yehezkel landau
Sometimes the most contentious conversations are not interfaith but rather intrafaith. Even within a self-selected small community like a congregation, we sometimes find it hard to talk with one another in a respectful, dialogical manner.
That is why this past weekend at Congregation Mishkan Shalom(JRF) in Philadelphia was so wonderful. Mishkan Shalom was founded 21 years ago out of a vision, in part, of creating a safe place for alternative views on Israel. Over the years, people whose views deviate from the mainstream have indeed found a home at Mishkan, alongside many others with a full range of positions.
The community has worked hard to overcome the challenge of listening and learning across differences and this weekend was a stunning testimony to the potential for success.
Professor Landau, a faculty associate at Hartford Seminary and the director of a unique program, Building Abrahamic Partnerships, is a gifted teacher and an inspiring speaker. Landau captivated the congregation by his vision of the conflict as one between two traumatized peoples. While some speakers on this topic give lip service to the pain on “both sides,” they usually seem emotionally convinced only of the pain of the group they are championing. Thus, their message is polarizing.
In contrast, Landau truly “got” both stories. People appreciated his Judaic learning, his humility, his psychological awareness and his unique story and perspective. As one congregant put it, “When else have I heard someone who describes himself as a religious Zionist talk with such feeling about Al Naqba?”
The weekend was the brainchild of Lillian Sigal, a religion professor who chairs the synagogue’s Library Committee. Joining forces with the Israel committe, Lil worked to launch a year long project: One Book Mishkan. Throughout the year, the community was encouraged to read and discuss the book, The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew and the Heart of the Middle East.
The book grew out of a prize winning 1998 NPR documentary(38 minutes) by journalist Sandy Tolan that you can listen to here. (RRC graduate Brant Rosen wrote a beautiful Rosh Hashana sermon based on the book that you can read here.)
The book tells the parallel narratives of Bashir, a Palestinian exiled from his home in Ramle when he was six and Dalia, a Bulgarian Jew whose family comes to own that home. Many years later, Dalia and her then husband Yehezkel, use the home to create Open House, a project of cooperation between Arabs and Jews in a house with two histories.
Dalia and Bashir
Reading The Lemon Tree or having Professor Yehezkel Landau as a guest speaker are excellent ways to promote conversation on this difficult topic. Doing both is even more powerful!
