April 30, 2002

Rabbi Raphi Friedman
Faculty

Tolerance, as our juniors advertised on the Friday of Teaching Tolerance Week, is defined by Dictionary.com as “the capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.”

It is not possible, I believe, to recognize the beliefs or practices of others without recognizing your own beliefs and practices.

It is not possible, I believe, to respect other beliefs and practices without recognizing that they are different than one’s own.

I was dismayed, therefore, to receive a request from one of the committees to add a selection of “special prayers” in minyan.

This selection included concepts that I cannot reconcile with Jewish prayer.

With all due respect to Christians, Hindus, Moslems, Native Americans, Shintos, and others, and with all due respect to their prayers, these are their prayers. These are not our prayers.

I am not recognizing their beliefs in any profound and meaningful way if I do not recognize the difference between their beliefs and mine. I am not respecting their practices in any meaningful and profound way if I am not taking their words seriously.

And if I take their words seriously, and recognize them as important and meaningful, then I cannot use them as prayer when they conflict with my own traditions of belief and practice.

Tolerance is not syncretism.

Recognizing and respecting are not the same as reconciling or fusing. I cannot reconcile all beliefs and practices with those of Judaism, and attempting to do so degrades Judaism and the other belief systems equally.

This is what I feel is wonderful about this school – that is it a place where we explore who we are as Jews.

I firmly believe that this is the most profound way of teaching tolerance. Let us study the prayers of others, and let our deep appreciation of their prayers flow from our profound intent when we pray ours.