I will be honest, I had not planned on responding to this question. As a Christian, I don’t know that I am the best person to comment on “Jewish Identity.” However, after reading Arun Gandhi’s response to the question, I felt compelled to respond. Though Arun is a valued friend of many years with whom I have worked on bridging various divides, in this instance, I find myself in strong disagreement with him.
Having dedicated much of my life to promoting interfaith understanding and learning from Arun Gandhi how best to meet the challenges of that work, I was surprised both by the tenor and substance of his words related to “Jewish identity.”
Essential to understanding the corporate concept of Jewish identity as it exists among a variety of Jewish individuals is an accurate understanding of the meaning of the Holocaust among Jewish people, and the relationship between Jewish people and the Government of Israel. Never have I experienced or heard about the Jewish community using the Holocaust to impose a giant guilt-trip on anybody. Never have I assumed or been the subject of persuasion to believe that the government of Israel represents the views of Jewish people from around the world.
Particularly disturbing to me is the perception that “Jewish identity in the future appears bleak.” Those of us committed to religious pluralism in America cannot allow that to happen—at least not here. I live with a strong hope that in a nation committed to religious freedom the future religious identity of no religious group is bleak or threatened.
There is no statute of limitations on the impact of the Holocaust on our global village. From a serious look at that horror, lessons can still be learned and deadly errors can be avoided. Currently, the intensity and compassion devoted to the situation in Darfur has benefited from the leadership of organizations like the American Jewish World Service and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Next week in New York City, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, it will be my honor to moderate a panel discussion on the role of faith and spirituality in social change. The very nature of that event and the museum sponsoring it convey the message that the Jewish people survived the Holocaust and survived with a sensitive social conscience that reaches beyond the boundaries of their tradition, not that they seek to dwell on the Holocaust so as to gain the pity of the rest of the world.
One need look no further then the Jewish community itself to find stinging criticism of some of Israel’s policies. You would likely be hard pressed to find members of the Jewish community who do not support Israel’s right to defend itself. However, the debate on how to implement that defense is vigorous, and much of it disagrees with the official policies of the government of Israel.
Jewish identity in the future will be what the Jewish community makes of it. I am delighted to be a part of an organization, The Interfaith Alliance, which seeks to ensure that all communities have the right to define their own identity and to expect the future of that identity to be, not “bleak,” but bright.
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