Online Archives

BY RABBI JOSHUA SIEGEL

It has been two years since I was appointed rabbi of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church.

It is a position the New York Jewish Post called, "possibly the most unique rabbinical role in the world."

My reflections fall in three categories.

First, history. The history of Jewish-Christian relationships can be seen in three stages: animosity, conflict and worse; toleration; and finally, religious and spiritual cooperation.

The first two stages still exist. The third has barely begun. But one place it has begun is in the Baltimore-Washington Conference. So we should not underestimate the historical symbolism of my appointment and the work in rabbinic Christianity that I have begun with you.

I believe the application of rabbinical Christianity to your on-going work can be a significant response to the secularism and subjectivism so destructive to the powers of traditional religious wisdom.

In short, my appointment and the work I'm trying to do means we are in the crucial task of spiritual renewal as important, even crucial, allies.

Second, community. I have been truly honored to have the chance to be associated with the unique group of people that work with the Baltimore-Washington Conference. You are devoted, compassionate, creative and incredibly diverse.

I believe you have the capacity to reach beyond your own institutional parameters to make a real spiritual difference in the world, if you believe in yourselves as much as I do.

Third, the future. Clearly The United Methodist Church is facing some major institutional issues. Judaism at its core is an optimistic religion. This is how we have survived the many tragedies of our history.

Who would have thought that nearly 60 years after the Holocaust there would be a vibrant Jewish state and world Jewish community? It should not have happened. I believe this kind of Jewish optimism and the capacity to adjust in difficult circumstances can be a useful paradigm for the future of the United Methodist Church.

I observe the United Methodist Church going through significant reinterpretation of itself to face its new status in the western world. However, I believe the seeds of renewal are already there. They just need to be nurtured in new and possibly unexpected ways.

The key to this is what I call Jewish optimism. We live in a world where hope is never gone.

The poet Robert Browning caught this feeling when he wrote in his poem "Rabbi Ben Ezra," "Come, grow old along with me! The best is yet to be."

I welcome a chance to grow together for many years to come.