Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, director of interreligious affairs of the American Jewish Committee, today rejected criticism by a leader of the Rabbinical Council of American who had objected to Jewish secular organizations engaging in “religious doctrinal dialogues” with Christians. Rabbi Zev Segal, first vice-president of the Council, made that criticism in an address at that organization’s mid-winter conference at Lakewood, N.J., yesterday.
In a retort issued here today, Rabbi Tanenbaum said that “Rabbi Segal and those who hold his view have an obligation to demonstrate that discussions of religious subjects between Christians and Jews have, in fact, weakened the faith and religious commitment of Jews who have participated in such conversations.”
He said “the evidence overwhelmingly has been in the opposite direction, namely that honest discussion of basic religious differences in an atmosphere of mutual respect and openness has contributed to a strengthening of one’s loyalty to Judaism.
“We believe, that the time has come for all responsible Jewish leaders to abandon the outworn cliches regarding so-called secular agencies. The world ‘secularism’ as used by the rabbi has no substantive meaning in the religious vocabulary of Judaism.”
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