The 24th Annual Jewish-Christian Seminar
Jews and Christians Study Scripture Together

Jewish and Christian Understandings of Suffering: Studies in the Book of Job

Tuesday, April 8, 2008, 3:30 - 8 p.m.
Northwestern Hall, Luther Seminary, St. Paul

Presenters and Discussion Leaders
Barry D. Cytron
Katherine Schifferdecker

Suffering is part of the human condition, and undeserved suffering causes us to question the existence of any divine presence or mercy in this world.  Is undeserved suffering necessary, and is there any value in it?

Rev. Katheryn Schifferdecker and Rabbi Barry Cytron will explore the problem of undeserved suffering with attention to Jewish and Christian interpretations of the Book of Job.  After their presentations there will be a time for group discussions while sharing a Kosher meal, followed by a question and answer period with Kathryn and Barry.

Rabbi Barry D. Cytron is the director of the Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning and holds the Chair in Jewish Studies at Saint John's University.

Rev. Kathryn Schifferdecker is associate professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary.

For registration information call 651-641-3415 or
see: www.luthersem.edu/jewish_christian
$45 for the general public
$15 for students
Kosher dinner included.

Co-sponsored by Luther Seminary and the Jay Phillips Center

Animating the Biblical Experience
A Training in the Art and Craft of Conducting Bibliodrama
 

An introductory and experiential workshop
Conducted by Dr. Peter A. Pitzele
Monday June 16 - Friday noon June 20, 2008
The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity
University of St. Thomas
St. Paul, Minnesota
 

Description
Bibliodrama is an experiential method for opening biblical texts. In this carefully designed training program, participants will engage in a variety of role-playing experiences within the framework of the biblical narrative. This course will equip participants to guide Bibliodrama in the classroom, from the pulpit, and in other educational settings. This intensive offers participants a highly interactive learning process that requires no previous skills in drama or biblical study. Each participant will have the opportunity to create and lead their own Bibliodrama under Peter’s supervision.

Significant stepping-stones in the course:

• Learning and practicing the particular skills needed to engage a group in Bibliodrama
• Learning how to select and to prepare an appropriate text for bibliodramatic presentation, place people into role, and guide the development of a bibliodramatic scene
• Learning strategies to keep control of the drama and to promote the safety and education of the group
• Learning the methods for bringing closure to a Bibliodrama
• Learning how to embed Bibliodrama in a worship service or an educational curriculum

Format
We will move between large group lectures and demonstrations to skills practice in smaller groups. The course is open to women and men of all faith traditions, though the texts for study and practice will be chosen primarily from the Hebrew Bible.  The course will begin on Monday, June 16 and will conclude Friday, June 20 at noon.  Sessions will be 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30-5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9a.m. to noon on Friday. 

Registration and Accommodations
The cost of the workshop is $500.
Room accommodations are available at the Saint Paul Seminary, $45 per night or $280 per week.
Meals are on your own and are available for a reasonable price in the cafeteria and/or nearby restaurants.

 Registration Form

Testimonies on the Bibliodrama Training Intensive

Black fire and white fire; that says it all!  I will never look at the Bible in the same way!

To go to all those spaces is such a short time: incredible!  We stayed in one room and yet we traveled so far.

It was amazing the insight and depth and creativity that Bibliodrama brought to the text.

This is absolutely one of the finest continuing education events that I have ever experienced.  Thank you for an amazing life-giving class.

This is a technique that can be used by congregants and clergy of differing faith traditions -- a wonderful way to introduce drama in the life of the church!

Deeply personal, wonderfully communal, participatory and reflective, safe and affirming.

Bibliodrama helped me to see the "Great Story" as my story, and experience my story as a part of the Great Story.

The interfaith component was a positive experience.  I am hopeful that this will have a significant impact on the future of dialogue and cooperation between Christians and Jews.

