Interfaith dialogue in contemporary times
YOSSI ARON
MELBOURNE is currently hosting the Parliament of the World’s Religions. As reported in last week’s AJN, this stage for the world’s religions involves a smorgasbord of presentations by representatives of faith communities from across the world, designed to hopefully increase mutual understanding at a time when religious difference is blamed for so many world ills.
And to achieve the latter aim, it is important that Judaism too is well represented —- as it is -— by both local and international speakers.
Nevertheless, I admit that despite both my personal and professional interests in the area of religion, I am not particularly drawn to this event. I have actually been more interested in the outcomes of two other “lesser” but potentially more practical events in Melbourne in recent days -— the annual general meeting of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria and a conference of ORA, the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia, the federal roof body of the Australian Orthodox rabbinate.
In particular, two topics of interest presented and discussed at these meetings were youth drinking and the concept of a prenuptial agreement, which could assist in preventing agunot (women whose husbands don’t give them a gett) by ensuring couples are legally bound to approach the beth din for a gett (divorce) in the event of termination of a marriage.
As far as our community is concerned, action in regard to these two matters is a necessary and positive step by the rabbinate with positive practical implications of real and immediate benefit.
But back to the world forum. While essentially a talkfest with each group presumably presenting its own philosophy and agenda, hopefully, as far as Jews are concerned, a key objective would be to ensure an understanding of Jewish positions in regard to various matters.
In that context, one would hope that an important element in achieving that result would be a clarification of the relationship between so much for which we stand and the religious truths of Jewish origin within Christianity and Islam.
While in recent times, both in Australia and overseas, interfaith discussions between Jews and Christians of various denominations have certainly headed in this direction, particularly regarding Islam, there is still much to be done.
Even if some faith leaders have met to discuss matters of mutual significance, one must question whether any agreement has penetrated to the mass of followers. In fact, both Jews and Israel tend to suffer from revisionism of connections between Judaism and Islam, which, in the absence of the modern political situation, were not hidden in past eras.
There is much in Islam of Jewish origin. One need go no further than the concept of a lunar calendar based on the sighting of the moon, and the fasting and five prayers of Yom Kippur, extended in Islam to the month of Ramadan and the institution of five prayers each day of the year. Similarly, there can be no doubt that the significance of Jerusalem to Islam is derived from Judaism.
After all, if not for its pre-existing status as a holy city, why else would Mohammed himself have supposedly dreamed that the ultimate spiritual journey was to the Temple Mount, which involved tethering his steed to the Kotel itself. On writing these lines, I noticed that Rabbi David Rosen was slated to speak at Caulfield Hebrew Congregation on “Can Religion Facilitate Middle East Reconciliation?”.
If this gathering can at least lay the foundation for an understanding of religious history and realities, rather than denial of historical facts by the representatives of religions with their own agenda, then such a meeting would prove worthwhile.
At the same time, however, there is one further point to be made regarding this forum. Interfaith discussions between Jews and those of other beliefs are recorded as far back as talmudic times. But in most such instances, particularly in the Middle Ages, Jews were on the defensive in regard to religious beliefs.
The purpose of disputations and polemics was to prove the validity of Judaism against the views of those who accused of being false and/or promoting teachings undermining other religious beliefs.
In some cases, the outcome of public disputation attended by whole communities involved dire consequences for relevant individuals and communities who lost a debate or were deemed to have done so, extending even to banishment and death. Fortunately, such is neither the tone nor case of contemporary interfaith discussions.
May forum participants only gain from their participation and may the outcome indeed be greater peace and harmony, particularly as it affects the future of Israel and the Jewish world.
Yossi Aron is The AJN’s religious affairs editor.
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