This presentation was originally intended to be a panel discussion, but the invited representatives from the Shas and Ultra-Orthodox parties in Israel refused to sit at the same table as Jewish liberation theologian, Dr. Marc Ellis. Dr. Ellis remarked that this was their general attitude towards Arabs and indeed any “other”, as well, and shared the story of an Arab diplomat talking to an Israeli official after a meeting, who told him that “his very presence offended him”.
Dr. Ellis remarked that it was “terribly disturbing” that the book he wrote 20 years ago, “Toward a Jewish Theology of Liberation”, was even more relevant today than when he wrote it. In the book he calls for three things: (1) a two-state solution for Palestinians and Israelis, (2) a confession by the Jewish people for what they have/had done to the Palestinians, and (3) reparations for what has happened. Then, and now, he wonders what has happened to the Jewish ethical tradition?
Dr. Ellis also talked about the swinging pendulum between the Rabbinic and the Prophetic in Judaism and in power on the ground in Israel or in exile. He talked about a community in exile, and a “new Diaspora” in the Diaspora, of people bringing fragments of traditions from their backgrounds and mixing with other fragments to create a new community in exile, united more by what they have in common with each other than with the “people back home”. He talked about Constantinian religion and Conscience religion, and the Constantinian Rabbinic establishment in Israel that has been a disaster for contemporary Judaism.
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