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Contemporary Encounter
By William A. Hartfelder. Jr.

THE history of the Jewish-Christian encounter spans almost two millennia. In light of the tragic nature of so much of this history, it is undoubtedly, more descriptive to speak of the "Jewish-Christian Conflict." Indeed, the fact that with few exceptions Jewish-Christian relations have been negative reminds us how young, even embryonic, the contemporary encounter between Jews and Christians is as a formally and cooperatively organized interfaith endeavor.¹

I

Approaches to the contemporary Jewish-Christian encounter are exceedingly complex. First, for discussion to be historically, theologically, and morally legitimate it must be inclusive. That is, it must incorporate an accurate and sensitive assessment of the various facets of the conflict between Jews and Christians during the periods of the New Testament, the Early Church Fathers, the Middle Ages, and later, especially taking into consideration the Holocaust and the founding of the State of Israel.

Second, the Jewish-Christian encounter is not simply a matter of polite, formal academic exchanges between two monolithic entities. Whether "encounter" occurs within a context of organized interfaith activity or as a happenstance of everyday life, it alway's takes place between people. And as members of two highly variegated religious traditions, Jews and Christians unavoidably bring to the encounter inherited and personal histories and hopes, insights and ignorances, prejudices and proposals, antagonisms and agendas.

One of the fundamental issues in the Jewish-Christian encounter has been and continues to be primarily a Christian problem. It is the unresolved debate among Christians over the continuing theological integrity and legitimacy of the faith-people Israel. Whereas Judaism has

William A. Hartfelder. Jr. is Lecturer on Judaic Studies. University of Cincinnati, and Assistant to the Dean of Graduate Studies, Hebrew Union College. A graduate of Concordia and Princeton Seminaries. he studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has served as Instructor of Hebrew Bible at Trinity Lutheran Seminary and is now completing his doctoral program in Intertestamental History and Literature at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. This essay is dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Samuel Sandmel, Ph. D., who, as the author notes, was"-my first teacher at HUC; zichrono livracha."
¹ For example. the word "interfaith" did not appear in standard English dictionaries until Webster's Third International (1955).

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no inherent need to accommodate Christianity in its understanding of itself as the Israel of God, the same is not true for Christianity vis-a-vis Judaism. From the very outset, the continued existence of Jews and Judaism has been a "thorn in the flesh" to Christianity's claim to be the "new" or "true" Israel. Thus, Christianity's perception of its relationship to the faith-people Israel has been a crux interpretum for Christian self-definition and proclamation.

A. Roy Eckardt has described this Christian problem as the younger brother's struggle to work out his identity and rivalry with his elder brother. Fortunately, a growing number of concerned Christians are acknowledging the major role this "younger brother-elder brother" struggle has played in the perpetration of innumerable injustices against the Jews. As a result, many Christian scholars have begun to reexamine the traditional biblical interpretations and theological constructs involved in this struggle and, finding them wanting, are recognizing the serious challenge this struggle presents to the vitality of the Christian community as well.

Two recent publications, radically different in their approaches to the relationship between Jews and Christians, may serve to focus our attention on several fundamental issues in the contemporary encounter.²

The first volume, The Olive Tree Connection (Downers Grove, Ill., InterVarsity Press, 1983), is by John Fischer, a Messianic Jew. The second volume, Christianity and Judaism: The Deepening Dialogue (Scranton, Pa., Ridge Row Press, 1983), edited by Richard H. Rousseau, a Jesuit, is a collection of fifteen essays by Jews and Christians, addressing a variety of issues of vital importance in the contemporary encounter.

Fischer's approach to the contemporary encounter between Jews and Christians is revealed by his book's subtitle, "Sharing Messiah with Israel." For Fischer, the only successful encounter is one from which the Jew emerges convinced of the Christian church's triumph as the "New Israel" chosen by God in place of the "Old Israel," the synagogue. Not surprisingly, this book is basically a "How To" manual, replete with ready-to-use scripts for converting Jews to Christianity.

What we have here is the perpetuation of traditional Christian theological absolutism with Jews and Judaism reduced to the theological symbol of a stage of religious life superseded by Christian faith. Typically, Fischer bases his supersessionist theology on a literalistic,

² For annotated bibliographies of literature on Jewish-Christian relations. cf., A. Roy Eckardt. "Recent Literature on Christian-Jewish Relations." Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 49 (March, 1981), 99-111; and F. E. Talmage, "Bibliographical Essay: Judaism on Christianity: Christianity on Judaism," In Disputation and Dialogue. F. E. Talmage, NY: KTAV, 1975, 361-390.

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non-critical reading of selected portions of the New Testament and the Hebrew Bible. For example, he credits all biblical words of promise to Christianity and applies all words of judgment and warning to Jews and Judaism. But Fischer professes a variation of traditional supersessionist theology which must surely have his theological forebears spinning in their graves.

