Dabru Emet

The Dabru Emet (Heb. דברו אמת "Speak [the] Truth") is a document concerning the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. It was signed by over 220 rabbis and intellectuals from all branches of Judaism, as individuals and not as representing any organisation or stream of Judaism.

The Dabru Emet was first published on September 10, 2000, in the New York Times, and has since been used in Jewish education programs across the U.S. While affirming that there are theological differences between these two religions, the purpose of Dabru Emet is to point out common ground and a legitimacy of Christianity, for non-Jews, from the Jewish perspective. It is not an official document of any of the Jewish denominations per se, but it is representative of what many Jews feel. Eight major themes are expressed:

1) Jews and Christians worship the same God 2) Jews and Christians seek authority from the same book 3) Christians can respect the claim of the Jews on the land of Israel 4) Jews and Christians together accept the moral principles of the Torah (Pentateuch) 5) Nazism is not a Christian phenomenon 6) The controversy between Jews and Christians will not be settled until God redeems the entire world as promised in scripture and no-one should be pressed into believing another’s belief 7) A new relationship between Jews and Christians will not weaken Jewish practice 8) Jews and Christians must work together for justice and peace

Controversy

There are various objections to Dabru Emet from within the Jewish community.

Some hold that it understates the significant theological differences between the two religions. Thus, most Conservative and Reform rabbis have not signed it, although many do agree with most of the document. Very few Orthodox rabbis have signed it; The Institute for Public Affairs, of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations (commonly known as the Orthodox Union) issued this response:^[1]

While agreeing with desire to encourage inter-faith dialogue and reconciliation, many Jews [who?] disagree with the section in Dabru Emet which holds that Christian theology is not in any way to blame for most of the last 2,000 years of anti-Semitism, or the Holocaust. Instead, it is believed by many Jews that much of Christian theology and teachings have been deeply anti-Semitic. Jews point to statements in the New Testament, such as John 8:43-47, which contain potentially divisive narratives about Jews:

This statement prompted Protestant Christian pastor A. Roy Eckardt to describe these words as "the road to Auschwitz". Many Jews agree, and thus cannot sign Dabru Emet.

Critics of Dabru Emet hold that it is false to claim that the Nazis would move on to exterminate Christians after they finished with the Jews. Germany and Austria had deeply religious Christian populations. In Germany over a half-million Christians developed a church that praised both Jesus and Hitler in their services [Source?]. Thus, many Jews feel that this document is white-washing Christian responsibility for the Holocaust [Source?].

The signatories signed as individuals, not representing any Jewish organisation or stream of Judaism. Furthermore, it was a predominantly American effort, without any consultation or input from Jewish communities outside of the United States.

Reaction

The European Lutheran Commission on the Church and the Jewish People (Lutherische Europäische Kommission Kirche und Judentum, LEKKJ), an umbrella organization representing twenty-five Lutheran church bodies in Europe, issued on May 12, 2003 A Response to Dabru Emet:^[2]

In its Driebergen Declaration (1991), the European Lutheran Commission on the Church and the Jewish People… rejected the traditional Christian “teaching of contempt” towards Jews and Judaism, and in particular, the anti-Jewish writings of Martin Luther, and it called for the reformation of church practice in the light of these insights. Against this background, LEKKJ welcomes the issuance of Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity. We see in this statement a confirmation of our own work of these past years… We know that we must reexamine themes in Lutheran theology that in the past have repeatedly given rise to enmity towards Jews… Fully aware that Dabru Emet is in the first instance an intra-Jewish invitation to conversation, we see in this statement also an aid to us in expressing and living out our faith in such a way that we do not denigrate Jews, but rather respect them in their otherness, and are enabled to give an account of our own identity more clearly as we scrutinize it in the light of how others see us.

References

Criticism of Dabru Emet

• How not to conduct Jewish-Christian dialogue Jon D Levenson; Commentary; Dec 2001; Vol. 112(5)
• Jewish-Christian dialogue Jon D Levenson; Commentary; Apr 2002; Vol. 113(4)

External links

• National Jewish Scholars Project - the text of Dabru Emet
• Signers of Dabru Emet
• Hebrew translation: http://yehoyada-amir.blogspot.com/
• Amy-Jill Levine: Reassessing Jewish-Christian Relations, Burke Lectureship on Religion & Society, 6/19/2001

(Just how much do these two religions have in common, and how can or should they get along? Levine is a Jewish scholar of the New Testament.)

• http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.asp?showID=5577

See also

• Christianity
• Christian–Jewish reconciliation
• Judaism
• Relations between Catholicism and Judaism
• Religious Pluralism
• Tikva Frymer-Kensky