April 30, 2011 | 9:53 am

Interview with a Rabbi on LDS-Orthodox Dialogue

Posted by Mark Paredes

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Last month I came across a thoughtful blog post on Orthodox Jews and Mormons by Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill, the Cooperman/Ross Endowed Chair of Jewish-Christian Studies at Seton Hall University. After a brief e-mail exchange, the rabbi was kind enough to post my answers to his questions on LDS-Orthodox dialogue. Here is an excerpt:

1] Which Orthodox rabbis are you friendly with or impressed with? why?

Rather than list specific rabbis, I’d prefer to list organizations with which I have worked. The OU, Agudath Israel, The Simon Wiesenthal Center/Museum of Tolerance, Jews for Judaism, the Sephardic Educational Center, Harvard Hillel and many LA-area Orthodox synagogues all have rabbis whom I know and admire. Last summer I conducted an especially meaningful dialogue with a Montreal Orthodox rabbi. I am very impressed by their dedication to Torah-based Judaism and Jewish values, and the way in which they use their influence both to strengthen their own communities and to work with people of faith to improve the world. I have attended OU seminars and lectures on kashrut laws and dina d’malchuta dina, welcomed the collaboration of the OU and Agudath Israel with Mormons, Catholics, Muslims, and Evangelicals to pass Proposition 8 in California, attended a luncheon sponsored by Jews for Judaism, taken a Torah class from an inspired SEC rabbi, and conducted a town hall meeting on gay marriage at a leading Orthodox shul.

2] What theological topics do you talk with them?

It’s hard to identify a common theme to my religious discussions with Orthodox rabbis. Together we’ve explored many topics: the obligations associated with the Abrahamic covenant, what it means to be created b’tselem, whether dina d’malchuta dina can ever trump Torah law, whether evil was divinely created, the role of Satan in Jewish thought, why certain prohibitions are contained in the Noahide Laws, and why religious Jews and Mormons wear sacred garments.

Two weeks ago, I had the distinct honor of giving the D’var Torah to the Orthodox minyan at Harvard University. After discussing lepers and cleansing, I thanked the Orthodox for standing for morality and Torah values in a world that sorely needs them. I’ll never forget this experience.

3] Why is Mormon-Orthodox Jewish dialogue important?

Mormons generally consider the Orthodox to be Jews who take G-d and their religion seriously. We have enormous respect for people who believe that the Hebrew Bible is a divine book, and that this knowledge obligates us to act in certain ways. On a personal level, I have found that Orthodox Jews are usually much more knowledgeable about their own faith than their Reform and Conservative counterparts.

Given that Mormons believe that they are modern-day Israelites and that their theology is far more complete than other Christian belief systems on the Abrahamic covenant, chosenness and Israel, the prophetic tradition, etc., it’s only natural that they would seek to dialogue with Jews who look to Judaism, not secular liberalism, for enlightenment on these questions.

The LDS Church as a whole is interested in working with other faiths in two areas: humanitarian aid and promoting religious freedom. At the grass roots level, however, Mormons love Jews, Judaism, and Israel, and any attempt by the Orthodox to engage in dialogue with us would be warmly welcomed.

4] Do the Orthodox rabbis ever learn about Mormonism and its doctrines?

I’ve fielded many questions from Orthodox rabbis on LDS beliefs and practice. On one occasion the local LDS Church’s public affairs committee invited a group of LA-based rabbis to visit the temple in Draper, Utah, before it was dedicated. An Orthodox rabbi was in the group, and he was very appreciative of the chance to learn more about our sacred rituals.

5] If there is one message that would give an Orthodox audience?

Mormons have enormous respect for Judaism and Jews, and we have more to say to religious Jews than do other Christians.

6] Where do you see the most divergence?

Mormons have temples, revelation through prophets, and the priesthood. We consider them to be both necessary and irreplaceable. When we read the Hebrew Bible, we see a pattern of G-d calling prophets, giving them His word, and the sending them to transmit it to the masses.

