Today I am at an interfaith debate at Halifax Minster. There is a lecture from a rabbi and response from the other faiths on the subject of Zionism. No fireworks, little emotion and a lot of sensible talk.
I don't know why but the fact that the rabbi is called Brian" seems a bit incongruous.
Brian talks in a calm way about being in a place of pain... refering to the event that defines modern Jews - the holocaust. We are all survivors of the holocaust because who knows who would have been next.
"Do we blame christians for the holocaust?"
"No," he said.
"Could it have happened without christianity?"
"No, because christianity made jews a bad thing and from this point the jump was smaller."
Jews were made powerless first... the rest follows.
As a Christian I accept sadly my part in the holocaust - Israel is their response to their powerlessness. Much of the terror in the world a consequence of Israels existance.
But as someone who has christians in my congregation who were once jews, I worry that for Brian no-one is allowed to convert...
"Where was God in the holocaust?" he says.
"God was weaping with me in the camp..."
God is weaping in Haiti.
God is rejoicing with those who find faith in Jesus... because there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over many righteous people who don't need to repent.
I hope we can continue to weep together but also have the grace to rejoice at the new life of faith people find in faiths other than our own.
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