Beyond Tolerance · 2021. 8. 2. · Festivals and celebrations are necessary for this. In...

Jewish-Christian Relations

Insights and Issues in the ongoing Jewish-Christian Dialogue

Beyond Tolerance| Bodendorfer, Gerhard

Christian-Jewish Dialogue in the next millennium. The 50th anniversary of the State of Israel- what kind of commemoration is possible? Remembrance as a first step to dialogue. Theprocess of turning over a new leaf must be visible. Tolerance is a misleading concept ininterreligious dialogue.

BeyondTolerance -Christian-Jewishdialogue inthe nextmillennium

By GerhardBodendorfer

The 50thanniversary ofthe State ofIsrael —what kind of commemorationis possible?

Commemorativeyears are for themost part difficultmatters. They arenot outgrowths ofthe cultural memoryof the peoples,religions, or nationsthat observe them.In contrast toregularly recurringfestivals ormemorialcelebrations, theythus barelypermeate into the

Copyright JCRelations 1 / 42

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deepest strata ofhuman existence.They often remainsuperficial affairsfeaturing pompousrituals and shallowfestivities whichhave already beenforgotten a yearlater. If such acommemorationaspires to be morethan a mereceremony staged tomark ananniversary, it mustfulfill a number ofconditions.

Jewish traditionoffers anoutstandingexample of this —the celebration ofPassover. Sincebiblical times,Pesach has been acommemoration ofthe suffering inEgypt and the hastyexodus from the"house of bondage."This remembranceis to be takenliterally as a spiritualinternalization of apast event into thehearts and minds ofthose living in thepresent. Over thecenturies, thememory resultingfrom this hasendowed an identityin the shared beliefsof the people. ThePesach Haggadaobligates Jews torecall the exodusnot as somethingthat happened inthe past, but as anevent taking placehere and now.


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Actually, this act ofremembrancebecomes anexperience of re-currency — that is,one that determinesthe present andbrings it to life. Andthe living act ofperforming this ritualenables eachsuccessivegeneration tointegrate itself anewinto the history ofthe people. In lightof the commonmemory of exodusand salvation, theJewish peoplebecomes We, aunified whole unitedby hope and beliefon the verge ofliberation.

In the aftermath ofAuschwitz, thisexperience of aliberating actualityhas become verydifficult. Thus, post-Shoah theology hasmade remembranceand memory itsmost significantconcern, and haseven recognized thenecessity ofspirituallyinternalizing theShoah and includingit in modern PesachHaggadot. ArthurCohen pointed outthat during Pesach,every Jew shouldliterally placehimself in the deathcamps, in theexperience of theShoah, in order torecall this when heis commemorating


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the exodus. AndIrving Greenbergadds a fifth child tothe four mentionedin the Haggada — achild of the Shoahwho did not surviveto be able to ask hisquestion. Theremembrance thatthis child evokes isthe preservation ofthe countenancecreated in the imageof God of Jewsstruggling for theirlives, theremembrance ofghettos and camps,of the Seder nightwhen the WarsawGhetto rose up inrevolt. Thisremembrance isdone in silencebecause words areinadequate to it. Inthis way, recollectedand internalizedhistory becomes thefundamentalprinciple and themoving force of ashared existence.Only when humanbeings are imbuedwith such principlesand forces can acelebration orfestival actuallysucceed inendowing identityover the course oftime.

Now of course, thefounding of theState of Israel inMay 1948 would beperfectly suited toestablish a deep-seated groundworkof this kind. Afteralmost 2,000 years,


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Jews could onceagain determinetheir own fate anddirect their owndestiny. And for thefirst time after yearsof the mosthorrifyingpersecution and theoppression of Jewryas a people, culture,and religion, Jewishmen and womencould personallyexperience an act ofresurrection and therebirth of hope forthe future. After somuch darkness, adim light shinedforth. Thecommemoration ofthis light, thisrebirth, is more thanlegitimate. Thiscommemoration,however, must beembedded within amillennia-oldexperience ofJewish existence asa community ofmemory, as part ofa unified whole inthe commonremembrance of theorigins and historyof Jewish existence,which can never beachieved withoutcognizance of theprimal cause of thisexistence in Israelhaving been chosenby God.

