Recon Fall 2002

The Reconstructionist Volume 67, Number 1, Fall 2002 Table of Contents 12 From the Editor In Dialogue with World Religions 14 Rebecca T. Alpert, Teaching Judaism in Indonesia: Some Reflections 10 Lewis John Eron, Speaking From, Not For, Judaism: Reconstructionism and Interreligious Dialogue 17 Barbara Eve Breitman, “Tehom El Tehom Koreh/Deep Calls to Deep” — Contemplative Christianity and the Emerging Practice of Jewish Spiritual Direction 27 Richard Hirsh, Beyond the Noahide Laws 32 Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, Dabru Emet — A Reconstructionist Perspective Viewpoint 41 Margaret Moers Wenig, Sacred Speech. — Sacred Communities Book Reviews 58 Joel Hecker, Gateways to Hasidism, a review of The Hasidic Parable: An Anthology with Commentary, edited and translated by Aryeh Wineman 69 Yael Ridberg, Journeys in Judaism, a review of The Way Into . series from Jewish Lights Publishing FROM THE EDITOR When the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College was founded in 1968, the program of training for the modern rabbi was envisioned as a parallel course of study in which rabbinical students studied Judaism at RRC and simultaneously pursued a Ph.D in religious studies in Temple University’s Department of Religion. That department, in those days, was a pioneer in the area of interreligious dialogue, with faculty members from every major faith tradition. Rabbini- cal students were in daily contact with people whose religious communities were different from their own, whose texts and traditions were distinct, and whose faiths were in some cases related to Judaism (Christianity and Islam) and in other cases had developed with little or no historical interaction with Jewish tradition (Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism). In such a context, it was impossible to take one’s own tradition for granted, or to dismiss another’s tradition as irrelevant. Curiously, if not providentially, the Reconstructionist approach to the understanding of religion was both an asset and an obstacle. Insofar as Re- constructionism began with the affirmation that Judaism was the histori- cally developed natural product of the Jewish people, it was not difficult to understand other religious traditions as similarly developed historical expe- riences generated by their respective communities. Reconstructionism al- lowed one to respect one’s own tradition as well as the traditions of others. The obstacle was that other faith groups did not always begin from the same set of assumptions. Many of those who, in the spirit of ecumenism and liberalism, sought out Jews with whom to enter into interreligious dialogue also affirmed, to a greater or lesser degree, a supernatural God whose work- ings in history included the forming of a covenant with the “chosen people.” Reconstructionist Jews thus stood in a curious place with regard to other religions, on the one hand seeing them all as common expressions (through distinctive refractions) of the human quest for meaning and for the sacred, and on the other hand, holding a very different understanding of religion than many of those with whom we entered into dialogue. Rabbi Ira Eisenstein anticipated many of the issues that we would face in the second half of the 20th century when he wrote his doctoral dissertation in 1939 entitled “The Ethics of Tolerance,” a study of the issues involved when (Western) religions encountered each other in the spirit of democracy, tolerance and pluralism that was found in America. In that work, Rabbi Eisenstein suggested that among the challenges facing religion in the modern period, perhaps the most important was whether religions could learn to relinquish their divisive claims to authority and truth in favor of more mod- 2 • Fall 2002 The Reconstructionist est affirmations that would allow for mutual respect and affirmation. If that issue was critical on the eve of the Second World War, it remains imperative now, in the early years of the 21st century. In this issue, we ex- amine some of the tensions as well as the opportunities that continue to arise when Judaism looks at other religions. — Richard Hirsh The Reconstructionist Fall 2002 • 3 Teaching Judaism in Indonesia: Some Reflections BY REBECCA T. A LPERT efore Arthur Waskow began the run Gadjah Mada University. The par- process of bringing the liturgi- ticipants were thirty master’s level stu- B cal calendar into conversation dents in a comparative religion pro- with politics, I never gave any thought gram. All but four were Muslim (the whatsoever to the story of the exile of non-Muslims were Christian and Hagar that we read every Rosh Ha- Hindu); all but seven were men. shanah. In recent years, however, that What I learned from their perspec- story has become a poignant reminder tive