Abstract
Teaching other religions as an integral part of Jewish education is not a common practice. Where other religions appear at all, this is most often in the context of Jewish history in describing periods in which Jews were persecuted by believers in other religions. Because there is no substantial literature on existing practice to refer to, the present contribution largely attempts to identify some of the central questions and possibilities, together with their broader implications for Jewish education.
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Notes
- 1.
These matters are discussed more fully in Helena Miller’s contribution to this volume, “Community Engagement: The Challenge of Connecting Jewish Schools to the Wider Community”.
- 2.
The controversy over the pronouncement “Dabru Emet” which sets out a call by a group of Jewish scholars and rabbis for a reorientation of Jewish attitudes to Christianity exemplifies the diversity of views in the present day (http://www.jcrelations.net/en/?item=1014) and for a critique see Levenson, J. D. (2001).
- 3.
See the symposium published online at http://www.bc.edu/research/cjl/meta-elements/texts/center/conferences/soloveitchik/
- 4.
This latter formulation was used by Pope John Paul II in describing the relationship of Judaism to Christianity
- 5.
Maimonides, who considered Christianity to be idolatrous and Islam as a pure form of monotheism, nevertheless ruled that it is possible to explain the Torah to a Christian but not to a Muslim because the Christian and the Jew both regard a shared text as sacred and revealed (Maimonides responsum: Blau 148).
- 6.
“Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church”, http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/RRJJEWS.htm
- 7.
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Gillis, M. (2011). Other Religions in Jewish Education. In: Miller, H., Grant, L., Pomson, A. (eds) International Handbook of Jewish Education. International Handbooks of Religion and Education, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0354-4_32
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