European Judaism

The challenges of faith moved from battling scientific perceptions to struggling with post-modern despair, rooted in a pessimistic reduction of humanity to power structures. Midrash, as a mode of charitable reading of scriptures, offers a model for wider commitment to charitable conversation with the other. Applying a Midrashic approach towards both texts and people means seeking good intentions and ethical potential in the words, deeds and thoughts of the other. Thus, trust and commitment to Midrashic dialogue is the leap of faith, arching over the seemingly forced understanding of humanity as mainly concerned with the construction of power structures. Noting that committed adherents of a religion are nurtured with the will and capacity to perform charitable reading of scriptures, but at the same time are exposed to the danger of being trapped in their distinct semantic networks, this article offers a continuous dialectic tension, moving back and forth between committed charitable reading and self-criticism.

The following is a reflection on the way in which we can comprehend the divine in the secular world. The article attempts to show that the concept of God does not necessarily conflict in any way with secularism as such. Rather, the article suggests that the obscuring of God's voice can be attributed much more to the duelling modernist tendencies of Manichaeism on the one side, and value-nihilism on the other.

This article addresses the problem of defining the terms ‘secularism’ and ‘religion’ and the difficulty of accepting the strict separation of religion from politics that some say is needed for a truly secular society. It offers a ‘relationship model’ for religion that sees it as the practice of balancing the responsibilities arising from the relationships between oneself, God, fellow human and living beings and the environment. Examining the attitudes of the Founding Fathers of European secularism, it argues that secular society can only exist if we face the shadows of our colonial past and the literalist theological narrative which is quickly being digested within some Muslim communities. This narrative and how it is affecting Muslim communities in Europe, as well as the shadows of the colonial past, pose a danger to secular society and affects all communities across Europe and these are conversations that need to be held.

This article, originally presented as the Jewish lecture at the 44th International Conference for Dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims, explores the Jewish view on welcoming refugees and migrants anchored in an exploration of the communal narrative of the Jewish people from biblical times as well as in a reflection on the author's personal life story. It asks how our societies live up to the values of our faith tradition and explores examples of how Jewish communities are trying to positively address the challenges of global migration.

In 2016, in the midst of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’, the author was asked to give the keynote speech from the Christian perspective at the 44th International Conference for inter-religious dialogue amongst Jews, Christians and Muslims (JCM). This article is the edited version of this lecture. Due to the conference's framework, the article is predominantly based on personal experiences and expertise of the author. It outlines causes for people who seek refuge, raises questions about how this whole issue is being dealt with, and mainly engages with the topic of representation and perception of the situation and its challenges and consequences. At a time in which people leaving their home, be it voluntary or forced, is at an all-time high and seems to be becoming a common act, the author concludes that we need to reinterpret our understanding of these movements in order to share a peaceful and just life in community.

This article aims to answer the following questions: how do we define religion? What does the Qur'anic text say about pluralism? The article looks at verses of the Qur'an that deal with the value of the human being and verses that deal with pluralism. In the Qur'an, away from the historical narrative we find that interaction between people should be based on respect, equality and dignity. We look at the current situation of immigrants and host countries and how both should deal with it, how the socio-political situation encouraged Europe to accept these migrants. How are the migrants dealing with their new life and their responsibility to their new country, and what is the responsibility of the host country towards the immigrants? The situation of the immigrants is difficult for them as well as for their host countries. Both should work hard on integration and at facilitating mutual respect and acceptance.

Many will agree that the world around them changes at a faster pace than perhaps one might be able to follow, and politically the world seems to have moved into a constant battle between truth, lies and the in-between. Many seek to distinguish three types of statement – first, the true; second, the matter of faith with a possibility of truth; and third, the absurd – and there is much of this grappling within the sphere of religion. Doubt is very much an integral part of grappling with Judaism, and Jewish identity, and it is certainly worth considering whether this religious doubt can help break the spell of political stalemate and unpleasant populism.