At this point, Jewishreaders (listeners)might well ask howa Catholic Christian(which I am) comesto feel justified inmakingpronouncements


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about the self-imageof Jews, so I wouldlike to address thisissue. It has beenalmost 20 yearsnow that I havebeen dedicating mylife to the intellectualconsideration ofJewish existence asa student of Jewishstudies, as the headof the Departmentof Jewish Studies atthe University ofSalzburg, and aspresident of theCoordinatingCommittee forChristian-JewishCooperation inAustria. I expressmy views as a manwith a profoundattachment toJudaism, and onewho has drawn animportant part of hisidentity from thisexperience ofJewish tradition.Moreover, as aChristian — andwithout claimingeven the slightestentitlement to a partof the heritage ofJewish history — Ihave shared in theprimal experience ofthe God we have incommon ascommunicated bythe Bible we share.

Now, a spiritualavowal of friendshipand brotherhoodwould be a simplematter if I were anAmerican. But as aCatholic Christian inAustria, I will neverbe able to cross that


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threshold which myforefathers — I wasborn in 1960 — leftas a legacy for me:the history of guiltthat we share. As aCatholic andAustrian Christian,therefore, it is alsoincumbent upon meto ask how I cancommemorate the50th anniversary ofthe State of Israel inthe consciousnessof this history ofguilt and of thecrimes mycoreligionistscommitted againstJews and fromwhich I cannotexclude myself, andin theconsciousness ofthe fact that these50 years sinceIsrael’s foundingare overshadowedby the 60-year-oldremembrance of theReichskristallnachtpogrom and almost2,000 years ofChristiandomination overJewry. So then,what contributioncan Christians maketo a process ofremembrance?

Remembranceas a first steptoward dialogue

Remembrance andmemory can takeplace on threelevels that existalongside eachother.


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1. Recalling one’s ownidentity

This meansendowing andkeeping alive aunique identity as acommunity basedupon a commonhistory, as theexample of thePesach Haggadashows. Festivalsand celebrations arenecessary for this.In Christianity, forexample, this formof remembrancetakes place duringthe religious servicethrough theEucharist whichrecalls the passionand death of Jesus.

2. Remembering one’sroots

Remembrance andmemory alsoinvolve a process ofmaintainingconsciousness ofone’s own roots. Anot inconsiderablepart of the effort thatmust be made in thechurches—and thatis slowly but surelytaking place now —is the perpetualreference to theJewish roots ofbelief and of thereligious service. Itis precisely due toChristianity’sundeniabledependence uponits Jewish roots thatthe dialoguebetween Christianityand Judaism is — asPope John Paul II


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himself once said —not least of all aninternal dialoguebetween the Oldand NewTestaments.Judaism belongs tothe central essenceof Christianity;actually, it is itscore. It is preciselythis reason why theChurch has longendeavored toappropriateJudaism, in that ithas understooditself to be thePeople of Israel,has laid claim toJewishremembrance foritself, and hasadopted the JewishBible as a part ofthe Christian one.

As a biblicaltheologian, I havebeen fighting foryears on behalf of aprocess ofrethinking withrespect to theintrinsic value of theOld Testament,which ought to bereferred to as theFirst Testament, theHebrew Bible orsimply as theTanach.Furthermore, theChurch hastentatively begun tocast aside itsunderstanding ofthe First Testamentas a precursor andherald of the comingof Jesus. The FirstTestament must beread in the contextof a dialogue with


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the Second, so thatthe portions of theBible other than theSecond Testamentwhich, forChristianity,necessarilycomplement andamplify it, must alsobe recalled in a waythat the Bible isseen as a wholeconsisting of twoequally valid parts.And indeed, thepractice of the earlyChurch shows thatone may not readthe First Testamentas an illustration ofthe Second; rather,the early Churchplaced theexperiences ofJesus totally withinthe context of theFirst Testament,which it preservedin a complete andunrevised form, andcarefully andcautiously assignedJesus’ message aplace as a truecontinuation of thetradition of the FirstTestament.

Thus, the FirstTestament can existin and of itself —and, as the JewishBible, doespreciselythis—whereas theChristian Bible cannever consist solelyof the Second(New) Testament.This would merelybe anincomprehensibleremnant. And theChurch quite


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properly vetoed anysuch attempt touproot the FirstTestament. Thisunderstanding ofthe Bible is nowsymptomatic of anunderstanding ofthe relationship toJudaism as a whole.Only when Judaismis recognized as, onone hand, theinalienable roots ofChristianity, and, onthe other hand, asan independententity, can adialogue take place.

