European Judaism

The year 2014 marked the formal celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the International Student Conference of the Standing Conference of Jews, Christians and Muslims in Europe, JCM for short. The longest-running such ‘trialogue’ programme in Europe, it developed out of the initiative of Rabbi Lionel Blue and Pastor Winfried Maechler in the period before the outbreak of the Six-Day War. They argued that beyond the political entities of Israel and the Arab States were the three great monotheistic religions, and surely within them were the necessary spiritual resources to create reconciliation. What was particularly imaginative was the aim to organize a conference for ‘theology students’ of the three faiths, future leaders of their respective communities who would bring to their congregational responsibilities interfaith perspectives, experience and values, as well as a network of colleagues from the other faiths to work with. From its inception the aim was to work primarily within the European context, recognizing very early the growth of Muslim communities and the need for their integration. An early decision was made not to address the Middle East conflict directly but only insofar as it impacted on the local diaspora communities.

From the Christian perspective the Second Vatican Council's 1965 declaration, Nostra Aetate, is understood as having transformed Jewish–Christian relations. Fifty years on it is appropriate to consider the Jewish reactions. This article summarizes, analyses and compares the early responses to the Vatican Council's efforts by Joseph Soloveitchik and A.J. Heschel. Drawing on the work of Jewish scholars in the interfaith field who see themselves as building on the contributions of these seminal figures, the article highlights the tension between the two approaches championed by Soloveitchik and Heschel and posits a reason for the difference. It also considers the impact of the statement Dabru Emet on the theological status of Jewish–Christian relations as they have developed into the twenty-first century by reviewing the arguments of its supporters such as David Rosen and its critics such as Jon Levenson. The article concludes with a reflection on where we might go from here.

This article is based on a public lecture, given on the occasion of the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the International Jewish–Christian–Muslim Student Conference (JCM), and is a personal reflection on its prehistory and early development. Certain key experiences of the author and other rabbinic graduates of Leo Baeck College helped shape the principles and unique emphasis of this early attempt to address the changing religious geography of post-war Europe.

I was very moved by Jonathan [Magonet]’s talk, and it brought to mind many cherished memories of my own. After all, it was one key experience from the pre-stage of the JCM that got me hooked. During one of those Jewish–Christian–Muslim weekends at the Evangelische Akademie Berlin on the Middle East conflict in 1969, an intense debate ensued between two secular Jewish speakers and the rabbis Albert Friedlander and Lionel Blue with whom I have been friends ever since. It was about Jewish claims to the Holy Land, still a burning issue, and questions of privileges and ethical obligations, and it opened my eyes to the lively dynamics within the Jewish faith group far beyond the stereotypes common in the Muslim students’ community in those days. At the same time, it strengthened my resolve to concentrate on talking to each other rather than talking about each other, both between our faith groups and within them.

In true JCM tradition, my reflections are totally personal and consist of anecdotes to, maybe, give you a flavour of my JCM. I came to London in 1973 and joined the Israeli Student Association. One of our activities was dialogue with Palestinian students. I am not sure I would call it a dialogue today. The meetings were more like shouting matches, all trying to score points off each other. The importance of these meetings was that we sat in the same room, grappling towards intercultural/interfaith dialogue.

When I first joined the JCM I was still young and certainly did not know what I was getting into. The conference theme in 1985 was Between Two Worlds – and that is where I was when I arrived in Bendorf. I had just returned from eighteen months in Northern Ireland where I worked for the Society of Friends (Quakers) with women and children across the divide. I had learned that it was important to know where others came from and that religion might be at the heart of the troubles – but it had also become clear that they were definitely to be part of the solution. Quakers from Ulster (among others) continued to play a significant role in what evolved into the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

This article describes some of the formative years of the Standing Conference of Jews, Christians and Muslims in Europe (JCM) and gives an overview of some landmarks in the growth and expansion of interfaith dialogue in the intervening forty years since its creation. What was originally seen as a peripheral religious activity for a few people on the margins of their respective religious communities has become a major area of religious commitment, the subject of academic study and of interest to local government and international politics, with journals devoted to the subject. One consequence is that in the past the different religious traditions might have sought to create their own theology that defines what another faith is or should be; now they need a theology that accepts and finds ways of living with other faiths as they understand and define themselves to be.