There are no authorized dissenting voices in the Torah. Therefore, when a Mormon reads the Talmud, with its quarreling rabbis and multiple interpretations of scriptural passages, it’s difficult for him to accept the rabbinic/Talmudic tradition as being a continuation of temple-based Judaism. For us, there can’t be a prophetic tradition without prophets.

7] Is there any advice that you would give someone who is not used to encounter with Mormons.

Mormons do not believe that Jews and others who reject Jesus Christ as the Savior are going to hell. [For us the deadline for accepting G-d’s truths is not death, but the olam ha-ba]. Also, there is no room in LDS doctrine for replacement theology. The Abrahamic covenant is at the center of our temple worship, and children born to couples who have been “sealed” in our temples are said to be “born in the [Abrahamic] covenant.” To be sure, our definition of that covenant is more expansive than the Jewish one, but the idea that the Abrahamic covenant has been replaced by something else is antithetical to our beliefs. Does the covenant still apply to Jews? Yes. Are they keeping all of its requirements? That would make for a fascinating dialogue topic.

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I will be leading a tour to Israel in March 2012 for Morris Murdock Travel. For more information, please visit this link

I will be speaking at an LDS singles conference in Santa Barbara, CA on May 21

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Mark Paredes has worked in Los Angeles for the Consulate General of Israel, American Jewish Congress and ZOA. You can contact Mark at deverareligione@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @jewsandmormons.

April 24, 2011 | 8:06 pm

Mormon Night in God’s Assembly

Posted by Mark Paredes

Thousand Oaks, CA was the setting for last month’s “Mormon Night” at Reform synagogue Temple Adat Elohim. Rabbi Ted Riter has long been active in interfaith affairs, and he had the good fortune to befriend Larry Bagby while serving on a local interfaith council. Larry is a former LDS bishop who currently serves as his stake’s public affairs director, and it was my pleasure to serve as his warm-up act at the event.

The synagogue’s interfaith lecture series was organized by Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe (pictured), the world’s first ordained deaf female rabbi and one of the kindest people I have ever met. After she welcomed us, Larry got out his accordion and set the tone for the evening with a John Denver song. That was a tough act to follow, which I did with a brief lecture on Jewish themes in LDS belief and practice (a subject for a semester-long course, to be sure).

Larry then got up and showed why he inspires so many people through his outreach efforts. He humbly shared with the audience his testimony of the LDS Church, its prophets, and the Book of Mormon. It takes considerable skill to do this in front of Jews without sounding preachy, but Larry pulled it off. We then took questions, including one from a 10-year-old boy who wanted to know the state of LDS-Buddhist relations. Larry pointed out that the next speaker in the series was going to be a Buddhist who used to be a Mormon, and suggested that the boy ask him the question. Another accordion number closed the memorable evening.   

I commend Rabbis Dubowe and Riter (who was also in attendance) for exposing their congregation to other faith traditions. This kind of interaction often makes people grateful for their own faith and more tolerant of others. Good things are happening on the interfaith front in the Conejo Valley, and I’m grateful to the rabbis and Larry for inviting me to participate.
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I will be leading a trip to Israel next March for one of the nation’s largest travel agencies. For more information, please visit the following link: http://www.morrismurdock.com/tours/tour_detail.cfm?ID=420&Grouping=Holy&page=tours  

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April 21, 2011 | 10:58 pm

Reform Rabbi + LDS in TX: Sinai and Gay Marriage

Posted by Mark Paredes

Dr. Michael Freckleton, a personable radiologist, is an innovative stake president (stake = LDS diocese) in San Antonio, Texas. For the second year in a row he organized a two-day religious education conference (a mini-Limmud, if you will) featuring speakers from several states. On the first day, I had the honor of interviewing Reform Rabbi Barry Block, senior rabbi of the city’s largest synagogue. We drew the largest crowd of the conference, and I wish we had allotted more than 30 minutes for questions. Liberal Judaism was on display for a Mormon audience, and the contrast in theological reasoning could not have been more marked.