3. Coming to termswith (the guilt of) thepast

Remembrance andmemory also meanthe criticalconfrontation withone’s own — oftenguilt-laden—past asa process of self-purification and as away out of the falsepaths that havebeen traveled. Thiscalls for a renewedapproach to one’sown identity. It isprecisely theChristian churches —with the CatholicChurch not the leastamong them — thathave frequentlysuccumbed to thetemptation to derivetheir self-conceptionfrom both theirhistory ofpersecution andvictimization andfrom theirtriumphalism. Oneexample ought to


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suffice. At aninternationalconference on theposition of religionin society held inCordoba inFebruary 1998, theprominent regimecritic Adam Michnikreferred to thePolish Church’smode of dealingwith the collapse ofcommunism as atriumphalisticattitude. After longyears of oppositionand self-assertion inresisting the regime,together with a highdegree of moralintegrity, the Churchbecame a factor tobe dealt with, onewhich claims powerfor itself and seeksto play a massiverole in directing theaffairs of state. Theconsequences ofthis have beenpowerful forms ofresistanceemerging, for thefirst time in Polishhistory, amongsegments of thepopulation which,until now, haveexpected backingand moral supportin this Church. Eventhe remembrance ofa history ofvictimization canlead to, amongother outcomes, acover-up of the realfacts andcircumstances andto a history writtenas an elaborateexcuse. How longdid Austria regard


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itself as the firstvictim of Hitler’sGermany and itsChurch as the victimof nationalsocialism, therebymasking its ownguilt in historicalevents leading up toand taking placeduring the ThirdReich. And howoften one hears —not only amongChristians — of theJewish persecutionof the earlyChristians, as if thiswould justify 2,000years of anti-Judaism.

Dividing up theentirety of historyinto that of victimsand that ofperpetrators seemshighly problematicto me. For theinterfaith dialogueamong Christians,Jews (andMoslems), thisshould mean that noside ought to insistfrom the outset onbeing exclusively avictim or aperpetrator. To amuch greaterextent, eachindividual group’sprocess ofelaborating its ownhistory calls for theindispensable firststep of self-criticismand the forthrightdisclosure of theresponsibility itbears for injusticeand suffering. Thisis certainly notmeant to imply that


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an offsetting of guiltmight be the upshot.Particularly betweenChristians andJews, this isimpossible; here, itis quite clear thatthe Christian sidebears the burden ofthis disastrousnarrative. As difficultas this may be,however, no sideshould have its blindspots, and thisnaturally applies aswell to an open andcritical assessmentof Israel’s historyover the last 50years.

As a CatholicChristian, it is mysupreme duty notonly to describerigorously andpointedly our ownhistory of injustice,but also to recall itin a fitting way. Thismight take the formof the Church’spublicacknowledgment ofguilt vis-à-vis Jewry,which many expectfrom the Vatican inthe year 2000. Anacknowledgment ofguilt could berecalled andinternalized at aproper place in theliturgy. One placewhich is in particularneed of suchremembrance is theGood Friday liturgy,which was longcharacterized byanti-Judaism andthe damning ofJewry. Here, a


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publicacknowledgment ofguilt on the part ofthe communitywould beappropriate, andcould slowly butsurely become acounterweight in thespiritual identity ofChristendom, thatendeavored for solong — precisely atEaster time — to setitself off from theChildren of Israel.Many others haveproposed January17th, the last daybefore World PrayerWeek, as the daythat ought to be setaside for thisprocess ofremembrance.

Such liturgicalgestures must besupported andmaintained by theintellectual andscholarly process ofcoming to termswith the Church’santi-Judaism andantisemitism, whichhas made progressin the recent pastbut has sufferedrepeated reversals.Particularly in lightof the Church’sposition with regardto the State ofIsrael, it must berecalled that theominous connectionof the death ofJesus with thecollective guilt of theJews had, untilrecently, made therecognition of aJewish state


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impossible.