From the Early Church Fathers onward, proponents of a supersessionist theology have had a "double-image" of Jews and Judaism. One image reveres Jews as the historic people of the Bible and the nation to which Jesus belonged. Alongside this historical image, is a theological image of Jews as stubborn adherents to an anachronistic and decadent way, of life and faith. Thus, for example, St. John Chrysostom called the synagogue the Devil's breeding ground. Similarly. St. Augustine interpreted Psalm 59 as God's sentence upon the Jews to be negative witnesses to the Christian faith.

This "double-image" has long served to target Jews as a people especially needy of Christian missionizing. Moreover, this same "double-image" has always demanded of Jews who accept Jesus as the Messiah that they leave behind all traces of the "decadence" of synagogue life and worship. It is on this latter point that Fischer parts company with traditional anti-Jewish supersessionist theology.

Fischer believes the great error of the church was its separation from the synagogue and its subsequent "gentilization." He sees this estrangement as the primary reason why Jews failed to occupy their proper and primary place in the Christian community of faith. Accordingly, he believes if there is to be an authentic Christian mission to the Jews, this error must be reversed. Thus, in stark contrast to the traditional supersessionist view of Jews and Judaism, Fischer claims a Jew can accept the Messiahship of Jesus and remain Jewish.

Fischer represents a fairly recent religious phenomenon known by a variety of names such as Jews for Jesus, Messianic Jews, Completed Jews, etc. The visible signs of these "Christian Jewish" groups is their abandonment of "errant" Christian forms of worship and life in favor of traditional Jewish rituals and symbols such as Friday evening "synagogue" worship services, the use of kipot (skull caps) and traditional Hebrew prayers, the observance of Jewish Holydays, etc. No doubt this would make Chrysostom's famed "golden tongue" cleave to his palate.

One might argue that at least Fischer's approach appreciates Jews and Judaism and eschews the classical caricature of the synagogue as the Devil's breeding ground. However, Fischer continues the classical contempt for Judaism, albeit in a new form, in his insistence that not only, is acceptance of Jesus' Messiahship compatible with being Jewish, it is also the fullest expression of Jewish life and faith. For Fischer, Judaism remains a hallowed but hollow faith.

The brand of "Jewish Mission" Fischer advocates is sectarian antiJudaism in sheep's clothing. It is anti-Judaic in its total negation of the

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theological integrity and legitimacy of the faith-people Israel. Its anti-Judaism is sectarian in its usurpation and bastardization of Jewish ritual and symbol to express faith in Jesus as Messiah without regard for the historical development and religious meaning of these symbols and rituals within Jewish tradition. It is sectarian anti-Judaism in "sheep's clothing" because its teaching of contempt for Jews and Judaism is obscured by a profusion of affection for Jewish history and tradition. The motivation for this affection, however, is the interpretation of everything Jewish as pointing to the triumph of the Christian faith.

For example, Fischer devotes two chapters to the importance of the State of Israel. They arc effusively pro-Israel. But this love of Israel comes from the theologizing of' Israel's modern rebirth as a sign of the "Second Coming" of Jesus the Christ. There is neither an awareness of nor a concern for what Jews as Jews have to say about the significance of Israel. This type of "Christian Zionism" reduces Jews and Judaism to the role of pawns on a cosmic chessboard whose sole "King" is Christ.

Fischer expresses a great deal of empathy and shock over the Holocaust. But, his concern for the Holocaust, no matter how sincere, is brutal in its theological conceit and moral insensitivity. Fischer states: "Rather than think of the six million killed, think of the twelve million left alive. The Holocaust can be viewed as a massive and diabolical attempt to thwart the purposes of God with regard to the Jewish people (see Rev. 12: 10- 17)" (p. 184). Not only must the dualist view of Good and Evil be questioned here, it is appalling how easily six million lives can be dismissed in the name of God.

Fischer's religious absolutism renders him totally incapable of comprehending the Holocaust as an indictment of a sinful church and the type of theology he espouses. The Bible, of course, is full of examples of religious triumphalism's deafness to God's call to repentance.

The approach to the contemporary Jewish-Christian encounter which this book represents gives vivid testimony to the tenacity of anti-Judaism and its pernicious ability to appear in new forms. Fischer's "Christian Judaism" is not only a problem for Jews, it is also a challenge to Christians.

