Christians & Jews in dialogue: learning in the presence of the other

Abstract

Interreligious dialogue, especially between Christians and Jews, has been the focus of a great deal of attention in the last several decades. However, Mary Boys and Sara Lee, explore a different, more robust dimension of the encounter with the religious other which they call interreligious learning. The difference is more than semantic; this book reveals the sophisticated educational theory, planning, and implementation that is necessary to construct a transformative learning experience for people with deep roots in their faith tradition who seek to move beyond the comfort zone of their own religious communities. The two authors, one a Catholic nun and professor of religious education and the other a director of an important graduate program in Jewish education, share their personal and professional collaboration on five groundbreaking projects in which they develop new models of interreligious learning. I was a participant in two of these projects and can attest to the powerful educational experience that they created for Jewish and Christian religious educators and academics. Their new book provides an invaluable gateway into these cutting-edge educational experiments and an open window into the deep thought and personal narratives that brought them into being.