Board of Rabbis Hosts Conference on Troubling Texts

Organizers and participants in the Troubling Tradition conference, left to right, Rabbi Eugene Korn, Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding; Dr. Mary Boys, Union Theological Seminary; Rabbi Mark S. Diamond, Board of Rabbis of Southern California; Rabbi Laura Geller, Temple Emanuel; Rev. Dr. Clyde Oden, Jr., Bryant Temple AME Church

In a two-day conference co-sponsored by the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, prominent religious scholars, clergy and seminarians from across the country gathered to discuss some of the most controversial inter-religious issues.

The seminar, entitled “Troubling Tradition: Wrestling With Problematic Passages,” examined passages from texts of the three religious traditions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – that suggest superiority over the other faiths. One of the central ideas addressed was that of “chosenness” and how the different traditions interpret their own distinction and pass that information on to their adherents.

Conference highlights included a keynote presentation entitled “Redeeming Sacred Texts from Their Sacrilegious Uses,” featuring Dr. Mary Boys from Union Theological Seminary, with responses by Rabbi Laura Geller of Temple Emanuel and Rev. Dr. Clyde Owen of Bryant Temple AME Church. The hope of the conference was to foster better understanding of participants’ own religious traditions, as well as the traditions of others.

The event, held at the Luxe Hotel, was a partnership between the Board of Rabbis of Southern California and the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Future plans call for additional conferences in Germany in 2008 and in Jerusalem in 2009.

For more information on this program and future events, please contact the Board of Rabbis at (323) 761-8600 or BoardofRabbis@JewishLA.org.