New JCCV guidelines on interfaith activities

NAOMI LEVIN

THE Victorian Jewish community is expected to have a set of guidelines providing advice on how to go about interfaith activities within the next few weeks.

Adam Goodvach, the CEO of a market research company and a masters student in Islamic Studies, was approached by the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) to draw up the guidelines, which are part of a wider JCCV strategy to develop interfaith communications and relationships.

Currently a variety of groups across the community are undertaking interfaith programs -— from the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission to individual rabbis and Jewish school groups -— but they do not have a coordinated approach.

As part of his work for the JCCV, Goodvach organised a forum for Jewish interfaith proponents, where participants agreed on the value of interfaith dialogue. The problem was, Goodvach reported, they also agreed they did not know how effective their work was, or the real outcomes of the regular events, dinners or camps.

Using feedback from the forum, as well circulating a questionnaire, Goodvach has since been penning guidelines for interfaith activity.

The guidelines are not expected to control interfaith communication and relationship building, rather they will provide tips, in what can be a very sensitive and complicated area.

“The guidelines will be as simple as having an objective when you go [to do interfaith work],” he said.

Another issue Goodvach discovered about Jewish interfaith work was the question of whether workers should be promoting the Jewish community in Victoria or doing “Israeli hasbarah ” (public advocacy).

“It is so fluid,” he said of the connection between Judaism and Israel advocacy in interfaith work. “There is no structure.”

To counter this issue, Goodvach said it was important to develop an understanding with the “other side” -— those the Jewish community are reaching out to about discussion topics.

In terms of effective interfaith communications, Goodvach recommended engaging with other minority communities over common problems, for example, hate crimes issues, legislation changes and security at schools.

“That is where you will have most success on practical, tangible goals,” he said.

He also recommended looking beyond traditional interfaith partners and singled out the Islamic community.

“The Jewish community needs to broaden its perspective on what interfaith communication is,” he said, adding that in his experience, the local Islamic community was not as hostile as many Jewish people perceive.

Despite some flaws in the practice, Goodvach reassured those involved in interfaith work that what they are doing is valuable.

“These groups are not wasting their time,” he said. “But they could be more effective.”