By Albert Guigui · Chief Rabbi of Brussels
‘I love my brother, whoever you are. I love you. In prayer in your mosque in devotion in your church or in veneration in your temple. Because you and I are children of the same religion: the spirit. And the various religious paths represent the different fingers of the one loving hand of the Supreme Being. And that hand reaches out to us with ardour to guide us towards the fullness of the soul’. — Khalil Gibran
Inter-religious and inter-faith dialogue is first and foremost a spiritual attitude. It is a spirituality that leads us from rejection to acceptance, from categorisation to understanding, from the disfigurement of others to respect, from condemnation to mercy, from intimacy to concord, from competition to complementarity, from antipathy to encounter and from hostility to fraternity. So one of the greatest merits of inter-religious dialogue is precisely to break down the barriers between people, to enable them to meet and discuss, to unite, to esteem and appreciate each other. This knowledge implies acceptance of the differences that assign each person his or her own path. We have to accept the Other as they are and not as we would have liked them to be. This is what Emmanuel Lévinas calls the Epiphany of the Other.
To dialogue with the Other is to know him and recognise him in the fullness of his responsibility, and to welcome him as a completion of ourselves rather than as an adversary, competitor or enemy. There is no doubt that fanaticism in its various forms, in the name of God, religion, nation, faith, land, ethnicity or language, as well as in the name of cultural and social belonging, is the number one enemy of dialogue.
Dialogue is the means by which we become aware that we are not alone in our dealings with other people and with God. God was the first to seek dialogue. It was He who began to speak to man after creating him. It was He who sought out Adam, in despair at having eaten of the forbidden fruit, and Cain, who had killed his brother. God did not abandon his creatures to their oppressive silence. He called on his creatures, capable of the worst and the best, to enter into dialogue with him. And God said to Adam, ‘Where are you?’1.
True dialogue involves understanding, making an effort to understand the partner on their terms rather than ours. It involves sharing, bringing to the dialogue our deepest convictions, even if they are potentially painful for the partner. Dialogue therefore means introducing differences into relationships of mutual respect and trust.
One of the greatest merits of inter-religious dialogue is precisely to break down the barriers between people, to enable them to meet and discuss, to unite, to esteem and appreciate each other.
Dialogue should enable individuals to draw mutual enrichment from their differences, to make each other more fruitful. There are no winners or losers, but human beings who emerge from this experience renewed.
The Midrash clearly illustrates this aspect that gives each individual this divine vocation. In the Talmud2, a rabbi asked: —How can we recognise the precise moment when night ends and day begins? One of the disciples replied: —When you can tell the difference between a dog and a sheep from a distance.
—No,’ said the rabbi.
—When you can tell the difference between a date tree and a fig tree.
—No,’ said the rabbi again.
—But then, at what point,’ asks the disciple.
—When you look at the face of any human being,’ says the rabbi, ’and you recognise him or her as your brother or sister. Then you can be sure that the day has dawned. But until then, it’s still dark in your heart.
Dialogue and Commitment
What can we do to ensure that this dialogue bears fruit? This dialogue must not be the preserve of an elite. It must be able to reach the masses and raise their awareness. It is the only effective way of facing up, together, to the threat of hatred that hangs over all human groups and of which anti-Semitism is one expression.
This dialogue must be supported by ongoing, daily education and by a correct, objective perception of religions. One of the greatest merits of this dialogue is precisely to break down the barriers between people, to enable them to meet and discuss, to seek solutions to their problems together, to unite in order to respond better to current problems which often go beyond selfish interests.
Unity in diversity: this must be the goal of inter-religious and inter-confessional dialogue. It is the only way to push us towards renewed solidarity. But what are we seeing today? An extremely dangerous rise in racism and anti-Semitism, with the development of extreme right-wing movements proliferating throughout Europe.
Together we must fight more effectively against social injustice and prejudice, and promote a more humane and generous world, because our various religions demand that we practise mutual social assistance, respect individual autonomy, take personal responsibility, defend the weak, condemn racism in all its forms, and give primacy to Man created in the image of God.
A Masterpiece
The word ‘Shalom’, which means peace and is a leitmotif in our daily prayers and actions, derives from the verb ‘lehachlim’, which means ‘to complement one another’. According to our sages, true peace resides only in the complementarity of one in relation to the other. True peace means reaching out to one another with the aim of training and living in harmony. A master painting with only one colour represents nothing. The beauty of a painting lies in the harmony of its colours and their juxtaposition.
Each of us must create the outline of a giant painting. It’s up to each of us to start creating the most beautiful painting, the most admired painting, the painting to which the eyes of all men are drawn, the painting in which all the colours and nuances are respected. It’s a long road. But, as the Maxims of the Fathers emphasise: ‘You are not asked to complete the work, but you are not free to avoid it.3’ 3 II, 21
Footnotes: 1 Genesis III, 9 · 2 Talmud, Berachoth 9b
About the author
Albert Guigui has been chief rabbi attached to the Central Jewish Consistory of Belgium since 1980 and chief rabbi of Brussels since 1987. In this capacity he plays a particularly active role in associative life, in the teaching of Israelite religion course. He is also spokesperson for the Conference of European Rabbis to the European Union and correspondent for several institutes. He is the author of a large number of articles published in various books and journals.
This article first appeared in EBU Magazine #13 – Buddhism & Modern Europe (Winter 2024). Download the full issue as PDF or browse all issues.