March 1999 Faith & Interfaith By Rabbi Alvin Kass/i> There's a story about a farmer who was riding his mule in the midst of a violent storm when the bridge across the river was destroyed by torrential rains. Still, the loyal and patient mule braved the swollen stream to transport his master across. A few months later, in perfect weather, the master and the mule approached the same stream. When the animal balked, the farmer said: "Nelly, my dear, I respect your memory more than your judgment." The tale is an apt example of fighting today's battles on yesteray's battlefields. There are people who currently oppose interfaith dialogue whose judgments made sense a generation or two ago. At that time, the Church still adhered to the 1900 year-old position that with the appearance of Jesus, the Jews had outlived their legitimacy and ought to be the object of zealous missionizing. Their continued existence as a religious community could not, therefore, be considered part of the Divine plan of salvation. To be sure, they might sometimes be tolerated, but never recognized as legitimate. Many changes, however, have occurred in the last half century that have sharply modified precious thinking. Certainly, World War II showed the monstrous consequences that could be generated by Jew hatred. Religious pluralism has always been recognized by many as an integral ingredient of the democratic ethos. Perhaps most important, Pope John XXIII has revolutionized in a positive way the mindset of many millions of Catholics toward Jews and their faith. The theological foundation for Jewish-Christian amity is often found in the Double Covenant theory which affirms the covenantal validity of both Judaism and Christianity. Since both are viewed as legitimate, there is no reason why one should be absorbed into the other. In a practical way, textbooks, catechisms, preachments, and liturgies of various faiths have been purged of elements that elicit enmity and odium. The most important prerequisite of interfaith dialogue is faith. Such endeavors should come from the depths of our being, not out of a void. It is not an activity for those who are ignorant of their own faith or spiritually immature. To achieve success, both communication and separation are necessary. It takes a very special skill and sensitivity to preserve your own individuality at the same time that you foster care for one another. In this regard, all of us at the East Midwood Jewish Center have a right to take pride in the warm and inspiring interfaith dialogue that has developed over the last three years with Our Lady of Refuge Roman Catholic Church. We have progressed from ecumenical seders in which Catholics have explored the Jewish roots of their own faith, to social action projects such as a blood drive, meetings among our teenagers, and, most recently, seminars in Judaism at the church and in Catholicism at the synagogue. We have set a remarkable example which is eminently worthy of emulation by others. We have learned the all-important truth that unless we respect and revere those with whom we differ; unless we figure out how to live by firm conviction while affording others the dignity of sincerity and the right to honorable existence; unless religion becomes a vehicle for love and a spur to common action on behalf of the good, then religion will have betrayed it's main raison d'�tre and the world will become an ever more hostile and desolate place.