The issue of theguilt of the Jews inthe death of Jesusis as old asChristianity itself.The Acts of theApostles 2:23.36;3:13-17; 4:25; TheLetter of James 5:6;1Thessalonians2:14-16 can bementioned here asdocumentation ofthis in the NewTestament.Whereas thesepassages can stillbe understood asintra-Jewishadmonitory tirades,during the firstcenturies of thecommon era thisrebuke wasmassivelyintensified to anindictment of now-estranged Jewry.Melito, bishop ofSardis, wrote in hisEaster sermon ataround 160/170 AD:

"He was murdered.And where was hemurdered? In themiddle ofJerusalem. Why?Because he [had]healed their cripples(523ff.)... O Israel,what terribleinjustice have youdone? You havedefiled the one whohonored you; theone who extolledyou, you havedebased; youdenied him, whorevealed himself toyou; you rejected


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him who preachedto you; you killedhim who gave youlife. What have youdone, O Israel?(534-540)... To besure, he had tosuffer, but notthrough you (546)...You prepared sharpnails and falsewitnesses for him,and shackles andwhips, and vinegarand bile, and thesword and theaffliction as if for amurderous thief,and you fettered hisbody and placedthorns upon hishead; and youbound his beautifulhands that formedyou from the earth;and his beautifulmouth thatnourished you withlife, you nourishedwith gall; and thusyou killed your Lordon the great festivalday. And you weremerry, but hehungered; youdrank wine and atebread, but he hadvinegar and bile(572-583)... But youwere not created asIsrael, because youdid not see God;you did notrecognize the Lord,you did not know, OIsrael, that this isGod’s first-born son(603-607)... Youkilled the Lord in themiddle ofJerusalem! Hearthis, all you peoples,and see:outrageous murder


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was committed inthe middle ofJerusalem, in thecity of the law, in thecity of the Hebrews,in the city of theprophets, in the citythat was said to bea place of justice!And who wasmurdered? Who isthe murderer?(710-718)... He whohung the earth inthe firmament washimself hung up; hewho bound theheavens washimself bound; hewho made fast theuniverse washimself fastened toa length of wood.The Lord—has beenreviled; God—hasbeen murdered; theKing of Israel hasbeen done in byIsrael’s hand. Omurder most vile! Othe terribleinjustice!"(731-738).

The charge ofdeicide — moreover,in connection withthe accusations ofcollective guilt —played an essentialrole in allowingJewish-Christiancoexistence toincreasingly turninto hostilities. Thismonstrous assertionis not diminishedfrom the perspectiveof not knowing,which is mentionedonce (604-607);rather, the non-recognition of Godis just one new point


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in a wholecatalogue ofindictments, anddoes not come intoplay in the sense offorgivenessoccasioned bymitigatingcircumstances as isthe case in the NewTestament (TheActs of the Apostles3:14-15.17; cf. Luke24:34). The chargeof murder nowpermeates theentire history of theChurch — it is evenaggravated incomparison toMelito, in that themitigatingcircumstances aresoon droppedcompletely;henceforth, there isonly talk of brutaland premeditatedmurder. Whereas inMelito’s writings aswell as in theDidascaliaApostolorum, theterm Jew was a titleof honor which theJews themselveslost as a result oftheir actions, itincreasinglybecame a term ofdisparagement.Typical of thismurder accusationis the collectiveresponsibility of allJews, which wasmentioned as earlyas the writings ofTertullian and laterbecame generallyaccepted.

"The blood of theLord himself is on


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their hands for alleternity" (Deoratione 14) werethe words ofTertullian, who alsowrote: "The extentof theirtransgression...even if they wouldnot admit itthemselves, isproven by the extentof their catastrophetoday. Dispersed,restlessly driftingabout, expelled fromthe land and theheavens of theirhomeland, theywander across theface of the earthwithout a man,without God as theirking. And it is noteven permitted tothem to briefly setfoot as strangers intheir ownfatherland" (Adv.Jud. 21:5-6).

Here, in a passagewritten in the 2ndcentury AD, wealready have thepainful answer tothe question of whywe commemorateTheodor Herzl andwhy Jewry neededsuch a man. Asearly as this, afather of the Churchset down in writingthe essence of whatwould later be mostdistinctly expressedin the legend of therestlessly driftingJew Ahasver ("TheWandering Jew").Jewry is homelessbecause it crucifiedChrist. The


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expulsion from itsland was said tohave been a well-deservedpunishment thatwas even furtheraggravated by theloss of Jerusalemwhich meant an endto the Jewish cult.The enormity ofJewish guilt wassaid to correlatewith the harshnessof the punishment.Over the course ofthe first millennium,Origen,Commodianus,Hieronymus,Chrysostom,Aphraates,Ephraem, Basil,Prudentius,Augustine,Eucherius, PopeLeo (in this case,however,moderated byGod’s mercy),Abogard, Amolo ofLyons and Christianof Stablo repeatedlyelaborated thisthesis so full ofsuffering andcatastrophe,according to which,as Abogard put it,the Jews haveearned "the fullmeasure of ourhate" (De Judaicissuperstitionibus MGEpistolae 5, 190,32). According toAgobard, the Jewsare the devil’sspawn, collectivelydamned for alltimes.