III

Just as Fischer's approach to the contemporary Jewish-Christian encounter is revealed in his subtitle, "Sharing Messiah with Israel," the approach of the essays in the volume edited by Rousseau is reflected in its title, The Deepening Dialogue. Although these essays by Jews and Christians were written for varying occasions and different publications, they reflect a common spirit. It is the spirit of self-reflection and openness to the truth that is in "the other" as "the other" chooses to express it. This is done neither in a quest after theological synthesis nor for the elimination of the very real differences which exist and will continue to exist between Jews and Christians. Rather, the essays

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Rousseau presents exemplify the true definition of interfaith dialogue, that is, "conversation on a common subject between two or more persons with differing views, the primary purpose of which is for each participant to learn from the other so that he or she can change and grow."³ A sampling of the essays illustrates the learning, change, and growth which genuine dialogue yields.

Paul van Buren shares his personal journey of discovery and self-reflection in his essay, "Probing the Jewish-Christian Reality." His journey began with appointment as chairman of the religion department at Temple University in 1974. His first task was to direct the process of making two appointments in Judaica. Van Buren's role in this process required him to spend a great deal of time talking with Jewish scholars, reading about Judaism, and interviewing candidates for the positions. As simple as it may sound, this experience, "opened my eyes to something I had been looking at somewhat casually all along but had never really seen: Israel, the Jewish people, the people of God, was definitely alive."

The impact of this awakening was profound. First, van Buren had to come to terms with the realization that Christian theology was wrong in its implicit and explicit caricatures of Judaism. The old, easy slogans of Christian tradition pronouncing Judaism "legalistic" and "spiritually moribund," or, at best, an "indirect witness to Jesus Christ," simply do not conform to reality. "In their place," writes van Buren, "actual Judaism, the living faith of this living people of God, came into view."

Second, this new vision of Jews and Judaism propelled him to a deeper exploration of his own Christian identity and faith. The more he studied about Judaism and the Jewish people on their own terms, the sharper his perception of the meaning of his role as a gentile member of the community of God became. Because a gentile is bound to the God of Israel not by Torah but by Jesus Christ, a gentile is not, as the church has been fond of saying, an "honorary Jew" or a Jew by adoption or election. On the contrary, a gentile seeking to serve the God of Israel as a Christian serves in the Christian community alongside, not as a part of, the faith-people Israel. "That," van Buren confesses, "is not my decision but [God's], or it is mine only as an obedient acknowledgment of his."

To those who would reject this affirmation of Jews and Christians as equal companion peoples of the same God, charging-arrogantly-that most Jews do not live and serve God, van Buren responds, "what can we say about most of those who have been baptized?" Just as God's promises to the Jewish people endure despite Jewish unfaithfulness -and that is for Jews to say-so also the promises of God to the gentiles through Christ remain despite the unfaithfulness of the church and its people. Thus, when Christians choose to remain blind to the bond which exists between Jews and Christians as two living peoples of God, they

³ Leonard Swidler. "The Dialogue Decalogue: Ground Rules for Interreligious Dialogue," Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 20 (Winter, 1983), 1.

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ultimately deny the theological integrity and legitimacy of their own trust in the promises of God made in Christ.

The other essays by Christians are in many ways theoretical and practical elaborations on this theme. Harold Ditmanson and Isaac Rottenberg critique traditional Christian "fulfillment" and "replacement" theologies as they have been applied to Jews and Judiasm. Ditmanson argues persuasively that the church's understanding of itself as the "new" people of God need not declare Jews as rejected or accursed by God. Rottenberg demonstrates how traditional Christian "fulfillment" theology is a distortion which has not only had destructive consequences for meaningful Jewish-Christian encounter, but has twisted faith in Christ's victory as God's new initiative into the heresy of ecclesiastical triumphalism (Fischer).

Clark Williamson's essay is an incisive critique of Salvadoran liberation theologian John Sobrino. Williamson examines Sobrino's theology point by point to show how Sobrino's Christology needlessly incorporates the standard anti-Judaism of Christian theology. Thus, Sobrino helps spread anti-Judaism into new areas of Christian thought and praxis. Moreover, he is in the paradoxical position of being a liberation theologian who has cut himself off from the liberating power of the Exodus and the paradigmatic struggle of the Jews as an oppressed faith-people of God.

David Cairns, Philip Culbertson, Stephen Davis, A. Roy Eckardt, Eugene Fischer, Edward Flannery, John Pawlikowski, and John Spong contribute essays written from a Christian perspective on such issues as the Holocaust, the contribution of the Jewish-Christian encounter to biblical studies, Evangelicalism and the Jewish-Christian encounter, etc. They are all distinguished by their openness to genuine dialogue. Interestingly, this group also attests to another benefit of interfaith dialogue. The shared experience of Christians encountering Jews is also furthering ecumenical dialogue among the various segments of the church.