I often struggle with the question of whether to consider Reform theology as an authentic expression of Torah-based Judaism, and my discussion with Rabbi Block did not lead me to a conclusive answer. Some of his views seemed to come from Judaism, others from secular sources. The rabbi said several times that he does not adhere to a literal interpretation of the Bible, and it showed. For example, when asked what a Jew’s responsibilities are under the covenant that God made with the Israelites at Sinai, the rabbi responded that he does not eat mammals. I’m not an expert on the Torah, but I suspect that vegetarianism was probably as popular at Sinai as it is in Texas.

The most striking example of our divergent views on scripture and morality came during a discussion on same-sex marriage. I really wanted to know how God’s will was expressed in the marked shift in the Reform movement’s position in the last 20 years. For some reason Rabbi Block was unaware that the Reform movement officially opposed any kind of marriage for gays until the 1990s and only began sanctioning ‘rituals of union’ for gay couples in 2000. This gap in his knowledge caught me by surprise, considering that the Central Conference of American Rabbis adopted a responsum in 1985 stating “Judaism places great emphasis on family, children and the future, which is assured by a family. However we may understand homosexuality… we cannot accommodate the relationship of two homosexuals as a ‘marriage’ within the context of Judaism, for none of the elements of qiddushin (sanctification) normally associated with marriage can be invoked for this relationship. A rabbi can not, therefore, participate in the ‘marriage’ of two homosexuals.”
 
I decided not to argue chronology with him, and repeated my original question: How was God’s will reflected in the Reform movement’s evolution on gay marriage? Rabbi Block’s three-part answer left us all somewhat perplexed. First of all, he outlined a difference in scriptural interpretation between the Reform and Orthodox movements. Reform Jews think that the Bible was written by men, not God, and the ancient prophets obviously didn’t understand homosexuality. Secondly, Leviticus contains lots of prohibitions that we don’t follow today. Last, but certainly not least, his third point undoubtedly left mouths agape: even if the Reform are wrong about the scriptural interpretation, their theological trump card is that we are all created in God’s image. I don’t know whether this is considered to be a serious argument in Reform circles, but this final point answers exactly nothing. After all, adulterers and their mistresses, adulteresses and their lovers, and parents and children are all created in God’s image, but no moral person would advocate sexual relations between them. I would still like to know the answer to my question, so I plan to inform my next Reform dialogue partner in advance that I will be asking him/her about God’s will and gay marriage in Reform theology.

While I find myself agreeing more with the Orthodox in terms of doctrines and interpretation of scripture, an understanding of liberal Jewish thought and theology is indispensable in a country where the majority of Jews are liberal in both politics and pulpit. I am grateful to Rabbi Block for sharing his passion for tikkun olam with us, and wish him and all of my Jewish readers a hag sameach.

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Those readers wishing to peruse a comprehensive list of documents on homosexuality and Reform Judaism can go to the following link: http://huc.edu/ijso/PoliciesResponsa/   
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I will be the keynote speaker at an LDS singles conference in Santa Barbara on May 21.

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April 14, 2011 | 10:49 pm

Jews and Mormons and Harvard—Oh My!!

Posted by Mark Paredes

As Avishai Don of the Harvard Crimson duly noted, last Friday night at Harvard Hillel was a special evening. Jewish and LDS students gathered for a Wild West-themed Shabbat dinner presided over by Orthodox Rabbi Ben Greenberg and his lovely wife Sharon. The Moshe Safdie-designed Hillel building was the most beautiful one I had ever seen, and the entertaining cowboy skit proved to be a great ice-breaker. It also proved to be informative: I had no idea that Yale had recently admitted two horses as freshmen.

