore, it is necessary to look critically at our own theoretical frameworks and methods of argumentation so that we do not unwittingly re-inscribe and continue old prejudices.1 The Rhetorical Site of Feminist Christian-Jewish Dialogue Defining the rhetorical site of feminist Christian-Jewish dialogue is complicated and many-sided. In order to do so, I need to crystallize three difficulties one encounters when speaking about Christian-Jewish dialogue. First, feminist the*logians have questioned the established Christian-Jewish dialogue as such.2 Thus, for example, Judith Plaskow, who has significantly shaped the feminist discussion of anti-Judaism, has fundamentally called into question the established dialogue, which is conducted for its own sake: 1. First published as “Christlicher Antijudaismus aus feministischer Perspektive,” in Das christlich-jüdische Gespräch: Standortsbestimmungen, ed. Christina Kurth and Peter Schmid (Stuttgart : Kohlhammer, 2000), 56-70. I want to thank Linda Maloney for the initial translation of this chapter. 2. From the extensive literature on this subject, I will mention a single collection: Leonard Swidler et al., eds., Bursting the Bonds? A Jewish-Christian Dialogue on Jesus and Paul (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1990). 126 | Transforming Vision First of all, I am by no means convinced of the meaning of the ChristianJewish dialogue. To prevent misunderstandings: as a Jewish woman who does feminist theology I have always worked together with Christian and post-Christian women theologians. Together we have formulated a critique of patriarchal religion; engaged, we spoke and argued over how deeply patriarchy is anchored in Judaism and Christianity; together we discussed what it means to rediscover the history of women and make it visible; and we struggled together to integrate the experience of women into our respective traditions. But these are substantial questions that we have in common, and speaking about substance is something entirely different from just talking with each other. In my view dialogue for dialogue’s sake leads all too often to dishonesty, defensiveness, guilt feelings, or self-reproach.3 In light of this warning, I do not want to foreground anti-Judaism in Christian women’s studies;4 instead, I want to first look critically at Christian antiJudaism from a feminist the*logical perspective. Such an approach to the topic of this symposium5 is justified because Jewish and Christian feminists have as their common goal to increase awareness of wo/men’s religious-the*logical position as “second-class citizens” in their respective religious communities as well as to critically analyze the kyriarchal ideologies legitimating such second-class citizenship. It is important to see that it was not women’s or gender studies,6 but feminist the*logy that has articulated the problem of anti-Judaism. For quite some time, Christian feminist the*logians have critically investigated anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism in their own discourses and in those of established the*logy because they work toward the common goal of transforming kyriarchal religious structures. Unlike women’s or gender studies, feminist the*logy does not simply have “woman/women” or “gender” as the object of its research. Rather, it seeks to articulate a theoretical-religious perspective and method that can transform 3. Judith Plaskow, “Feministischer Antijudaismus und der christliche Gott,” Kirche und Israel 5 (1990): 9-25. 4. For the German discussion, see Marie-Theres Wacker, “Feministische Theologie und Antijudaismus : Diskussionsstand und Problemlage in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland,” Kirche und Israel 5 (1990): 168-76; Leonore Siegele-Wenschkewitz, ed., Verdrängte Vergangenheit, die uns bedrängt: Feministische Theologie in der Verantwortung für die Geschichte (Munich: Kaiser, 1988); and above all Christine Schaumberger, ed., Weil wir nicht vergessen wollen: Zu einer feministischen Theologie im deutschen Kontext (Münster: Morgana, 1987). 5. The symposium, “Standortsbestimmungen im christlich-jüdischen Gespräch,” took place in August, near Basel, on 21–23 June 1998. I want to extend my particular thanks to Prof. Stegemann and his assistant, Christina Kurth, for the invitation to this symposium. 6. For gender research, see Theresa Wobbe and Gesa Lindemann, Denksachen: Zur theoretischen und institutionellen Rede vom Geschlecht (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1994); Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, “Gender,” in The Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion, ed. Robert Wuthnow (Washington : Congressional Quarterly...