was that the story in Genesis 21 for me, for us, of the enmity that ex- was indeed the beginning of the heri- isted at the very beginning between the tage of Abraham, but they, the ances- Muslim and Jewish traditions. tors of Hagar and Ishmael, were equally Now when we read the story, it convinced that they were the true heirs makes me uneasy to think that Hagar of Abraham. From their perspective, and Ishmael were sent off to the desert, they were the lucky winners of the con- and perplexed about having as my an- test for Abraham’s lineage, and they felt cestors the “winners” of the contest for sorry for the people of Israel, who be- Abraham’s lineage. And I struggle with lieved the misguided story in the To- Sarah’s cruelty toward Hagar, and rah. That story cannot, after all, reflect puzzle over what — if any — positive the truth, since it contradicts the story values I can glean from the encounter, as it is told in their sacred scripture, beyond the warning about this rift. the Qur’an. (Who, after all, was Abra- ham’s firstborn, and therefore legiti- New Perspectives mate heir, they would ask; certainly not Isaac.) At least that was the perspective I brought to Yogyakarta (not Jakarta; Living Upside Down Yogya is a city of 3 million in the east- ern part of the island of Java) in Indo- That disjuncture was emblematic of nesia this past summer, where I taught my experience, which had the impact “Introduction to Judaism” at the state- of stripping away many of my assump- Rabbi Rebecca T. Alpert is the Co-Director of the Women’s Studies Program and Assistant Professor of Religion and Women’s Studies at Temple University. 4 • Fall 2002 The Reconstructionist tions. How could it not, when I was and active dislike of, groups like Laskar literally living upside down; it was, af- Jihad (which do exist there), who wish ter all, night for me when it was day- to make Indonesia into an Islamic state. time back home. Women indeed wear some form of And when I looked to the summer head covering (at least all of my stu- sky, I saw the North Star and Big Dip- dents did, and probably about 25 per- per, not part of my own world’s sky ex- cent of the women I saw in the street cept, of course, in winter. And when I did, too), but they also ride motorcycles explained that Jews pray facing Jerusa- and are committed to working toward lem (as Muslims do toward Mecca), I gender equity. They are quite firm in realized that Tevye’s seat “by the east- their assertion that Mohammed fa- ern wall” was nothing if not relative, vored women’s equality and that later since prayers in Indonesia are said not texts just misinterpreted his teachings, looking east, but west. something I have heard only from the While fascinating for anyone trav- strongest of Muslim feminists I know eling to Asia for the first time, these in the United States. disorientations are nothing in compari- son to the one I experienced as I be- Opening Communication gan, with the help of my students, to see Judaism through Muslim eyes. The first democratically elected president of Indonesia, known as Gus Islam in Indonesia Dur (who was himself a Muslim cleric), supported links with Israel. Although Islam in Indonesia is not the same Gus Dur was ousted by the current rul- as Islam in America, and not the same ing party, his students and followers as Islam in the Middle East. Of course, were some of the people I got to know that should not surprise us: Judaism in and meet, and they were passionately Asia, North America and the Middle interested in dialogue and learning East also differs. But we do tend to more about Judaism. Some of them make the “other” into something took my course so they could teach monolithic, a very dangerous thing to about Judaism at their own high do. schools and universities; others were So what is Islam like in Indonesia? working on translations of books by The Muslims I met were genuinely in- authors like Louis Jacobs and A.J. terested in learning about other reli- Heschel. gions in general, and Judaism in par- Did they represent the majority of ticular. Indonesia is not an Islamic state; Indonesians? The concept of a major- it recognizes five official religions: ity in that context is itself laughable. Muslim, Protestant Christian, Roman Indonesia is comprised of 1,700 islands Catholic, Buddhist and Hindu, al- and many millions of individuals; it is though Muslims are the vast majority. the largest majority Muslim country in There seemed to be little interest in, the world, and it would be folly to draw The Reconstructionist Fall 2002 • 5 conclusions based on my limited evi- tics, thanks to their skillful lob- dence. bying, especially over the rulers of But I also cannot discount the ex- such superpower actors as USA perience I had.

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