The Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding (CCJU) of Sacred Heart University sponsored its third annual Institute for Seminarians and Rabbinical Students on June 3-5, 2002. The event took place on the University's Fairfield campus and gathered 30 future religious leaders from the Jewish and Christian faiths to study and discuss the advances made in Christian-Jewish dialogue over the last 35-40 years, and to explore possibilities for future progress.

Rabbi Joseph H. Ehrenkranz, executive director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding, said that the Institute was a great success. “This was our largest group to date and an excellent opportunity for Jewish and Christian seminarians to study with and learn from each other. With all that is going on in the world this is a great sign of hope,” he said.

David L. Coppola, Ph.D., director of programs and publications for the CCJU, who facilitated the Institute, said that the conference was “a very positive experience of interreligious dialogue and understanding. “Now they can build on this experience and rely on each another in their work and ministry,” he said.

The Institute was inspired by the Catholic Church's vision presented in the 1965 Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate, which repudiated historic Christian teachings of contempt towards Jews and positively asserted the ongoing validity and common spiritual heritage that Christians and Jews share. The CCJU offers this Institute as one vehicle to promote interreligious dialogue, education and understanding among future religious leaders. All costs for meals and overnight accommodations, speakers, books, articles and materials for the Institute were underwritten by the Joseph Roxe Foundation, Leo Van Munching Jr., and the CCJU.

Participants attending the Institute came from Catholic University of America, Theological College, Washington, DC (Steven Moore); First Congregational United Church of Christ, Gloversville, New York (Rev. Tomi Jacobs); Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles, California (Michael Lotker); Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, New York (Jonathan Crane, Kerith S. Shapiro, Steven Wise, Jessica Zimmerman); Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, New York (Jill Jacobs, Laura Gold, Lauren Kurland, Melinda Levinson, William Plevan); Maple Ridge Bruderhof, Bruderhof International, Ulster Park, New York (Martin & Burgel Johnson, Nathan Zumpe); Rabbi Jack Shechter Academy for Jewish Religion, Los Angeles, California (Alica Magal); Sacred Heart School of Theology, Holes Corners, Wisconsin (John O'Kane); Saint Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, Maryland, (Richard Bay, Patrick Besel, Fr. Martin Burnham, Shane Mathew); Saint John's Seminary, Brighton, Massachusetts (John Archadinha); Saint Joseph's Seminary, Yonkers, New York (Nicholas Callaghan, Eric Cruz); SML/ Mundelein Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois, (James Bromwich, John Chrzan); and Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, University of Judaism, Los Angeles, California (Jacqueline Redner, Alana Suskin).

Presenters at the Institute included Reverend Canon Leonard Badia and Mrs. Patricia Curran of the Catholic-Jewish Relations Council of Northeast Queens, New York; Dr. Mary C. Boys, Professor at Union Theological Seminary, New York; Dr. Anthony J. Cernera, president of Sacred Heart University; Dr. David L. Coppola; Rabbi Joseph H. Ehrenkranz; Reverend Joseph G. Farias, pastor of St. Bernard Parish, Mount Hope, New Jersey; Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, president of CHAverlim kol yisrael/Jewish Life Network, New York; and Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, Professor at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee.

Conference Summary

Day I
The Institute began with welcoming remarks by Anthony J. Cernera, Ph.D., president of Sacred Heart University, who spoke of the importance of interreligious dialogue and the students' important role in shaping the future. He said, “The work done by the CCJU is one of the best things we do as a University, and I believe these next few days will give you a new perspective.” He continued, “This dialogue has brought me to a deeper understanding of my own faith as well as that of my Jewish brothers and sisters. But the only way that was possible was because the dialogue that I have been privileged to share has been rooted in trust and love. Friendship will always find a way—even in the midst of crisis or misunderstanding—friendship will find a way. For me, your presence is a profound sign of hope. Rabbi Ehrenkranz, Dr. Coppola and I hope you will be better Jews and better Christians when you leave.”

The keynote address was delivered by Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, president of CHAverlim kol yisrael/Jewish Life Network of New York City. He asserted that a solid starting point in interreligious dialogue is acknowledging that all people are created in the image of God and each person has a deep responsibility to others because there has never been “so much freedom and communication in the history of the world. God has become increasingly more subtle with freedom which allows us to love more freely. Renewal of covenants is common in the Jewish tradition and each person and each generation must make choices for life.”

