by Leigh Lerner

Rabbi Leigh Lerner is the senior rabbi at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom and the president of Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Montreal.

When a corporation offers its annual report, it places a value on good will, indicating that its reputation has earned a tangible value. What is the value of good will to a non-profit organization? In 2001, Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Montreal (CJDM) learned that it had, indeed, earned the good will of the community. In turn, the community was ready to dispense its resources to create a conference to further the feeling of good will among its religious leaders and among its professors of religion.

"The Heavenly Jerusalem: Identity and the Culture of Dialogue" began as the idea of one man, Ernst Haim. Mr. Haim, a retired engineer, is not a member of Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Montreal, but a devotee of its goals. When Pope John Paul II began his strong rapprochement with the Jewish community, Mr. Haim viewed the Pope's efforts to surmount ages of anti-Judaism as events of millennial quality. The Roman Catholic Church's shift in position occurred when other Christian communities were also making strides to heal the breaches between Jews and Christians. For example, "Bearing Faithful Witness," a statement of The United Church of Canada deploring supersessionism and the theology of contempt, appeared at the same time.

Though dialogue had long brought Jews and Christians into better understanding, Ernst Haim felt that the coincidence of a sea change in actual policies and theologies among important churches provided a turning point around which a major conference might form. I asked him to share his excitement and insight with CJDM, and the members agreed that a time to attempt something larger than our internal monthly discussions and learning had arrived.

Based on Mr. Haim's view that Montreal, with its bilingual character, provided a milieu where Europeans and North Americans could speak to one another most readily, he urged CJDM to think internationally. While we realized that our minimal funding could not mount a massive international conference, we committed ourselves to a conference for Montreal and surrounding areas in Canada and the United States, that would welcome insights from European leaders. We further committed ourselves to a bilingual program.

We sought the support of other groups and of university departments of religion in Montreal. When I visited with their leaders, it became apparent that CJDM had earned a marvelous capital of good will in the city. As a result, full co-operation was forthcoming from the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, Direction chrétienne, Concordia University, McGill University, Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, and the Université de Montréal. Had not these institutions collaborated so fully, "The Heavenly Jerusalem" would have remained entirely earth-bound, an idea that could not have risen to the heights that it did. Representing those institutions, these leaders participated in shaping the conference and in underwriting it: Fr. Gilles Bourdeau, Dr. Glenn Smith, Prof. Ira Robinson, Rabbi Barry Levy, Dr. Victor Goldbloom, and Profs. Jean Duhaime and Alain Gignac. To them, CJDM owes its most profound gratitude.

Chairing the steering committee that formed the conference of November 4-5, 2001 was one of the great privileges of my life as a rabbi. Dialogue was at the heart of its formation. People who are serious about interfaith relations and the meaning of faithfulness to their own traditions cannot sit together to shape twenty-four hours of real dialogue without creativity, frankness, sensitivity, and the vision of a future that makes a difference. All these attributes were evident during the deliberations.

What did the conference achieve? It brought three great universities together in full co-operation without worry about territoriality, but only in the hope that each one could contribute a worthwhile thinker. While we, the public, seldom see such inter-university efforts, "The Heavenly Jerusalem" made real for us what does, indeed, happen quietly in academic circles in Montreal, where joint degree programs and the sharing of classes and resources already exist. The conference was a substantial inter-group effort, bringing universities and religious organizations in close contact for the sake of community understanding. That may well have been a "first."

Above all, the conference achieved what it set out to do: create dialogue about the future of Christian-Jewish relations. After each presentation, the conference divided into small discussion groups, and later returned to a meeting of the whole where Prof. Alain Gignac and Rabbi Howard Joseph formed a reactor panel responding to each speaker. Then all attending exchanged ideas in French or English. Because of this robust series of interactions, "Identity and the Culture of Dialogue" passed quickly, and many issues of substance, as well as promising ideas, were discussed. Newcomers to the dialogue process were in attendance, and some have put forth their names to become part of CJDM.

Following the conference, Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Montreal summarized and evaluated the proceedings of "The Heavenly Jerusalem" for its own purposes, formulating its plan for dialogue in the next few years. This, too, must be marked as a major and serious outcome of the conference.

In the pages that follow, you'll find the lectures of the speakers which were so central to our effort. CJDM thanks them for their time and thoughtful contributions, just as we thank Ecumenism and the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism for devoting an issue to this work. May the impact of "The Heavenly Jerusalem: Identity and the Culture of Dialogue" be felt through this journal as strongly as it was felt by those who attended the conference in person.

Acknowledgements:

Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Montreal wishes to acknowledge the following persons whose contributions made possible the conference which is presented in this issue of Ecumenism.

Honourary Patrons:

Mr. Joseph Gabay, Canadian Jewish Congress; Bishop Andrew Hutchison, Anglican Diocese of Montreal; Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, Archbishop of Montreal; Corporation Archiépiscopale Catholique Romaine de Montréal; and Quebec Government - Sports & Leisure, through Russell Copeman and Thomas Mulcair, members of the National Assembly.

Patrons:

Rabbi Ron Aigen, Mme. Sylvia Assouline, Father Gilles Bourdeau, Rabbi Elina Bykova, Dr. Victor C. Goldbloom, Rev. Dr. William Klempa, Ms. Rita Leblanc, Rabbi Leigh Lerner, Rev. John Matheson, Sisters of Sion - Sr. Diane Willey, Dr. Glenn Smith, Rev. Matti Terho, Edward B. Wolkove and Sarah Lieberman.