"Cursed is the fruitof their loins, their


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earth and theirlivestock; cursedare theirstorehouses,pantries, andlarders, theirfoodstuffs and eventheir leftovers" (Decavendo convictu etsocietate Judaica,MG Epistolae 5,200, 44-201, 8).

It seems strangethat it was preciselythat Christianitywhich spoke ofJesus having diedbecause of and forthe sins of allmankind whichcollectively indictedJewry andcondemned it toexile and servitudeas punishment forthe death of Jesus.Although the view ofAnselm ofansferbury —whereby Christ hadto die in order toheal the totaldissolution of theworld—caused afuror in the Church,Jewry neverthelessremainedunexonerated up tomodern times. To amuch greaterextent, this chargeexertedconsiderableinfluence uponChristian anti-Judaism and playedan important role inits disastrousalliance with theracial antisemitismof the Nazis. Thus,Archbishop Gröberin his 1941 pastoral


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letter blamed theJews for the deathof Jesus, whichwould justify thedoings of thenational socialists.The Jews were saidto have "cursedthemselves" withthe words "his bloodshall be on us andon our children."The CatholicChurch — and mywords here applyexclusively to it —did not take aposition on thequestion of deicideuntil the SecondVatican Council.After lengthyconsultations andembarrassingdiscussions, theChurch finallymanaged to comeout against thecharge of collectiveguilt of the Jews forthe death of Jesus:"What took place aspart of his sufferingcan neither bechargedindiscriminately toall Jews living atthat time, nor to theJews living today."The NationalConference ofCatholic Bishops ofthe United States ofAmerica provided aconcise expressionof the Church’snew course ofdialogue with Jewryin its statementconcerning Catholic-Jewish relationsdated November 20,1975:


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"The first major stepin this direction wasthe repudiation ofthe charge thatJews were and arecollectively guilty ofthe death of Christ.Nostra Aetate andthe new Guidelineshave definitely laidto rest this mythwhich has causedso much suffering tothe Jewish people.There remainshowever thecontinuing task ofensuring thatnothing which in anyway approaches thenotion of Jewishcollective guiltshould be found inany Catholicmedium ofexpression orcommunication.Correctly viewed,the disappearanceof the charge ofcollective guilt ofJews pertains asmuch to the purity ofthe Catholic faith asit does to thedefense ofJudaism."

It remains to beseen whether thesewords and thisappeal aresufficient. The factis that the longhistory ofantisemitism in theChurch, which wassubstantiallynurtured bycollective Jewishguilt for the death ofJesus, constitutes amosaic tile of notinconsiderable size


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in the explanation ofthe Shoah, andshows how it wasnot exclusivelypolitical issues —consideration for thePalestinianChristians — but alsotheological onesthat made therecognition of Israelsuch a difficultmatter.Nevertheless, oncethe process ofdisclosure has beeninitiated, there is nomore turning back;theacknowledgment ofguilt must befollowed by an actof penance.

The process ofturning a newpage must bevisible

Theacknowledgment ofguilt is followed byrepentance, inHebrew teshuva,which must betranslated asTurning. Turningrefers to an activeundertaking, in thesense of concrete,tangible, visibleaction, not merely afresh start internallywithoutconsequencesexternally. Turningmust express itselfin clear signs of anew beginning — notin lip service, not inintellectualizing.What is neededhere is to establish


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and sustainorganizations likethe CoordinatingCommittee forChristian-JewishCooperation, thatcan work on a local,grass-roots level onbehalf of a renewedunderstanding offaith, organizationsthat are cognizant ofthe Church’s rootsin Judaism and thecontinuingsignificance ofJudaism for the self-conception of theChurch. Themistakes of the pastmust not only beregretted; they alsohave to beaddressed in orderto learn from them.