Rabbi Greenberg spoke on the theme, “The Triumph of Life,” as told by each tradition and how the power of story is found when one discovers his or her place in it. He said, “The story of the Triumph of Life as told by Jews and Christians and Muslims is from chaos to order (creation); from non-life to life (covenant); and from being less to being more like God (redemption). The world is changing, constantly moving towards God. Life is becoming more and more like God.”

He continued, “As religious people we are called to be on the side of life and participate with this. There is no neutral position. The Torah is presented as a tree of life. God is life and life's source. God is inviting humans into a partnership not only with the Divine but also with other humans. . . . The Noahide covenant is for all humanity, not only Jews. The realization that we are all in this together collapses any notions—as well as the systems that support them—of ‘otherness' or ‘insiders-outsiders.'”

Discussion followed Rabbi Greenberg's talk and focused on rituals, the common heritage of humanity, Christianity's journey to overcome the teaching of contempt, the role of religious leaders to perfect the world and being authentic to one's beliefs. Speaking to the last point, Rabbi Greenberg said, “to love one's tradition allows one to demand that it do better. God adores uniqueness and variety, yet we must also probe the depths of diversity and not feel compelled to dilute our beliefs.”

Day II
The following morning session and discussion was facilitated by Drs. Mary C. Boys and Amy-Jill Levine, on the topics that surround the challenges and opportunities of each tradition's Sacred Scriptures. They began by stating that there are some Scriptural verses in both traditions that contain irreconcilable differences that can not be explained away.

When confronted with what to name each other's Scriptures, Dr. Boys pointed to the potential for people to read into “Old Testament,” one that had been replaced or was outdated. On the other hand, Dr. Levine asserted that it would be difficult for Jews and Christians to speak of the “Hebrew or Jewish Scriptures” because that would leave out about a third of the Christian canon of what Christians call the Old Testament. Furthermore, Dr. Levine suggested that “a book is also its order and Jews and Christians have different-ordered books.” Others suggested using the Hebrew word Tanakh when appropriate.

Dr. Boys pointed to the 2001 document published by the Pontifical Biblical Commission, “The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible,” which says that the Jewish Scriptures can and should be read on their own terms. She said, “Teachers and preachers have to really think about what this document means. It is a remarkable step forward in Biblical theology, and by extension homiletics. The Jewish Scriptures stand on their own for the Jewish people today. The challenge for Christians is to understand the texts through lens of history. What the texts say today is often much more than what they originally meant to say.”

The two scholars touched on other topics ranging from the purity laws, the Jewish Jesus, the death of Jesus, the changed meaning of abba, soteriology, and the challenges of evangelism.

Dr. Levine said, “Judaism was not an oppressive, xenophobic religion in need of Jesus' redemption. Jesus was a Jew and spoke primarily to Jews. He makes sense in a Jewish context as one who speaks in parables and engages his religion. Evangelism is important but not helpful in this context. Give God the final word.”

Some discussion also centered around the State of Israel. Dr. Boys said, “Christian-Jewish dialogue should not get derailed because of the Middle East. We must continue to set up forums for conversation after we build trust.”

Near the end of the session, there was also some discussion on James Carroll's book, Constantine's Sword (Houghton Mifflin, 2001), which both scholars considered weak in its presentation of the New Testament and insufficiently nuanced in its connection between the cross and the sword. They observed that the author's criticism seems to be more of the present Vatican leadership than with the past.

Afternoon Session
Reverend Canon Leonard Badia and Mrs. Patricia Curran of the Catholic-Jewish Relations Council of Northeast Queens, New York, led the afternoon session. They discussed issues that related to interreligious dialogue on the local level and the challenges that fundamentalism, conversion, anti-Semitism, prayer and worship, ethical positions, and interreligious marriage posed for any group attempting to grow in understanding. There was considerable discussion about sharing prayer together and the importance of Holocaust services and cultural collaborations to bring people together. They related how their group has grown in confidence and trust with each other and distributed a semiannual newsletter that their group prints.

Several of the participants mentioned afterwards the opportunities for common pursuits, especially social justice activities such as providing food for the hungry, supporting homeless shelters, sharing pulpits, sharing educational experiences for children, and supporting each other's communities in times of tragedy.

Late Afternoon Session
The afternoon session, facilitated by Dr. David Coppola, followed up on the morning presentation and put to practice joint readings of challenging Scriptural passages and their implications. By looking at the same passages from different perspectives, each tradition had a new insight to the possible reading and understanding by the other.

