Reporter's Notebook

Why Do We Seem
Reluctant To Learn?

A Comfort Level
You Don't Find Here

RABBI AMY B. BRODSKY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER

During the past
weeks I have
been privileged to
participate in two
interfaith pro-
grams.
One was the
27th annual In-
terfaith Day in
East Lansing.
This year's host was East Lans-
ing's Congregation Shaarey
Zedek. The topic was the Book of
Psalms, and there were four
speakers representing Protes-
tantism, Greek Orthodoxy, Ro-
man Catholicism and Judaism.
Approximately 250 people from
the East Lansing area attended
the daylong program.
The second
program was an
interfaith prayer
service held on
the campus of
Wayne State Uni-
versity. It was ti-
tled "Muslims,
Jews, and Chris-
tians: Prayers for
Peace"; the reli-
gious representa-
tives spoke about
unity. Approxi-
mately 40 people
attended this
short prayer ser-
vice.
I was honored
to have been
asked to repre-
\_ sent the Jewish
people at both
programs. Both
were wonderful
learning experiences for me. I
was told that the program in East
Lansing allowed only a certain
number of people from each of the
four religious groups to partici-
pate. This ensured that there was
a diverse group for the day's pro-
gram.
/—
At lunch that day, participants
were assigned to tables random-
ly so that we could converse with
people from different religious
backgrounds.
The service held at Wayne
State was equally wonderful. The
program was well-planned and
well-advertised on campus and
in the general community. I was
disappointed, however, by the re-
/-
sponse of our community. As far
as I could tell, there were only two
Jews at the service: a represen-
tative from Metro Detroit Hillel
and me!
I'm sorry to say that in my ex-
perience over the past few years,
the Jewish response at Wayne
State last week was the more typ-
ical response of our community.

Amy Brodsky is assistant director
of the Ecumenical Institute for
Jewish-Christian Studies in
Southfield.

Since returning to Detroit five
years ago, I have been privileged
to speak at a number of church-
es. Last summer, I became the as-
sistant director of the Ecumenical
Institute for Jewish-Christian
Studies. In this new role I have
done a great deal of preaching
and teaching at local churches,
far more than I was able to do in
my previous years as a congre-
gational rabbi.
One thing that I have learned
from all of this formal contact
with the members of these
churches is that they are eager to
learn about Judaism, to visit our
synagogues, to participate in
model sedarim and so on. The
people with whom I have

Christians, on the other hand,
want to learn about Judaism
since Jesus, of course, was a Jew.
Learning about Judaism is a nat-
ural for them. Many Christians
want to learn not only about the
Judaism which Jesus practiced,
but also about Judaism today.
We do, however, live in a coun-
try in which the majority of peo-
ple are Christian. Christian
references abound. Our secular
and school calendars revolve
around Christian holidays. We
see Christianity on television and
at the movies.
One would think that since we
see so much of it, we would want
to know more about it, that we
would want to learn about Chris-
tian customs and
beliefs. Just be-
cause we live in a
majority-Christ-
ian culture doesn't
mean that we re-
ally know about
and understand
our - Christian
neighbors.
Why am I in-
volved in inter-
faith work? Space
does not permit
me to preach
the sermon about

tikkun olam,

come in contact are thrilled to
have the opportunity to learn
about Judaism.
I have developed a six-hour
course, "Judaism: A Visitor's
Guide," which I have been taking
to local churches. Six hours is a
longtime commitment for most of
us these days, but the members
of these churches come back week
after week to learn more. At one
church, there was a retreat pre-
viously planned that coincided
with one of the sessions of my
course. So that they wouldn't miss
any of the material I covered, the
retreat participants had the ses-
sion videotaped to view upon
their return!
Christians are excited to learn
about Judaism, but I haven't seen
the same enthusiasm on our part.
Why aren't we interested in learn-
ing about Christianity? Why
aren't we touring local churches
and participating in interfaith
programs?
Granted, Judaism is not de-
pendent upon Christianity in the
same way that Christianity is de-
pendent upon Judaism. We do
not need to learn about Chris-
tianity in order to understand the
history of our people.