Following the dinner, we adjourned to a nearby classroom, where I made a presentation on LDS-Jewish themes and took questions with Rabbi Greenberg serving as the moderator. This being Harvard, the questions were thoughtful ones: What role does a prophet play in LDS theology? How does personal revelation differ from prophetic revelation? What about posthumous proxy baptisms? Do Jews need to be converted? I sensed that the students really wanted to know the answers, and I did my best to provide them.

The following morning I had the high honor and privilege of delivering the D’var Torah (sermon) at Hillel’s Orthodox minyan (worship service). I will always treasure this invitation from Rabbi Greenberg. The Torah portion discussed ways in which a leper could be cleansed with the help of a priest, and I related this to the concept of kehillah (community worship) in both of our traditions. I also focused on the commandment in LDS scriptures to be clean when we bear the Lord’s vessels, which I identified. The worshipers could not have been more gracious and welcoming.

I am enormously grateful for the efforts of the Hillel and LDSSA students who made the evening possible, and I would love for it to serve as a catalyst for more meaningful Jewish-LDS interfaith events on campus. Many of the Hillel students will become leaders in the Jewish community, and it is my hope that they will remember the Mormon community when conducting interfaith outreach to Christians. Flying across the country on a red-eye flight and making two presentations require a lot of time and effort, but as generations of Latin scholars in Cambridge have said, sine labore nihil.

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April 6, 2011 | 9:11 pm

Exploring Ancient and Modern Miracles in Israel

Posted by Mark Paredes

From the day that I began working for the Jewish community, I’ve had two goals: to be a Chabad shaliach (emissary) and to take tour groups to Israel and show them what I think they should see. I want to be a shaliach because they always have beautiful wives. However, since I probably won’t be summoned to Crown Heights anytime soon, I’ve decided to focus on the second goal. I lived in Tel Aviv for two years while serving as a U.S. diplomat, and loved every minute of it. [I suppose now is as good a time as any to thank American taxpayers for providing me a two-story penthouse in central Tel Aviv during my assignment. Rest assured that I put it to good use]. My last trip to Israel was particularly productive, as I took around a small group of high-tech executives seeking business opportunities. In addition to making professional contacts, they fell in love with the country. That magical week with the executives confirmed my desire to show people why I love the Holy Land so much. Thanks to Morris Murdoch Travel, one of the country’s five largest travel agencies, I will now have the opportunity to lead at least one tour to Israel next year. When the trip’s website went up this morning, I felt like it was Christmas in April.

The trip came together over the course of a few months. I met Morris Murdoch’s Director of Group Travel Services, Beverly Cutshaw, following a speech I gave in Salt Lake City in January. After a few e-mail exchanges, we began building the itinerary. To her credit, Beverly let me compile a “wish list” of places and activities, then did her best to include them. The result is a personalized itinerary that reflects what I feel is the best of Israel.

It is important to me that travelers see not only what happened in Israel 2,000 years ago, but also come to appreciate a modern, vibrant Jewish state. To that end, the tour begins in Tel Aviv and ends in Jerusalem. Briefings on the Middle East, R&D, high tech, and local government will educate the participants on current political and economic developments in Israel. Not only are we visiting Christian sites in the Galilee (and staying on a kibbutz), but we’re also going to the Golan Heights, my favorite part of Israel. [My car was undoubtedly the only one in Israel that bore both diplomatic plates and a “The People Are With The Golan” bumper sticker].  I very much wanted us to visit a West Bank settlement, so we’re going to the largest one, Ariel. No trip to Israel would be complete without a Sabbath meal, so we’re celebrating one with an Orthodox rabbi.

It’s hard to fully express my thanks for being able to take a group to a country that changes people’s lives. We’ve designed the tour so that people of all faiths (and none) will find it interesting. I look forward to working with Tour Manager Wendy Fracchia to iron out the final details in the coming months. If you want to return from Israel with a profound appreciation for the ancient and modern miracles that have been wrought there, please join us. May you spend next year in Jerusalem – in March.     

