Winter 1984 - 1985 - Quarterly Review

RELATIONSHIP OF JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY
The new human responsibility level implies that the events of our
lifetime are revelatory. Therefore, one has to incorporate those events
into religion and into our understanding. If we are to be true partners
with God, and if we have full responsibility, then we are morally
responsible for our own traditions. If there is anything in our own
traditions that demeans, or denies, or degrades somebody else, then
one cannot answer: it is the Word of God and so be it. One must
answer: it is my responsibility. God has given me a call to take
responsibility. Even if that means one must argue with God or
confront God, that also is responsibility. If, indeed, God said that only
a male can stand in for God, then someone who is faithful to God
would have to argue with God: "It is not right—woman is also your
creature, in your image." If God declared the Jews blind and hateful,
to be treated as pariahs, then one must confront God and call God
back to the universal love which God has revealed to humanity.
This is a time of major transformation in which the past experiences
on the road to perfection are reinterpreted in light of the events of our
lifetime for both religions. I believe we are living in an age of the
Jewish re-acceptance of the covenant. The re-creation of Israel is the
classic covenantal symbol. If you want to know if there is a God in the
world and is there still hope, if you want to know whether there is still
a promise of redemption—the Bible says one goes back to Israel and
makes the streets of Jerusalem resound with the laughter of children
and the sounds of bride and groom dancing. That is what is
happening in Jerusalem right now. This is true notwithstanding all
the political, economic, and moral flaws of the new earthly Jerusalem.
The flaws, the tragic conflicts with Arabs, the difficulties, all these are
part of the fundamental proof that here we have the hidden Presence.
This moment of revelation is fully human; this moment of redemption
is humanly fully responsible in the presence of God.
One might suggest that the Holocaust has its primary impact on
Judaism. Nevertheless, as a Jewish theologian, I suggest that
Christianity also cannot be untouched by the event. At the least, I
believe that Christianity will have to enter its second stage. If we
follow the rabbis' model, this stage will be marked by greater
"worldliness" in holiness. The role of the laity would shift from being
relatively passive observers in a sacramental religion to full (or fuller)
participation. In this stage, Christianity would make the move from
being out of history to taking power, i.e., taking part in the struggle to
exercise power to advance redemption. The religious message would
be not accepting inequality but demanding its correction. The
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