about how one of
the ways to repair
the world is to en-
gage in dialogue
and study with
those who come
from different
backgrounds. But
that is one reason why I choose
to participate in this type of work.
The other reason is purely self-
ish. Every time I speak to a Chris-
tian group, I learn more about
Christian beliefs and practices.
And as I learn more about them,
I learn more about me.
When Christians ask me about
various Jewish beliefs and cus-
toms, I am forced to further ex-
amine my Judaism. I have to go
back to our texts and restudy our
traditions.
As a Reform Jew, I have to
learn more about the other
branches-of Judaism so that I
may fairly and knowledgeably an-
swer questions about them. This
examination of the other move-
ments within Judaism gives me
a better appreciation and respect
for them.
Yes, involvement in interfaith
activities does help us to repair
the world, to make it a better
place in which to live. It is im-
portant for our community to be
• involved in such experiences. In-
terfaith activities help us to learn
more about ourselves, to become
more knowledgeable and com-
mitted Jews. 0

I was not scared
in Israel recent-
ly, despite po-
tential danger
following Prime
Minister
Binyamin Ne-
tanyahu's de-
cree to build
housing for
Jews in eastern Jerusalem. Just
cautious.
Every day, a young soldier
would convey the breaking news
to those of us volunteering on an
army base outside Safed. The
first mention of the words Har
Homa came one day, noncha-
lantly. The soldier said Mr. Ne-
tanyahu had decided to build
5,000 residential units in a
neighborhood in the largely
Arab eastern section of
Jerusalem. He also would build
3,000 units for Arabs.
And then, ever so calmly, she
told us to be careful, "aware,"
while we were in Tel Aviv or
Jerusalem on our weekend off.
Do not fall
asleep on city
busses, she said.
Be aware of your
surroundings.
Spending that
weekend in
Jerusalem, I de-
cided to take
taxis, or walk, around the city if
need be.
These are decisions we should
not have to make.
While I was there, we were
told Palestinian leader Yassir
Arafat had flown to the United
States, beseeching President
Bill Clinton's intervention in the
Har Homa "crisis." Arafat
threatened to end the peace
process and declare Palestine
an independent nation if Mr.
Netanyahu broke ground at Har
Homa.
What exactly warranted such
a grave, international outcry?
Look at the facts: A govern-
ment decided to build dwellings
in its own, undivided capital. A
government refused to be
swayed by international judg-
ments. A government began
construction, and a bomb ex-
ploded in Tel Aviv.
If Detroit Mayor Dennis
Archer decided to build apart-
ments downtown for white res-
idents, people would probably
say, "Go ahead." Just because
the city has a largely black res-
ident population doesn't mean
that whites can't live there.
I walked the streets of the Old
City, the Jewish Quarter, on
Shabbat, realizing that 35 years
ago, I would not have been able
to step foot there.
I thought about how Jews
had, for generations before 1967,
struggled to return to those

stone streets. I thought about
the numerous, horrific persecu-
tions the Jewish people have en-
dured.
I was told not to walk through
the Arab Quarter of the Old City.
although I had done so in De-
cember 1995, not even a year
and a half ago.
I came up with no answers.
Israel is a small nation, sit-
uated in a precarious place. You
can't move the country to a dif-
ferent part of the world. And you
can't pretend that all involved
bring honesty to peace dealings.
On the way home, I sat next
to a Palestinian man on the
plane. Air Canada, neutral
ground. He was born in Ramal-
lah and now lives in Denver.
About 30 years old, married
with a son and a baby on the
way. A nice man.
He visited relatives in Ra-
mallah, which so many Ameri-
can newspapers say is a part of
Palestine, a nation which does
not exist today. He shared with
me his concern for
the future of the
Palestinian peo-
ple.
The West Bank
should have re-
mained part of Is-
rael-proper, he
said. Since the in-
troduction of self-rule, Pales-
tinians cannot earn a consistent
wage, cannot support families
or guarantee food on the table.
He predicts an uprising and
overthrow of Mr. Arafat and
eventual take-over by Jordan.
He says the Palestinians had it
better as part of Israel.
And then a bomb exploded at
a Tel Aviv cafe.
Yes, I could have been at a
table, sipping cappuccino there.
Still, I did not feel the least bit
unsafe in Israel.
When I was a teen-ager and
had friends who went to Israel
for the summer, they regaled me
with tales of how they had nev-
er felt so safe anywhere else. As
I grew older and relatives or
friends visited the Jewish state,
they all came back saying the
same thing. I couldn't under-
stand it.
Now I do. It is almost inex-
plicable, but I feel less safe walk-
ing around at night in the
suburbs of Detroit, or on the
campus of an American univer-
sity, than walking the streets of
Jerusalem or the sidewalks of
Tel Aviv. A few weeks ago I
walked, at night, from
Jerusalem Boulevard in down-
town Jaffa to a restaurant on
Tel Aviv's seaside boardwalk. A
30-minute walk, along the busy
car-laden main thoroughfare.
Alone.

Standi ng up
and to king
char ge.

COMFORT page 30