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For more information, please visit my trip’s website (http://www.morrismurdock.com/tours/tour_detail.cfm?ID=420&Grouping=Holy&page=tours) or contact Wendy Fracchia at (801) 483-5285, wfracchia@morrismurdock.com.

I will be speaking to Jewish and LDS students at Harvard University’s Hillel on April 8.

Rabbi Barry Block and I will engage in dialogue during the San Antonio (TX) West Stake’s Education Weekend on April 15, and I will make a separate presentation on April 16 entitled “Mormons and Jews in the Latter Days: A Zion Relationship.”

I now write a weekly column on the Middle East for the Deseret News. Here is the inaugural post: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700124151/The-Middle-East-Beyond-the-headlines.html

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April 3, 2011 | 12:28 pm

Ancient Books, Modern Faith: Is Physical Proof Necessary for Believers?

Posted by Mark Paredes

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.—John 20:29

“It is a wicked and adulterous generation that seeketh after a sign. Show me Latter-day Saints who have to feed upon miracles, signs and visions in order to keep them steadfast in the Church, and I will show you members of the Church who are not in good standing before God, and who are walking in slippery paths.” – Joseph Smith

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Do religious Jews and Christians need physical proof to validate their belief in scripture? That question came to the fore during last week’s media spotlight on the Jordanian Lead Codices, which were discovered about five years ago and are considered by some experts to be one of the most significant architectural finds in the history of Christianity. I couldn’t help but wonder to what extent they will strengthen Christians’ faith in their religion if their authenticity is confirmed.

During our Torah study class, Rabbi Daniel Bouskila stated that belief in biblical stories is a matter of faith for religious readers. This is so true, he continued, that even if an ark were to be discovered tomorrow atop Mt. Ararat and universally acknowledged to be the one constructed by Noah, this physical proof would only serve to validate, not establish, the profound faith of true believers. According to the good rabbi, physical proof is nice to have, but true faith does not need ancient artifacts to buttress it. To this Mormons would shout “Amen!”

When it comes to tangible proof for biblical stories, I’ve found that Jews in general are very interested in obtaining evidence of their physical presence in the Land of Israel throughout several millennia: Was there an Exodus from Egypt? Were temples built on Mount Moriah? Did a powerful King David rule in Judea? While Mormons are fascinated by these questions, they are probably more interested in the meaningful spiritual moments in the Hebrew Bible that continue to inform their belief and practice: Was Melchizedek’s priesthood shared by the ancient patriarchs? Was Aaron ordained to the priesthood by Moses? Did Ephraim receive the birthright in Israel after Reuben’s fall from grace? Did Elijah seal the heavens? If I had to choose between receiving incontrovertible proof that Moses parted the Red Sea or that he received two different sets of tablets on Mt. Sinai (which for us represent the laws of the two different priesthood orders), I would not hesitate to choose the latter. While Mormons generally accept the literal interpretation of Bible stories, they are taught in Sunday School to seek spiritual confirmation of its teachings. 

The main purpose of this blog is to present LDS beliefs as a serious theology, one with many Israelite themes and institutions (e.g., temples, prophetic authority). Serious believers should welcome serious scrutiny.  One of our books of scripture is the Book of Mormon, which we accept as a literal account of several civilizations (including two Israelite ones) that flourished in the ancient Americas. The first LDS prophet in modern times, Joseph Smith, claimed to have translated the book through divine inspiration from metal plates that were probably similar to those of the Jordanian Lead Codices.

