SCoJeC was delighted to host a first-of-its-kind Zoom webinar to continue the dialogue instigated by the Chief Rabbi at last year’s General Assembly of the Church of Scotland  with the publication of the ground-breaking Jewish-Christian Glossary, compiled by a joint team of Orthodox Rabbis and Church of Scotland ministers.

Over 80 participants from across Scotland and south of the border joined the online event, which was chaired by Dr Nathan Eddy, Co-Director of the Council of Christians and Jews. There was an excellent panel of panellists who tackled a series of interesting and insightful topics. Rabbi Moshe Rubin, Senior Rabbi of Scotland, and former Church of Scotland Moderator, the Very Reverend Susan Brown, candidly discussed the roots and formation of the Glossary itself, as well as their own personal assumptions, perspectives  – and fears – going into the project. "The online launch of the glossary was a  reminder  that unity can be achieved even when there are profound  differences of views." commented Rabbi Rubin. "The Chief Rabbi challenged leaders of the two faith communities, the Jewish community and the Church of Scotland, to lock ourselves away and not to shy away from from difficult topics. Thus the Glossary was born, and we hope that it will be a source of inspiration to all people as an example of what can be achieved by real brave dialogue."

They were followed by Rabbi David Mason, one of the contributors and editors of the Glossary, who joined the Very Reverend Susan Brown in an eloquent, inspiring, and empathic discussion of two of terms from the Glossary: "Zionism" and "Kingdom of G-d", both of which stimulated wide audience discussion. Rabbi Mason later commented: “I found the event extremely helpful and positive. Being one of the contributors and editors of the document, it was good to see that it was being distributed and learned from. It was good to see further that the model of dialogue it encapsulated, was being displayed for many others.”

Reverend Fiona Smith, Principal Clerk to the Church of Scotland General Assembly, and Rabbi Aaron Lipsey of Newcastle United Hebrew Congregation were then joined by co-host Dr James Roberts, Theologian and Senior Programme Manager at the Council of Christians and Jews, to discuss ecumenical perspectives, overall reflections, challenging assumptions, and how the Glossary can help deepen Jewish-Christian understanding.

Following the presentations, the speakers responded to a number of challenging, difficult, and extremely interesting comments and questions from the audience. The wide range of participants from many faiths and backgrounds, were clearly inspired to further open interfaith dialogue, and we are now planning more joint events with the Church of Scotland.

After the event, Dr Eddy commented: "CCJ was honoured to help host the launch of the glossary project. In every way it was a success: there were more than 70 participants present on a busy night in the calendar; there was honesty, warmth, and candour expressed by the speakers, with clear evidence of relationships built over the process of the glossary creation; and there was a sense that the glossary will have a reverberating through the months ahead. Scotland has once again shown the way for all the nations to do dialogue. We look forward to supporting whatever shape the glossary discussions takes in the future."

Rev Fiona Smith of the Church of Scotland added: "It was an utter privilege to participate in the launch of the Jewish-Christian Glossary on Wednesday evening. I am in awe of all the contributors to the Glossary for their insight, wisdom, faithfulness and perseverance in creating space to listen and to learn from each other. In our world of horrific conflicts the Glossary gives us a new way to model how we communicate with one another at a deeper level by facing our differences."