Over the past year or so, St. Bart’s has been developing a partnership with our neighbors up the street at Central Synagogue. It has been a particular joy for me to work with Rabbi Sarah Berman, and to bring together the people of St. Bart’s and Central to learn and teach and explore our two faiths. I recently had the chance to sit down with Rabbi Berman to talk about the work we’re doing together, and to learn about the significance of the Shema in Jewish life and worship. The Shema is the central prayer of Judaism and it is intimately connected with Jewish identity. You can watch a video of my conversation with Rabbi Berman here.
For more than 20 years at St. Bart’s, we have been chanting the first verse of the Shema in our Sunday worship services during Lent. The practice started as a way to acknowledge the common roots of Judaism and Christianity and to build a bridge between our two faiths. The first verse, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One,” is taken from Deuteronomy 6:4. (The full prayer is longer, consisting of three additional passages of scripture - Deuteronomy 6:5-9, 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41). While the Shema has been understood as an affirmation of monotheism, it also includes a demand to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
It is incredibly important for Christians to acknowledge and become familiar with Christianity’s Jewish roots. It is equally important to build relationships with our Jewish neighbors. Including a Jewish prayer into our Christian liturgy is one way to do that, but engaging and learning with people of other faiths, as we are doing at St. Bart’s and Central, actually builds the bridges we seek to create.
In her book Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others, Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “Contrary to popular opinion, all religions are not alike. Their followers see the world in very distinct ways. Their understandings of the human condition proceed from different assumptions, leading them to propose different remedies. If I had been able to resist the wisdom they offered me – if I had been able to keep my Christian glasses on, so that I only saw what those prescription lenses allowed me to see – then I might have emerged unchanged. But that is not how it went for me.” One of the most exciting things about interfaith learning is not only celebrating the things we have in common, but understanding and honoring the ways in which we are different. Sometimes, those differences offer us an opportunity for renewal within our own tradition.
Twenty-five years ago, chanting the Shema in Christian worship was a well-intentioned effort to celebrate our common roots. Since then, however, in listening to the perspective of our Jewish friends, we’ve come to understand that this is not the most appropriate way to build bridges. Although it was a cherished part of our Lenten worship, we are no longer engaged in this practice at St. Bart’s. With a deeper understanding of this beautiful and ancient prayer, we can go beyond a superficial appreciation of it, and engage instead in a bit of “holy envy.” We will continue to learn and grow with each other in Jewish-Christian dialogue and we’re looking forward to many more enriching experiences ahead.
