The Genuine Gains in Twentieth-Century Jewish-Christian Dialogue

Abstract

What: has been gained from Jewish Christian dialogue in che last century?² Of course, a comprehensive assessment of the positive effects of Jewish-Cbristian dialogue is a far larger project than can be undertaken here, and further, it is far from obvious both how to distinguish “dialogue” from other jewisb-Christian encounters and how to understand what constitutes a “gain.” Rather than attempt a necessarily incomplete survey, this essay focuses primarily on the US context and on Jewish-Catholic relations. It argues for one specific and often overlooked gain: the new spaces of Jewish-Christian encounter (if not always dialogue) in academia. Further, it offers one specific and related caution: an argument for greater attendveness to disagreement and difference as we move further into the twenty-first century—an atteiitiveness that is especially appropriate for the academic environment.

This article was a collaborative effort between Gross, who primarily researched and wrote the article, and DeConinck, who primarily coordinated the research survey.