This article discusses how issues of doubt and scepticism were addressed during the history of the Reformation, citing as examples disagreements between Luther and Erasmus. It focuses on the less familiar figure Sebastian Castellio, whose disagreements with John Calvin put his life at risk. He took a stand against all the leading Reformers who understood themselves to be the chosen proclaimers of a single true Protestant teaching and considered every deviating opinion or critical question to be a betrayal of God's work and of God's renewed Church. His last, incomplete book, ‘On the Art of Doubting and of Believing, of Not Knowing and of Knowing’ was written in exile in Basel.

In an open, secular society, young people encounter one another outside the traditional framework of their respective religions. This article describes a Jewish approach to the issues and possibilities that arise when an interfaith marriage is contemplated. The perspective is that of a rabbi working from a progressive Jewish position, given the particular concerns of post-war European Jewish communities. What kind of ceremony might be appropriate? What thought should be given from the beginning to the religious education and identification of future children?

This article is a very personal statement concerning parts of my own biography and my family life. But more than that, it is an encouragement to dare to find peaceful and creative ways of living together in an intercultural and interreligious context, within the privacy of a partnership and family as well as within a society and within this world. The private space always has a very broad and political aspect as well. That is what motivates me to share these very personal experiences.

After having grown up in a small village in northern Germany in a Protestant surrounding, I lived for several years in London and Paris where I met many people of different cultures and faiths. Finally, I converted to Islam at the age of twenty-six as the result of my own research. My conversion to Islam was later very important for the education of my children, who already had to deal with two very different cultures (Moroccan and German), to give them at least a ‘religious home’. Soon, I got involved in interfaith dialogue, especially with Christians and Jews, during which the following saying from the Qur'an has been very important: ‘For you is your religion, and for me is my religion’, and also following the Qur'anic demand to be tolerant, to keep contact with non-Muslims in a very friendly manner and to strive for a peaceful co-existence.

In our plural society, interfaith marriages and multicultural families have become a new normal and are either considered problematic for the religious communities or welcomed as a contribution to a secular and more peaceful world. In the course of my work with European Muslims, I could accompany such families through a few generations. In this article, I am going to outline some typical challenges and crises in such relationships and their effects on young people growing up in mixed families, adding my observations of how they can be dealt with. Ultimately, there is a chance that, through dialogue, it provides a meaningful learning environment that prepares young people for the diverse reality of the world today.

Both the texts and music of Bach's St Matthew and St John Passions portray the Jews in deeply negative ways, baying for the blood of Christ. While there are strong arguments against seeing these works as having any kind of positive influence on Jewish–Christian relations, there is also an argument for examining the different layers of texts – from the Gospels to contemporary Lutheran poetry – as well as diverse musical expression in both works in order to elicit and understand profound, universal themes of sin and repentance, confession and forgiveness, life and death. Public performances of the Passions need to be undertaken responsibly with detailed programme notes and talks that draw out the journey of the individual worshipper and tackle the difficult problems of the Gospel texts and the music.

While some philosophers have posited Judaism and Hellenism as opposites, interesting collaboration has always taken place in the liminal spaces between the two poles. In this article, I explore one such space: the bathhouse. I draw on two stories from different epochs and places: Rabban Gamliel's interlocution with Proclus ben Philosophus in second-century Akko; and Rabbi Lionel Blue's experience with Rabbi Dr Werner van der Zyl in twentieth-century Amsterdam. Based on these two stories, I argue that certain spaces allow for collaboration, wherein seemingly contrasting cultures can be reconciled. I focus particularly on how attitudes to minds and bodies are articulated through the prism of bathhouses.

Controversy over the recital by young Jews in Parliament Square during May 2018 of Mourners’ Kaddish for Palestinians shot while trying to break through the border reflected a misunderstanding about the different ways Kaddish is used in Traditional and Progressive contexts. Mourners’ Kaddish is recited in Traditional settings to commemorate deceased relatives and more rarely other Jews. In Progressive circles it is read communally in unison, very occasionally also for non-Jews. This article questions the appropriateness of reciting Mourners’ Kaddish for the Gaza victims, none of whom were Jewish and whose intentions were uncertain. Instead, an act of text study could have been used to highlight moral ambiguity, followed by Kaddish de-Rabbanan, the traditional coda to a study session. This would have avoided offence to Muslims and to Jews, and have ensured that the act of reciting Kaddish refers in this case not to the dead but to the moral problems raised by their killing.