Walking together

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The articles above are published in the May 2009 issue of Living City.

The Focolare's third international
Jewish-Christian Symposium

From afar it was difficult to fully appreciate just how delicate and fragile was the proposal for Jews and Christians to “walk together” in Jerusalem, a city so laden with spiritual meaning, and so charged with political and religious tensions. In fact, the January violence in Gaza had strained the project almost to the breaking point. But while other February 2009 Jewish-Christian dialogue events in Jerusalem had been cancelled, the international and local Focolare communities decided that it was more important than ever to go ahead as planned with this third Jewish-Christian Symposium, which gathered close to 80 scholars and community leaders for four days of reflection, exchange and life together.

Before a word was uttered, our first step was to walk together through Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, which draws its name from Isaiah 56:5, “I will give them a memorial and a name that shall not be cut off.” Everything about the exhibit — photos, personal belongings, interviews, stories and film clips — speaks of the sacredness of life, and of each individual life that had been snuffed out by inexplicably brutal violence.

As a Christian walking through the museum with my Jewish colleague, I realized that I might never be able to fully enter into the depths of the Jewish community’s horror and pain, nor of the lasting wounds of fear and anger. But as we walked together, I felt that I could try to be an open and listening space that might in some way share the burden of one of humanity’s darkest moments, and to confront the challenges that this continues to pose for our common project.

Against the backdrop of this painful history, could we, in the words of Psalm 87, hope to say of Jerusalem, “They all were born here,” so as to sing together in festive dance, “Within you is my true home”?

“Unity demands that we strain against the desire to be only with those who are like us, in order to reach out as far as possible,” reflected Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership in his commentary on the psalm that opened the symposium.

The diversity within the group gathered for the symposium presented a wonderful possibility to “reach out as far as possible.” Representatives were from Europe (Italy, France, Slovak Republic, Switzerland, Hungary and Holland), Latin America (Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Mexico), the United States, and of course Israel. Different approaches to Jewish life and thought were also represented — Orthodox, Conservative and Reform — with further variations of how these currents are expressed in different cultural contexts.

For many, an initial point of unity was their personal contact with Focolare founder Chiara Lubich. Rabbi Marc Raphael Guedj from Switzerland, speaking warmly of his encounter with Chiara, compared her to Noah, “a person who has a charism to save the whole of humanity ... I met a divine presence in a human face.” Bella Gal from Israel shared how she had confided to Chiara doubts about her own ability to reach out to her Palestinian neighbors and to Orthodox Jews. Responding to her letter, “Chiara simplified my thoughts and gave me the courage and spiritual strength to do what I can to promote dialogue.”

We journeyed together through our various and common histories — including how we have viewed “the other” throughout the centuries. If, as Sharon Rosen (co-director of Search for Common Ground, Jerusalem) put it, the opposite of love is not hate but fear, then the solution, Rabbi Jack Bemporad observed, is to create ways to encounter each other “not as an abstraction” but as a real person, to listen to and learn from each other’s stories.

Reflecting on the ups and downs of dialogue and diplomacy over the years, Rabbi David Rosen spoke of the “millions of eyes” watching the careful work of repairing relationships of trust. Catholic scholar of Jewish history Joseph Sievers shared how, as a young German teenager, he had biked to the site of what had been a concentration camp, to face the painful questions that it raised. His own response led to his immersion in the Hebrew language and scriptures, and an extraordinarily rich set of encounters and personal relationships with Jewish friends and scholars.

The symposium’s evening programs brought us on a virtual tour of current efforts to work for understanding across religious differences, both internationally and within Israel itself. The Christian, Jewish and Muslim teenagers who told their stories did not hide the difficulties of building peace in an environment where contact among youth from different religions is rare. But, as the head of the Israeli chapter of the International Council of Christians and Jews, Rabbi Ron Kronish, shared, even in the midst of conflict, we can both “keep a human face” and “keep hope alive.” Both qualities were shining in the transformative experiences of the youth who had participated in Auburn Seminary’s “Face to Face-Faith to Faith” program, in the Focolare’s May 2008 “Run4Unity” event held in Haifa, and their continued gatherings.

We concluded our journey by literally “walking together” in the old city. The sight of 80 people of obviously different religions and ethnicities was so unusual that it provoked questions on the part of some bystanders, both Jewish and Arab. When we reached the foot of the steps leading down to the Kidron Valley, where tradition holds that Jesus pronounced his testament, “May they all be one,” we learned of Chiara’s dream to have a Focolare gathering place near that spot. The process of planning and obtaining permits has been long and arduous, but now seems to be moving toward completion. Hopes for a future symposium right there were in everyone’s prayers as Psalm 23, “The Lord is My Shepherd,” was sung in both Hebrew and Arabic, and as we renewed a solemn pact to live mutual love.

We then walked together just a short distance to the “Kotel,” the only remaining wall of the Holy Temple, the most sacred place for Jewish prayer. Women and men go through separate security checks, and pray at separate sections of the wall. Among other requests, I had written “this dialogue” on a tiny scrap of paper — as both a commitment and a prayer — which Rabbi Salvina Chemen from Argentina then tucked into a crevice of the wall together with her own prayer. We reunited as a group in the plaza in front of the wall, joined hands to form a large circle and began to sing in Hebrew. It is difficult to describe the sense of connection and hope that pervaded each relationship in that circle of trust and love.

In her opening message to our gathering the current president of the Focolare, Maria Voce, recalled how precisely in the midst of the destruction of World War II Chiara believed that “love conquers all,” which in turn gave her the courage to see that it is always possible to love and share what someone else is living, stepping into their shoes. Perhaps that best captures the heart of this walk together in Jerusalem — the miracle and the blessing of sharing in each other’s lives, and our common hope for a future of peace — shalom, salam — for this city, and for all the cities where we will continue the journey.

—With Margaret Karram and Eduardo Stupino

Amy Uelman is the Director of the Fordham University School of Law Institute on Religion, Law and Lawyer's Work.