March 18, 2005
by Ken Garfield

CHARLOTTE – Face-to-face and faith-to-faith, 250 Jews and Presbyterians came together here one rare and recent night to talk about finding common ground.

"Disagreement and Dialogue," as the March 15 event was called, arose from two actions by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly that provoked what a Charlotte Presbyterian leader called an "interfaith firestorm."

The first involves support for Congregation Avodat Yisrael, a suburban Philadelphia Presbyterian church whose evangelical efforts are aimed particularly at Jews and interfaith families. The second arises from last July's vote to initiate the process of selectively divesting stock in multinational corporation operating in Israel.

The forum, organized by Charlotte Presbytery and the city's Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations, gave the Rev. Sam Roberson, Charlotte's general presbyter/stated clerk, a chance to explain Presbyterian process and to remind the audience that the denomination supports Israel's right to exist, even while speaking out on behalf of Palestinians.

The Rev. Thomas Currie III of the Charlotte campus of Union-PSCE (Presbyterian School of Christian Education) posed a question meant to broaden the conversation: Can Israel be criticized without the critic being branded anti-Semitic?

But the heart of the dialogue at Temple Beth El in the Shalom Park complex of Jewish institutions belonged to passionate responses to the Presbyterian actions by two Charlotte rabbis.

Rabbi Judith Schindler of Temple Beth El said that rather than divest from Israel, investing time, resources and voices would further the cause of peace.

There have been violations of human rights on both sides of the conflict, she said. But rather than just condemning Israel, condemn as well the terrorists who have caused blood to be shed in schools, discos, even in grocery stores.

A majority of Israelis and Palestinians yearn for peace, she said, and Israel's primary goal remains clear.

"Israel simply wants security," Schindler told the crowd.

Reading from some of the congregation's material, Rabbi Murray Ezring of Temple Israel decried efforts by Avodat Yisrael to win Jews over to Christ through the use of Christian and Jewish liturgy.

"You're not Jews," he said, referring to Avodat Yisrael. "You're Christians, and you want to convert us. But you don't want us to know that you're doing it."

Christianity is beautiful, Ezring said, "But not for me."

The dialogue was less intended to rehash old debates than to provoke a deeper, more conciliatory conversation between two mainstream groups that have long stood together in the struggle to build peace and brotherhood.

Organizers made sure each small table in the fellowship hall was shared by an equal number of Jews and Presbyterians.

Currie encouraged people to hear each other's questions, listen to each other's anger and hurt, but also to appreciate the hope in each other's voices.

Roberson stressed the importance of friendship, saying: "Most of us know that relationships are practically all there is in life."

The two-hour dialogue opened with this prayer from Schindler: "We are all brothers and sisters of humanity and sons and daughters of God."

Presbyterian News Service
Ken Garfield is the religion writer for The Charlotte Observer.