The group came to recognize significant anti-Judaism in Christianity since the parting of the ways, which resulted in many Christians thinking that they were obliged to convert or even persecute Jews. Other passages blamed some of the Jews of the day, who were adversaries of the early Jewish Christians, for the destruction of the Temple. The environment of this controversy has remnants in the Christian Scriptures. The object of such accusations now read centuries later by totally distinct groups of Jews and Christians has had many unintended and disastrous results.

Cardinal Walter Kasper [president of the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews] has made it clear that “there is no explicit mission of the Church to the Jewish People,” since Jews are not pagans but have received God's promise and blessing. Instead, “Jews and Christians together have a mission to the world.” The participants wrestled with the passages that seem to contravene such understanding and all agreed that much more joint study needed to be done.

Evening
Reverend Michael Moynihan and Rabbi Mitch Hurvitz of Greenwich, Connecticut, extended their hospitality to the participants of the Institute and gave a tour of their church and synagogue. Afterwards, the group shared a meal together at St. Michael's Church.

Day III
On the final day of the Institute, the morning session was conducted by Father Joseph Farias, pastor of St. Bernard parish, Mount Hope, New Jersey. Fr. Farias spoke about principles and possible ways for interreligious rituals to occur and practices to be cautious of. He said, “No attempt should be made at syncretism or ‘dumbing down' liturgy or prayer. We must be willing to live in the authentic tension of shared religious commitments. We can pray together and it will necessarily mean something different to each of us. That does not take away the praise we offer to God. God's love draws us together in relationship and when we gather together for anything, will not God be there? We cannot leave life out of our prayer.”

There was discussion about the names of God, the place of music, silence, dance and art in each tradition and the power of symbols that are best understood by the “insider,” but could still provide insight and inspiration to the “outsider.”

Concluding Session
At the final luncheon of the Institute, the students were joined by members of the CCJU Board of Directors who listened as many of the seminarians and rabbinical students shared their experiences of the Institute. In attendance were Mrs. Louella Lieberman, Rev. Michael Moynihan, Mr. Gregory Millbank, Rabbi Joseph H. Ehrenkranz, and Dr. Anthony J. Cernera.

Rabbi Ehrenkranz said at the luncheon that he believed the best employment possible was to be a clergy person and make a difference in the world. He said, “I hope that you can take this experience home with you and incorporate it in your ministry and your lives. You are really our hope for the future.”

One Jewish participant said that she was surprised that the program offered such real and honest dialogue. She said, “This program was an incredible forum to meet seminarians and dig into the issues surrounding interfaith dialogue. I felt that I made some new friends and I have a greater understanding and appreciation of Catholicism. Another Jewish participant agreed, “It's a terrific program that really creates an environment of honesty and openness and has given me the opportunity to ask lots of questions of real live Christians.”

A Christian student said, “The conference was a refreshing and humbling time to discuss common issues with sharp minds and devout hearts, especially when opinions diverged. The exchange of ideas, worship ideas, the discussion of Scriptures and how we interpret them were all very interesting.” Another Christian student said, “The program was a great educational means to understand and exchange ideas about our religions through open dialogue. This definitely opened my mind to more dialogue and cooperation between religions. It went well beyond my expectations.”

A Jewish student commented, “The readings, combined with presentations, helped me to think deeply about my own faith and theology.” A Christian student agreed, “This was a great opportunity for dialogue with Jews and Christians—to learn together from scholars, working in the area of Jewish-Christian relations. A supportive environment, a free three days to study with books, how could I not be inspired?!”

All the participants agreed that the personal discussions that followed each presentation were very valuable. A Christian student put it this way: “I benefited greatly from the presentations, but especially from the unscheduled dialogue with the rabbinical students. Several of us are planning to maintain contact and continue our discussions and deepen our relationships. It is my hope to continue this conversation and advance our dialogue.”

A Jewish seminarian summed the conference up by saying, “It was innovative and thoughtful, a true growing experience that every seminarian/rabbinical student should engage in at least once in their student career.”

The next Institute is scheduled for June 2-4, 2003, at Sacred Heart University. For more information or to register, please contact Dr. Coppola at 203-365-7592 or email him at coppolad@sacredheart.edu. 

Previous Page    Back to 2002 Programs and Conferences