Thus, anindispensable partof the Church’sprocess of Turningis solidarity with theJewish people inIsrael. Even invoicing justifiedcriticism of politicalconditions — whichis not equated withcriticism of thesociety and thestate as such —every Christian alsoassumesresponsibility for theexistence of Jewryin a staterecognized byinternational law. Tosay nothing of somany otherreasons, this arisesfrom the clear andunmistakablebiblical hope for anexistence in


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freedom and peacein one’s ownpromised land.Christianity hasallied itself with thishope through itsunadulteratedadoption of the FirstTestament. Abiblical text might bespecially mentionedhere which seemsto me to besymptomatic of thishope. The FirstBook of Kings 4:25says: "So Judahand Israel lived insafety, every manunder his vine andhis fig tree, fromDan even toBeersheba, all thedays ofSolomon."Thissecurity means areal peace withoutbeing threatened byforeign enemies,without fear ofterror. But it is alsoconnected with thepossession of one’sown land—asmodest as thatpiece of land mightbe. Solomon, theking of peace —whose very name issynonymous withthe Hebrew word forit — once guaranteedthis peace. How canIsrael, after 50years ofindependentexistence, findpeace again? In anycase, Christiansought to do all theycan to help. Notuntil this forthrightstriving towardTurning has also


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produced a basis oftrust on the part ofone’s partner canone slowly butsurely open up adialogue with thatpartner. Thisdialogue, however,has preconditionswhich I will brieflyoutline here.

1. Pluralism andopenness as importantpreconditions fordialogue

One of the centralpreconditions for aninterreligiousdialogue is theacceptance of thediverse movementsand groups withinone’s owncommunity of faith.As long asinquisitorial meansare used to proceedagainst those withinone’s own ranks,the spiritual maturityrequired for adialogue with"others" is not athand. An open andsincere dialoguewith critical factionsamong the variousdenominations is aprime necessity increating a climate ofunderstanding fromwhich we may dareto take the firststeps outside. Thiscertainly does notmean that religiouscommunities oughtnot to defendthemselves againstforms of extremismandfundamentalism; the


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opposite is thecase. It is preciselythis fundamentalismthat distinguishesitself by its exclusiveclaim to the truthwhich it is preparedto defend by the useof violent means.One’s readiness toengage in dialogueand one’swillingness torepeatedly allowone’s own attitudesto be called intoquestion possiblyconstitute an actualcriterion ofdifferentiation andexclusion. Theopenness of theCatholic Church tointernal criticismand reform effortswill thus serve as anindicator for itsreadiness to carryon a dialogue withother faiths and notto merely pay lipservice to thisconcept.

2. Clarification of"language" and theterms to be employed

A conversationbetween twopartners calls for anagreement on theauxiliary means itmakes use of toeven allow adialogue to occur. Itrequires a numberof issues to besettled:hermeneutics,overall conceptions,and terminology. Aparticularly strikingfeature of the


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interreligiousdialogue is that theparticipantsfrequently talk atcross purposesbecause they defineone and the sameterm in completelydifferent ways, orhave no idea of thebasis on which adiscussion mighttake place. Onceagain, a singleexample suffices: ahigh-rankingMoslemrepresentativeattending the above-mentioned religiousconference inCordoba inFebruary 1998could equate theterm "dialogue" withthe process ofbringing the peoplesof the world to Islamand to its principles,just as he traced theterm "Islam" back toits root "slm" — thatis, peace — in orderto conclude thatpeace and Islamwere identical. Thiswould, in turn, implythat mankind needonly to turn to Islamin order to attainworld peace.Particularly in achurch in which it isslowly becomingclear that saving theworld cannot beequated withmissionary work,and baptism nolonger representsthe sole admissionticket to civilizedsociety, such wordsought to make us sit


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up and take notice.Thus, before theactual conversationtakes place, basicissues must besettled. The matterup for discussion,the preconditions,and thepreconceptions ofeach respectiveside must beclarified before theycan becommunicated toothers or the effortto achieve aconsensus can bemade. If dialogue isnot to become astruggle fordomination, theparticipants need atremendous amountof understanding forone another, whichbrings me to mynext point.