Dialogue requires a willing partner. The Jewish partner is here well represented in essays by Michael Berenbaum, Eugene Borowitz, and Henry Siegman. Berenbaurn focuses on the debate between those who interpret the Holocaust as a universal symbol of mass murder and destruction (Simon Wiesenthal), and those who decry any diminution of the Holocaust as a uniquely Jewish event (Elie Wiesel). Berenbaum concludes that these are not mutually exclusive options. If the Holocaust is to have an enduring moral, political, and social impact on international consciousness, the universal dimensions of this tragedy must be explored. By understanding the fate of non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust and by comparing the Holocaust with other instances of mass murder, the Holocaust's uniquely Jewish meaning is not erased but sharpened. This type of comparative approach to the Holocaust is not only justifiable, it is necessary.

Whereas Berenbaum's I essay is primarily directed inward in the sense

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that he deals with the internal Jewish debate over a proper approach to the meaning of the Holocaust for today, Borowitz and Siegman engage in direct dialogue with Christians. Borowitz examines the contemporary Christologies of Barth, Berkouwer, and Pannenberg for elements of anti-Judaism. His verdict is that Barth mitigated anti-Judaism, declaring anti-Semitism to be a form of godlessness, and Berkouwer virtually eliminated anti-Judaism. Pannenberg's Christology embraces anti-Judaism because of his judgment that the foundation of Jewish religion collapsed with the coming of Jesus.⁴

There are many Christians who feel that the contemporary Jewish-Christian encounter has demanded more self-reflection and reassessment of Christians than it has of Jews. Siegman acknowledges this, describing it as the -asymmetry" of the contemporary encounter. In his essay, "A Decade of Catholic-Jewish Relations: A Reassessment," Siegman challenges his fellow Jews to alter this "asymmetry." He comments, "Jews have successfully managed the dialogue on what we consider to be Christian failings; we have not been compelled to examine ourselves and the problematic of our own theology and traditions-at least not within the context of the dialogue." To be sure, there are many sound reasons for this imbalance. For example, the fact that Christian doctrine differs from Jewish "doctrine" does not cause the same problem for Judaism as for Christianity. For Jews it is the historical consequences this divergence has had for Jews at the hands of Christians that occupies their attention. Thus, Christians have generally entered into dialogue well aware of the theological differences but grossly ignorant of the historical legacy of these differences. Jews, on the other hand, have generally entered into dialogue acutely aware of the historical legacy of tragedies but woefully ignorant of the theological dynamics involved.

Siegman sees a "new reality" emerging from the contemporary encounter. Although the historical dimensions of such issues as anti-Semitism the Holocaust, and the State of Israel remain, it is now time for a greater Jewish openness to the theological agenda. He understands the re-examination of traditional Christian truimphalism by many Christian theologians to be an opportunity for Jews to shed "their own peculiar kind of truimphalism, the defensive triumphalism of the persecuted and the abused." He believes Jews need to confront their own attitudes toward the religious worth of Christianity. He lays it on the line when he says Jews need not feel they, are compromising their religious integrity when they recognize "that Christians who are good and decent human beings are not so despite, but because they profess Christianity."

Rousseau has made a valuable contribution to the literature on the Jewish-Christian encounter by bringing these essays together under one cover. His introduction is excellent. One negative comment must be

⁴ Borowitz's investigation of contemporary Christologies is presented in greater detail in his recent book Contemporary Christologies: A Jewish Response. Ramsey, N.J.. Paulist Press, 1980.

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made. This volume is an embarrassment to its editor and publisher. Not only was the book's binding unable to withstand the pressures of one gentle reading, nearly every page is littered with typographical errors. In one essay, four footnotes were dropped. The quality of the essays deserved much better. This is in vivid contrast with the sleek and professional presentation of Fischer's volume.

IV

We have come a long way since those early days of Jewish-Christian encounter when it was considered a success just to have Jews and Christians agree to meet regularly over light refreshments. Today this encounter stands on a new threshold as we continue to learn more about each other and venture more boldy into sensitive areas of theological, moral, and political agreement and disagreement.

A great deal remains to be accomplished. There is a danger that as Jewish-Christian dialogue matures, it will more and more become the preserve of professionals. This professionalization is inevitable and to a degree necessary to the quality of the encounter. But the accomplishments of the Jewish-Christian encounter must be communicated to the wider Jewish and Christian communities if it is to have any real and long-lasting impact.

The borders of the contemporary encounter must also be expanded. Regrettably, most participants are still primarily Western and North American Jews and Christians. This is true even in Israel where, for example, many Arab Christians resist the recitation of biblical odes to Zion because of the current problems in the Middle East. Inclusion of the third partner in this encounter, Islam, is yet another inevitable and necessary extension.

In the face of such an onerous agendum it would be easy to despair and retreat. But as Rabbi Tarfon reminds us: "You are not required to finish the task, but neither are you free to desist from it" (Pirke Avot, 2: 16).