Author to discuss Jewish-Christian relations

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Mary Boys, author of Has God Only One Blessing?, will speak in city. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

When theology professor Mary Boys walks from her Christian seminary to the Jewish one across the street, she quietly tucks the crucifix around her neck inside her shirt.

Not because the Roman Catholic nun is embarrassed about her faith, but because she realizes the Christian symbol may be offensive to Jews.

"My interest is in redeeming and reclaiming the symbol," says Boys, 64, a professor at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

"(I tuck it away) not because anyone has said anything, but because I'm aware."

The author of Has God Only One Blessing? visits Winnipeg next week to speak about the relationship between Jews and Christians at a public lecture on Friday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. She also leads a daylong workshop Saturday, Feb. 25. Both events take place at Holy Eucharist Parish Centre, 460 Munroe Ave.

The two-day event is scheduled during the Christian season of Lent because the death of Jesus on the cross is central to these six weeks before Good Friday and Easter, says one of the planners.

"This particular event is really aimed at Christians and how to teach and preach in a way that's not anti-Semitic," explains Bernadette O'Reilly, a member of the Winnipeg Bat Kol Tri-Diocesan Committee, which includes members from all of Winnipeg's Catholic dioceses.

"During Lent and Holy Week, often the preaching, if it's not directly anti-Semitic, it borders on it."

Christians can easily venture into that danger zone by not understanding the context and meaning of their texts, suggests Boys, an adjunct professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and a longtime participant in Jewish-Christian dialogues.

Some of that dangerous territory includes a long history of blaming Jews for the death of Jesus Christ and viewing the Christian faith as the inheritance of the promises made to Jews, a perspective called supercessionism.

"We have to learn this history, because in a world today where we're seeing violence against Islam, we have to learn that we've demonized the religious other," says Boys of the problems of people not understanding religious traditions outside their own.

As well as looking back, Boys suggests people of faith need to understand the deep meanings behind the symbols and rituals of other traditions.

"Unless we understand something about each other's symbol system, the dialogue is only about text," she says.

"It is really important to understand one another's symbols."

Just because Jews and Christians share sacred texts doesn't mean they read them or interpret them the same way, says a Winnipeg rabbi who has participated in dialogue between religions for decades.

Rabbi Lawrence Pinsker says true understanding between faith traditions also means honouring each other's holy days and rituals and not making assumptions based on our own contexts and traditions.

"This is the pressure of interfaith dialogue," says the associate rabbi of Shaarey Zedek Synagogue.

"When we look at a word, it doesn't mean the same thing."

A longtime admirer of Boys' books, Pinsker questions why her visit to Winnipeg coincides with the Jewish Sabbath, preventing Jews from attending.

"They set up the visit of someone I'm dying to meet in person and they choose to schedule it over the Sabbath," he says.

"Here's Bat Kol that's immersed itself in learning about Jewish people but Shabbat is totally lost (on them.)"

Bat Kol (www.batkol.info) is an international non-profit group, founded by two Canadians, which studies Christian texts using Jewish sources and contexts.

Although some of Bat Kol's events are designed to be encounters between Jews and Christians, this one is intended specifically for the Christian community and no ill will was intended, says O'Reilly.

Boys says she would be happy to speak to an audience of Jews and Christians, and she values her relationship with people from other faith traditions.

"For me, really the friendship is the most important, on Friday nights, on Passover, or just hanging around," says Boys, who says she is known among her Jewish friends for her skill in baking challah, the braided bread served on Sabbath and holidays.

For more information, or to register, contact wpgtri.batkol@gmail.com or call 204-594-0273. Cost is $10 for Friday and $25 for Saturday.

brenda@suderman.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 18, 2012 J13