This article looks at whether the experience and wisdoms gained in interfaith can play a significant role in warding off extremist elements in our faith communities. It takes a personal and two-pronged approach by identifying the range of interfaith activities that exist as well as if these activities have the ability to go beyond their initial remit. Firstly, a case is put that for many, interfaith is a natural part of life and therefore not in need of formal structuring. But the article also recognizes the purpose and benefit of the more institutional approach, in particular where opportunities for specific and more sensitive conversations need to take place. Secondly, the article discusses whether interfaith can play a bigger role in critical issues. This is discussed in the context of the current political backdrop where interfaith has been encouraged and sponsored, in particular through state-funded initiatives.

Bethel is a Christian organization in Germany which provides assistance, especially for people with mental illnesses and epilepsy. Many service users and employees are members of Christian churches. But there is also an increasing number of non-Christian service users and employees. Bethel faces this challenge by acquisition of intercultural competencies, strengthening of Christian identity and at the same time intensifying interreligious dialogue and identifying the responsibility for the Christian identity of Bethel as part of the organizational structure.

Midrashim were first published as printed texts in the sixteenth century, initially in Sephardi communities of the Ottoman Empire and later at the famous Hebrew presses of Venice. Vital evidence about the study of these new books is furnished by a heavily annotated copy of Midrash Rabba (Venice, 1545) in the Bodleian Library. Handwritten marginal and interlinear notes show that it was studied by Jewish scholars of the Ottoman Empire and later by the celebrated orientalist and Church of England clergyman Edward Pococke. These glosses provide unique evidence of the interaction of a Christian scholar with the notes of an earlier Jewish reader in deciphering linguistic obscurities in the midrash and resolving textual errors. They therefore shed new light on how early printed books of midrash were read in the decades following their publication and on the study of rabbinic Bible interpretation in the early modern period.

The usage of a text within liturgy adds new meanings to the text. This article gives an overview of the understandings of Psalm 92 within its Jewish liturgical usages. The understanding is influenced by the general attitude towards psalms in Jewish liturgy, by popular interpretations in the Midrash (Jewish legends), by Kabbalistic views and by its meaning within halakhah (religious law), but also by the music that is commonly attributed to it within the service. The article shows how a text that originally had no relationship with Shabbat became, thanks to its headline, an important study text about the essence of Shabbat.

The whole Psalter could be seen as a second Torah, whose five books are witness to the making, dissolution and renewal of the covenant with David. This article looks at Book Four of that story (Psalms 90–106), where the figure of Moses and the traditions of the Exodus are prominent and create an alternative vision to the covenant with David which is under threat (Psalm 89). These seventeen psalms comprise four collections (90–92, 93–100, 101–103, 104–106). By focusing on later Jewish and Christian reception of each psalm, the article shows how Jewish tradition maintains the earlier emphases on Moses and pre-Davidic traditions, whilst Christian tradition interprets them after the time of David, through the person of Christ. However, the article demonstrates that each tradition also recognizes a universal theology throughout Book Four: God as refuge in 90–92, God's cosmic rule in 93–100, God's mercy in suffering in 101–103, and God as Creator and Redeemer in 104–106.

Baumgarten, Elisheva, Practicing Piety in Medieval Ashkenaz: Men, Women, and Everyday Religious Observance, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014, 334 pp., ISBN 978-0-8122-4640-7 (hbk)

Fox, Pam Israel Isidor Mattuck, the Architect of Liberal Judaism, London, Vallentine Mitchell, 2014, 369 pp., £37.30 (hbk), £18 (pbk), ISBN 978 0 85303 870 8 (cloth), 978 0 85303 879 8 (paper)

Rich, Danny, Israel Mattuck: The Inspirational Voice of Liberal Judaism, London, Liberal Judaism, 2014, 70 pp., £4.99 (pbk), ISBN 978 0 900521 00 3

Romain, Jonathan, ed., Assisted Dying: Rabbinic Responses, Movement for Reform Judaism, London, 2014, 111 pp.

Abramsky, Sasha, The House of Twenty Thousand Books, London, Halban Publishers, 2014, 321 pp., £18.05 (hbk), ISBN 978-1-905559-64-0

Hirsh, Norman, Unfolding Toward Purpose

Books received for review