Winter 1984 - 1985 - Quarterly Review

QUARTERLY REVIEW, WINTER 1984
me, in many of us? I am not sure. But I do know that his refusal to
condemn is profoundly healing. I believe it is one of his greatest gifts to
us as we strive for reconciliation. He was not blind—far from it: he saw
more clearly than many. "His was not the simplicity of innocence." 33
Yet he does not judge or condemn. It is as if he suffers with us who have
failed. And this, after all, is the literal meaning of compassion.
"As long as there is a shred of hatred in the human heart, as long as
there is a vacuum without compassion anywhere in the world, there is
an emergency." And why is there so much hatred and rage? "Because
we do not know how to repent." 34
But if all are in the same
predicament, there is also hope for all. "History is not a blind alley,
and guilt is not an abyss. There is always a way that leads out of guilt:
repentance or turning to God." 35
It is typical of Heschel that the overcoming of hostility, the healing
of ancient wounds, is a task for both communities. He calls upon Jews
to ponder seriously the responsibility in Jewish history for having
given birth to two world religions. The children did not arise to call the
mother blessed but, he asks—it is his question, I would not dare
ask—"does not the failure of children reflect upon their mother? Do
not the sharp deviations from Jewish tradition on the part of the early
Christians who were Jews indicate some failure of communication
within the spiritual climate of first-century Palestine?" 36 Heschel asks
this question after centuries of Christian defamation and persecution
of Jews; after the Holocaust. . . .
Again in typical fashion, he moves from the problem, the difficulty,
the tragedy, to the opportunity, the new possibility, the hope.
Christianity's turning away from the ancient and pernicious teaching
is only the first stage in a new era of friendship between Christians
and Jews. Heschel believes that we live in a uniquely privileged
moment of time, when Christians look to Jews with wonder and hope,
a fact which confronts Jews in turn with a new challenge: "We Jews
are being put to a new test. Christians, in many parts of the world,
have suddenly begun to look at the Jews with astonishment. In
particular, the attitude of the Christian community in America is
undergoing a change. Instead of hostility, there is expectation. . . .
Many Christians believe that we Jews carry the Tablets in our arms,
hugging them lovingly. They believe that we continue to relish and
nurture the wisdom that God has entrusted to us, that we are loaded
with spiritual treasures." 37
Permit me here to quote a brief excerpt from the 1973 French
Bishops' Guidelines for Christians in their Relationship with Jews, which is
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