3. Listening to andlearning from othersas the third step in adialogue

Once the process ofcoming to termswith one’s ownhistory has begun,once there hasbeen an admissionof one’s own faultsand a sincereendeavor to changeone’s ways, timeand tranquilreflection arenecessary to cometo an understandingof the partner’spreconceptions andhis specific ways ofapproaching issues,to listen to thepartner’s point of


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view, and toperceive how heperceives himself.Such a learningprocess can takeplace passively, butit can also go handin hand with aninitial exchange offundamentalconceptualapproaches andhermeneuticprinciples in order toestablish a commonbasis of speakingand listening. Thisprocess of learningfrom others is, forChristians in aChristian-Jewishcontext, not least ofall a reacquisition ofone’s own roots, aprocess ofinvolvement with aneglected portion ofone’s own identity.Thus, it is alsosomething like anact of self-discovery.Especiallyproblematic andparticularlyessential, it seems,is an involvement ofthis kind with Islam,about which wehave a shockinglack of knowledgewhoseconsequences areprejudices andmisunderstanding.But gainingunderstanding ofand moreknowledge aboutJudaism alsocontinues to be adifficult matter forChristians. Manyprejudices are


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based on ignoranceand on a completelyerroneous basis ofunderstanding — forinstance, when theconcept of Torah iscontinuallymisinterpreted in thecontext of "slavishconformity to laws"and not regarded asa source of life,liberation, andidentity, or even asa revelation.

Once this learningprocess has takenplace and it hastaken on the natureof a reciprocalexchange thatmakes a genuinedialogue possible, asubstantiveelucidation ofpositions can occurthat leads not onlyto demarcations —some of which arenecessary—but alsoto an importantprocess ofreflection, a newconsciousness, andperhaps even arevision of some ofone’s ownpreconceptions.Dialogue alsomodifies one’s ownposition, withoutmaking us all thesame. The goal isnot to establish oneunitary religion or a"world ethos";rather, it is arenewed andreconsidered pluralChristianity, anopen and trustingJudaism, and anIslam that must no


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longer experiencewestern culture as"Big Brother" andcan open itself up to"what is not so bad"about that culture.

These steps that Ihave just describedare, of course, justan outline of adifficult, circuitouspath for which thereis no set of easy-to-follow directions.The way has itshighs and lows, andcan lead to wrongturns and deadends, but we mustnever lose sight ofour goal. And thisgoal — as I havealluded to in my title— is not "tolerance."

Tolerance as amisleadingconcept ininterreligiousdialogue

In the dialogue withother religions,mention iscontinually made of"tolerance." But thisis a concept that istotally inappropriatefor an undertakingof this kind. From itsliteral meaning, totolerate simplymeans to put upwith or to suffer. It isthe tolerance of aninferior by asuperior whopossesses thepower to grant thistolerance and,likewise, towithdraw it when


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that suits him.Tolerance is usuallylimited both withrespect to contentand time, and oftenhas conditionsattached to it.Examples of suchconditions in thehistory of Christiantolerance ofJudaism were thepayment of certaintaxes, therenunciation of aspecific religious orcultural identity, theassumption of new(German) names,the loss of alanguage andindependence inmatters of childrearing, the ban onconstructingsynagogues andproviding religiousinstruction, or theforced allegiance tothe Monarchy as ameans of counteringnationalisttendencies.Tolerance wasmeant in this way tobring aboutassimilation. Thissort of toleranceproceeded underthe assumption thatJews were "worthyof improvement"and thus had to be"improved" in orderto become a "morereasonable"component ofbourgeois(Christian) culture.Most frightening isthe fact that theShoah had itsbeginnings inprecisely that place


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where this projecthad progressed thefurthest anddisplayed the mostsuccess: inGermany.

The opposite oftolerance isintolerance, whichcertainly no onestrives for in thecontext ofcoexistence. Whatwould be desirableis to get along withone another"beyond" tolerance,amiable dealingswith one anotherwhereby there arenot stronger orweaker but onlyequally entitledpartners — that is tosay, betweenhuman beings whocarry on discussionson the same leveland accept eachother. Acceptanceand coexistencewould be muchpreferable totolerance as aprecondition and asa goal to strive for —the coexistence ofpartners enjoyingequal rights andworking together fora better future.

We ought to rejectevery form ofmonopolization bymeans of embraceas is currently beingpracticed by certainfundamentalistProtestant groupsand, to a lesserextent, in Catholicchurches as well.