I am often asked by Jews how Mormons can believe in this book of modern scripture. The answer? Because we have received a spiritual confirmation that it is true. How, then, should we respond to oft-repeated claims that there is “no proof” that the book is authentic? In the same way that Jews respond to assertions that there is “no proof” that an ancient Jewish Temple ever stood on Mount Moriah: the “put up or shut up” approach. Many readers are familiar with the familiar mantra “absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence.” That is, just because we haven’t found a stele with “Welcome to Zarahemla” engraved on it doesn’t mean that that Book of Mormon city didn’t exist. I believe that this approach is insufficient for people of faith. Would-be debunkers of scriptural historicity should be directly challenged to come up with plausible theories for discoveries. The “I don’t have any idea, but the Mormons [or Jews] can’t be right” approach is not a serious one. A couple of examples will suffice. 
 
For decades critics of the Book of Mormon pointed out that the name “Alma” (one of the book’s prophets) was not an ancient one and must have been made up by Joseph Smith. Unfortunately for them, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls papyri (Bar Kokhba #44) mentions a certain “Alma son of Judah” who was involved in a leasing agreement. As a result, it has come to be called the “Alma Scroll.” Does this prove that the Book of Mormon is true? No, but it does prove that Alma was an ancient name that could not possibly have been known by Joseph Smith (or anyone else) in the early 1800s. How, then, did the name find its way into the book? Of course, people tend to filter such “evidence” through their spiritual lenses, often seeing what they want to see. However, the Alma Scroll can serve to rebut the claim that there is “no proof” that belief in the Book of Mormon is logical and defensible.

Another example is perhaps more instructive. One of the objects on display in the wonderful “Lords of Creation” Mayan exhibit in Los Angeles several years ago was a clear depiction of three heavens. While almost all of the other objects had at least one paragraph of explanation in both English and Spanish, this one had only one brief sentence, which I am quoting almost verbatim: “Archaeologists do not know why the Mayans believed in three heavens.” Mormons believe in a three-tiered heaven, and it is entirely possible that this doctrine was taught to some of the ancient peoples on this continent (though it does not appear in the Book of Mormon). Can this Mayan piece serve to buttress the LDS belief in these ancient American civilizations? Maybe, maybe not, but what is clear is that no one else has a plausible explanation for why the Mayans believed in three heavens. Until someone does, the display goes into the “possible proof” category.

Again, I do not believe that Mormons or religious Jews should look to physical proof as the source of their faith in scripture. However, I do think that Mormons could learn from Jews how to be more assertive when challenging would-be debunkers of their scriptural narratives. In the specific case of the Book of Mormon, it is important for Latter-day Saints to affirm at every opportunity that the people and events recorded in its pages are historical. The consequences of not doing so can be seen in the Community of Christ, a member of the LDS movement that separated from the Utah-heading Mormons 150 years ago. In a meeting that I had with several of the church’s apostles, they stated that they no longer believe that the Book of Mormon is historical (though individual members are free to believe this). When I later asked whether their patriarchal blessings (which assign Mormons to an Israelite tribe) still contained a tribal designation, I was told they did not (though they did for many decades). The link here seems obvious: stop believing in a book about ancient Israelites, and you soon stop believing in modern Israelites.

For Jews, it is important (though not absolutely necessary) to demonstrate their continued presence in the Land of Israel since biblical times. Although Mormons don’t need physical proof to support their theology, they need not concede that there is no proof for it. If we wish to be taken seriously as a church, we have to be willing to challenge our debunkers on historicity issues, not pretend that they don’t matter.

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I will be speaking to Jewish and LDS students at Harvard University’s Hillel on April 8.

Rabbi Barry Block and I will engage in dialogue during the San Antonio (TX) West Stake’s Education Weekend on April 15, and I will make a separate presentation on April 16 entitled “Mormons and Jews in the Latter Days: A Zion Relationship.”

I will be taking a tour group to Israel in March 2012 for Morris Murdock Travel. Participants will return from the trip with a profound love for both ancient and modern Israel. The itinerary will be finalized this week. Travelers of all faiths (and none) are welcome.

I now write a weekly column on the Middle East for the Deseret News. Here is the inaugural post: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700124151/The-Middle-East-Beyond-the-headlines.html

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