COMMUNITY VIEWS
Telling The Truth
And The Role Of Ecumenism
Psalms (lectures that were given
ne of the first lessons I
between 1513 and 1515) and found
remember being taught at
that he referred to Jews as the eternal
home was to always tell the
objects of God's wrath who were pay-
truth. I also remember
ing the penalty for their rejection of
learning the hard way that discipline
Jesus. He said they spend all
for lying was always a little
their time in self-justifica-
more memorable than other
tion, but God ignores their
I disciplines.
prayers. Kindness or harsh-
In the early years of my
ness cannot help them
Sunday School experience,
improve; they will only
the teachers taught us two
become more stubborn and
basic lessons — share what
vain. They are active ene-
you have and always tell the
mies of Christ, they blas-
truth. Several years later, I
pheme and defame him and
I learned the Ten Command-
"spread their evil prejudice
ments and there it was again,
everywhere, even into
DAVID
"Thou shalt not bear false
Christian hearts." Luther's
BLEWETT
witness against thy neigh-
conclusion was that it
Special to
bor"; in other words, don't
would be wrong and a waste
The Jewish News
lie.
of time for Christians to be
In confirmation classes at
tolerant toward such people.
Zion Lutheran Church, we learned
That was my introduction to Luther's
Luther's Small Catechism. Later, as a
writings; only later did I read the infa-
student at Northwestern Lutheran
mous treatise, On The Jews and Their
Seminary, I was expected to memorize
Lies, written in 1543, towards the end
that catechism, including Luther's
of his life. I was disturbed to realize
explanation of the eighth command-
that Luther's career was bracketed by
ment, "We are to fear and love God,
anti-Jewish writings and the church
so that we do not tell lies about our
was doing nothing about it. Professors
neighbors, betray or slander them, or
told me that I did not understand
destroy their reputations. Instead we
what Luther was saying.
are to come to their defense, speak
Martin Luther clearly did "tell lies
well of them, and interpret everything
about our neighbors, betray [and] slan-
they do in the best possible light."
der them, [and] destroy their reputa-
For a seminary class on the Psalms,
tions." He obviously did not "come to
I read Luther's early lectures on the
their defense, speak well of them, and
interpret everything they do in the best
David Blewett is the new executive
possible light." Luther's example of say-
director of the Ecumenical Institute for
ing one thing while doing another
Jewish-Christian Studies in Southfield.
LETTERS
have become the president of
PFLAG/Detroit.
Although the program at Temple
Beth El is a first step for our Jewish
community, it is a step that will posi-
tively affect many, many people.
Whether it is an immediate family
member or an aunt, uncle, cousin or
another relative, everyone has some-
one in the family who is gay, bisexual
or transgender. Everybody knows or
loves someone gay, although they may
not know it yet.
Karen Fenwick
Bloomfield Hills
Rabbi Made
Welcome Visit
Rabbi David Nelson of Congregation
Beth Shalom came to the Danto Farn-
troubled me deeply, and I wondered
how the church could be a faithful wit-
ness to God if it consistently disobeyed
God's eighth commandment and
taught future pastors to do the same.
The more I studied the problem,
the more I realized that the type of
anti-Semitism I discovered in Luther
was not just a Lutheran problem, it
was a Christian problem. Neither
Luther nor most other Christians
practiced what they preached, at least
when it came to bearing false witness
against Jews.
Based on misunderstandings of state-
ments like "His blood be on us and our
children" (Matthew 27:25) and the need
to distinguish the church from the syna-
gogue, the early church fathers con-
demned all Jews as Christ-killers, aban-
doned by God. This heretical theology is
a repetitive theme that runs throughout
Christian history to this day.
From that kind of thinking comes
someone like Dr. Bailey Smith, who, as
president of the Southern Baptist Con-
vention a few years ago, announced
that God does not hear the prayers of a
Jew. It gives rise to the triumphalistic
idea that, with the birth of Jesus, God's
covenant was taken away from Jews
and given to Christians, leaving Jews
"hopeless." I believe it is also the basis
for the anti-Israel theology of liberation
that is sweeping through the churches
of the Middle East as well as Protestant
and Catholic churches in this country.
It is consistent with that flawed image
of Jews and Judaism that Christians
would think and speak of Jesus as a
More House
For The Money
ily Health Care Center on Dec. 7 as
part on an ongoing program of com-
munity rabbis visiting our facility.
Rabbi Nelson spoke in the shul and
The excellent article on "Taking the
was warmly received by all the resi-
House Plunge" (Nov. 20) omits one
very important point: how
dents. He shared the
to get the most house for
story of Chanukah with
them, as well as asking
the dollar.
The answer to that is very
them for their experi-
simple:
move downriver to a
ences from their child-
suburb south of Detroit.
hood. Many residents
The cost of living downriver
enjoyed his visit, espe-
is much lower than it is in
cially as some of them
most of the northern
had participated in vari-
Detroit suburbs.
ous activities at Beth
One developer who has
Shalom.
built rental units both north
We wish him success
of Eight Mile Road and
in all his work and hope Rabbi David Nelson
downriver told me he gets
to see Rabbi Nelson
$100 per month more for the same
again in the future.
unit north of Detroit than in a down-
Rabbi Yerachmiel Rabin
Oft Rerk
river suburb.
Christian rather than a Jew and use
him against his own people as a means
to proselytize.
Gladly, some of that theology is
being challenged today. The process
began with Vatican II and its monu-
mental statement, Nostra Aetate, in
which the Roman Catholic church
acknowledged its historic contempt
towards Jews and called the church to
begin to dialogue with Jews in order
to correct its teachings. Mainline
Protestant denominations have fol-
lowed the Catholic example and
issued their own church statements
that acknowledge past sins and call for
dialogue so that we can begin to learn
together. The Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America has overwhelming-
ly denounced Luther's anti-Semitism,
partly because of the dialogue that is
taking place between Lutherans and
Jews all over the country. It is a terri-
ble thing that it took the Holocaust to
shock the church into realizing the
enormity of its sins against Jews and
Judaism. But it is a fact of history that
the first move towards serious dialogue
only happened after the Shoah, with
the meeting of Christians and Jews at
Seelisburg, Switzerland, in 1948.
Today, exciting things are happening
that testify to a new spirit of ecumeni-
cal relations. A beautiful example of
that is what Bishop John Nienstedt said
at Temple Shir Shalom on Nov. 6 (The
Jewish News, Nov. 20, p. 19) following
his trip to Jerusalem and Rome with
Rabbi Dannel Schwartz and others.
THE TRUTH on page 27
Especially for those who work in
downtown Detroit, the commuting
time via 1-75 or 1-94 from Allen Park
or Lincoln Park, for example, is much
less than it is for those who commute
from Commerce Township or Farm-
ington Hills.
Jews live or work all over the down-
river area, from Flat Rock to Dearborn
and from Romulus to Grosse Ile. For
those who live and work in the down-
river area, there is an extra bonus. The
time saved commuting each day can
be put to better use, such as for leisure
activities.
I believe that the Beth Isaac Syna-
gogue in Trenton could provide help-
ful information for those interested in
relocating downriver.
Irving R. Schmolka
Grosse Ile
12/2'
1998
Detroit Jewish News
25