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Such movements,that explicitly recalltheir "Jewish roots"by celebratingShabbat orincreasinglyintegrate elementsof Jewish liturgy intotheir religiousservice, only seemat first glance to becontributing to adialogue. Theirultimate goal ismissionizing andconversion, thedissolution ofJudaism inChristianity. Thesegroups are notstriving towardreligiouscoexistence of twoindependentpartners who alsodisplay differencesand reflect distincttheologicaldevelopments, butrather areattempting to putinto effect a veryfundamentalistreading of Romans11:25f.: "For I do notwant you, brethren,to be uninformed ofthis mystery -- sothat you will not bewise in your ownestimation — that apartial hardeninghas happened toIsrael until thefullness of theGentiles has comein; 26 and so allIsrael will be saved;just as it is written,the deliverer willcome from Zion, hewill removeungodliness fromJacob." Here,


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models oftabernacles aredisplayed and thereis much quoting ofthe Old Testamentand even theTalmud;nevertheless, thisultimately is done toprove that "thereality that confrontsus in Jesus Christ isso much moreglorious than theineffectual OldTestamentpredecessors"(Alfred Edersheim).

Jewry must beextremely cautiouswith acts ofembrace, since ithas frequentlyhappened beforethat an intenseembrace has led tosomeone gettingsmothered. Only inthis sense can weproperly understandthe Talmud inSanhedrin 59a,which states: "Aheathen whostudies the Torahdeserves death, forit is written, Mosescommanded us alaw for aninheritance; it is ourinheritance, nottheirs. Then why isthis not included inthe Noachite laws?— On the readingmorasha [aninheritance] hesteals it; on thereading me"orasah[betrothed], he isguilty as one whoviolates a betrothedmaiden, who is


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stoned."

According to therabbinical view, anon-Jew hasabsolutely no needto study the Torahand thus to undergoconversion in orderto be blessed withfinal salvation. It"suffices" to lead alife ofrighteousness.Seen in this way, alife dedicated tofollowing theexample of Christ —if it were actuallypossible to live sucha life — would be thevery quintessenceof an existence inwhich non-Jewscould act justly vis-à-vis Jewry withoutlaying claim to it. Ofcourse, immediatelyafter the above-cited passage fromSanhedrin, it is saidin the name of R.Meir: "Whence dowe know that evena heathen whostudies the Torah isas a High Priest?"He bases thisposition on Leviticus18:5: "So you shallkeep My statutesand My judgments,by which a manmay live if he doesthem; I am theLORD." The textexplicitly says "man(adam)," and notpriest, Levite, orIsraelite.

One can see fromthis example thedifficulties that Jews


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have had over theyears with the issueof Torah study onthe part of non-Jews. Nowadays,we see once againthe necessity offinding a way inwhich increasinginterest in Judaismdoes not turn intoegocentricmonopolizationwhich is quitejustifiably to berejected. On theother hand, theefforts of men andwomen to studyJudaism, to listenand to learn,deserves to besupported when thisis a process oflearning tounderstand anotherpeople. Only thenwill this study servethe purpose towhich R. Meirreferred. WhenChristians speak ofthe "people of God,"they should beaware that they donot simply meanthemselves, butrather always havein mind the peopleof Israel throughwhom they came toapproach this God.This considerationbinds us Christianstogether, and it alsobinds us toJudaism, but it doesnot bind Judaism tous.

Theologicallyspeaking, Christiansremain dependentsof the people of


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God, and ouridentity will eternallycontain a referenceto Judaism. Thisreference, however,ought not to betaken to atheologicallyabstract extreme;rather, it shouldmanifest itself insolidarity with Jewsliving here and now,in the struggle forfreedom and self-determination forJewry, in committedinvolvement againstantisemitism, anti-Zionism and hostilitytowards Jews ingeneral. Religiouscoexistence shouldreplace centuries ofpersecution anddestruction of apeople and theattempt toappropriate theirheritage — themutual acceptanceof two partners whoapproach oneanother underdivergentassumptions butbound together by ashared history. Andultimately, it isprecisely thisreligiouscoexistence thatcan lead toconcerted actionagainst a loss ofvalues and for arenewedconsciousness in asecularized world.Esoteric beliefs,new gnosis and theall-devouringMolech ofconsumption


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constitute achallenge commonto all religiousforces, just as theproblems of dealingwith suffering andinjustice affect usall. Thus, the finalquestion ought notto be how we candemarcateourselves from oneanother, but ratherhow we can worktogether to providethis society with animpulse for renewalthat it sodesperately needs.

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Beyond Tolerance · 2021. 8. 2. · Festivals and celebrations are necessary for this. In...

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