One of our main programs is Open Doors, Open Minds, a curriculum for syna-gogue-and-church dialogue. About three years ago, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, initiated an expansion of interfaith dialogue and interfaith cooperative work. He sum-marizes this initiative by saying, “We must reach out to our neighbors, and listen for God’s presence in their voices. Only in this way – speaking our fears while hearing the fears of others – will we build a shared commit-ment to a moral future.” This call has not come from the Reform Movement alone. It also came out of conversation with the Roman Catholic Church and many Protestant leaders, and has been formally endorsed by many Protestant denominations in North America.

By way of background for our program, recall that Nostra Aetate (the Declaration on the Relation of the [Roman Catholic] Church with Non-Christian Religions, of the Second Vatican Council) was promulgated on October 28, 1965, by Pope Paul VI. Among the religious communities it looked at was Judaism. Because of the history of Christian anti-Judaism, there was a lot of tension between Christians and Jews. During the forty years since this document came out, there has been a growing sense of trust, cooperation, and dia-logue between Christians and Jews. As a result of this document, a number of Protestant denominations also looked at the history of their relationship with Judaism, to learn what things they had done in the past that had hurt the Jewish community. Your mind always goes to the Holocaust. Not that Christian anti-Semitism caused the Holocaust, but probably the Holocaust would not have been able to happen if it had not been for that history.

GETTING TO THE GRASSROOTS

So, on a national and international level, these conversations were hap-pening. A relationship which histori-cally had been marked by contempt was beginning to grow in the direction of mutual respect and concern. While this was happening on a national level and official statements were being issued, on the grassroots level not much was hap-pening. There wasn’t as much conversa-tion between Christians and Jews on a personal level. This is what the Open Doors, Open Minds project is seeking to encourage. The goal is to get a conversa-tion started between the average con-gregants in a synagogue and a church in order to foster mutual understanding, to dispel zenophobia, to encourage mutual appreciation for each other’s traditions, and especially to create trust.

The program begins by creating a framework for friendship by looking at the shared history of Christians and Jews, and images and stereotypes of Jews and Christians throughout history. It is inter-esting to point out that the time when Christianity was developing was also the time that rabbinic Judaism was develop-ing; these two traditions came out of the same very dynamic period of history. The program includes an in-depth study of the Ten Commandments – looking at the var-ious Jewish and Christian readings of the Ten Commandments. Something that I had not known is that Christians and Jews actually number the Ten Commandments differently. It is interesting to look at such differences while acknowledging that we share this document in com-mon. It also looks at the meaning of Israel for Christians and Jews. Finally, it looks toward the future: how we can continue a relationship of cooperation.

Open Doors, Open Minds focuses on three central areas. The first is a dis­covery of who we are. This is a way not just for Jews to understand Christians, and Christians to understand Jews; but for Jews to understand Judaism and Christians to understand Christianity. No one is at the table to represent the entirety of the tradition. Each person is there to represent their own personal faith and how they connect to it.

The second central area is a discovery of how we think, and how our faith shapes our character and our values: who we are, and how we relate to the rest of the world. In Reform Judaism, there is much emphasis on social justice and repairing the world. How does our religion shape the actions we take and the values we hold?

The third area is discovery of how we act: how is the way we act influ­enced by this way we think and this way we are? For instance, with the Ten Commandments, what does it mean to honor one’s parents, and how do we act that out? What does it mean to honor the Sabbath, and how do we carry that out in our lives?

An important component of the program is a film series, "Walking God’s Paths: Christians and Jews in Candid Conversations" – produced by Boston College’s Center for Christian-Jewish Learning on behalf of the National Council of Synagogues and the Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Available in both video and DVD for-mats, Walking God’s Paths consists of six 15-minute discussion-starting seg-ments. Our Open Doors, Open Minds curriculum calls for each program ses-sion to show one of these segments as a catalyst for dialogue.

A SUCCESS STORY

The program has been very success­ful. Grant money has been avail­able to help congregations participate. We know that more than one hundred congregations have participated in it. Since the curriculum is available on our website, it is possible that many more have participated. Many people have told us what a great program this is for building relationships. Here are three of those comments:

• From a Jewish participant in Michigan: “This was a wonder-ful forum hearing about faith from people of faith.” “We never had these discussions before, even though we had Christian friends. Especially as Jews living in North America in a predominantly Christian environment, we all know people of other faiths. We all know Christians; Christians know Jews. But it is left at that; no one ever talks about this. This program provides a safe space to talk about religion, because often times it is taboo. We don’t want to put ourselves out there. This curriculum provides an opportunity to do this in a structured way, and really learn about one another.”

• From a Catholic participant in Chicago: “We all have precon­ceived notions about culture, reli­gion, and race. But when people are put together, and talk togeth­er, and get to know one another, they realize these are half-truths. It dispels the stereotypes we hold of one another.”

• Finally, from a Jewish participant in Chicago: “The most valuable part of the program was the degree of trust that was built. We could ask questions of one another, and trust each other as friends.”

Open Doors, Open Minds is a program is about personal relationships. Many people have continued to meet, even after the program ended. They would meet for social occasions, or to go to dinner. The personal relation-ships which came out of the program cemented Jewish-Christian understand-ing. It is interesting that, after finish-ing this program, many congregations asked, “What’s next?” They were eager to do more together. So we are about to launch Open Doors, Open Minds II. It continues the dialogue, looking at social justice issues: environment, poverty, the death penalty, war and peace from Jewish and Christian perspectives. It calls us to continue from conversation to action. It asks, How can we work together to make this world a better place? By put-ting our words into action, we can do that. That is really what this dialogue and cooperation should be about.

 

Naomi Greenspan is Program Associate of the Commission on Interreligious Affairs of Reform Judaism. She was recently selected as a young adult scholarship recipient for the North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) conference in Vancouver. She is currently serving as the co-chair for the Religions For Peace Interreligious Youth Network in North America.