As a chaplain who ministers to people of all faith traditions, I found the Bibliodrama training more involving and energizing toward this goal and diaconal calling than any other theological learning experience I have had.  I believe this to be true because the method is interactive and experiential and because it was with an interfaith group so eager to engage.  I feel affirmed that this new methodology can be another avenue of ministry and that I have received the gifts to use and develop it.

Thanks to my learning about Bibliodrama, I, as a layperson, feel I have a way of entering into the service of my synagogue.

We would never have known the richness we would have missed had this not been an interfaith training.  My life has been touched and changed by the community that we became.

This tool, which I feel competent to add to my skills, is a great gift and I look forward to seeing how I can use it in a variety of settings and for a variety of purposes.

I am appreciative that as a group we moved away for particularistic views and agendas to create a safe place to learn and experience sacred texts together.

I feel that I have been given a great tool to help people find their own voice and place within the bigger story.  Bibliodrama is a wonderful tool for building bridges.

The interfaith experience was worth the price of admission alone!  A whole week to ask questions in safely, and just absorb another culture/faith was wonderful

What a joy to be in a room with conservative and Reform Jews while working side by side and discovering the many lessons and truths of the Bible.  I am a Protestant Christian who discovered a deeper understanding of Jesus’ Jewish roots.  Amen.

This experience changed my feelings of apprehension into confidence that interfaith groups can work and be enriching to both sides.

I loved learning about Midrash, and the training would not have had the same effect on me without the interfaith component.  I have attended many workshops and trainings in my lifetime, but never have I been so intently involved at every moment.  Peter is a brilliant trainer.  His knowledge of Scripture along with his teaching ability is engaging and compelling. 

This was amazing!  It has opened up my understanding of text at an emotional level and it has slowed down my reading to notice the details I once thought to be trivial. 

This training opened doors in my mind and imagination in ways I hope to practice and sustain.  It has already changed my interactions with family and work associates.
 

Hagar, Sarah and Their Children
Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives

Phyllis Trible

The biblical stories of Hagar, Sarah, and Abraham depict a flawed family designated to become a channel of blessing for all the families of the earth.  Pivotal in the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam these stories wrestle with domestic violence, generational conflict, national identities, and land struggles—all in the search for blessing.  The lecture will explore the ancient stories as they relate to contemporary concerns throughout the world.

Phyllis Trible, Professor of Biblical Studies at Wake Forest University Divinity School and Balwin Professor of Sacred Literature Emerita at Union Theological Seminary in New York, is an internationally known biblical scholar and has lectured widely throughout the world.  Considered a leader in the text-based exploration of women and gender in Scripture, her research interests focus on literary criticism, feminist hermeneutics, and biblical theology.  In addition to numerous articles and reviews, her books include God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality; Texts of Terror: Literary Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives; and Rhetorical Criticism: God and the Book of Jonah.  Her most recent book (edited with the late Letty M. Russell) is Hagar, Sarah, and Their Children: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives.

Events:
Thursday, October 18, 2007, 7:30 p.m.
St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
519 Oak Grove, Minneapolis
Free Parking
Lecture and book signing by Phyllis Trible

Friday, October 19, 2007, 9 a.m. to noon.
Mt. Zion Temple
1300 Summit Avenue, St. Paul
Free Parking
A panel discussion facilitated by Rev. Debra Wells, Ecumenical Coordinator at Luther Seminary,
featuring Phyllis Trible and scholars from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions:

                                          

            Rabbi Amy Eilberg                Dr. Corrine Carvalho              Dr. Ingrid Mattson                    Rev. Debra Wells
           (Jay Phillips Center)           (University of St. Thomas)   (Hartford Seminary and                (Luther Seminary)
                                                                                                            President of the Islamic
                                                                                                            Society of North America)

The panel discussion will be followed by round table discussions, Q & A, and book signing.

Trible Publicity Poster (pdf)    Trible Publicity Postcard (pdf)     http://readinginterfaith.blogspot.com/

 Tickets: 
AVAILABLE THROUGH TICKETWORKS: www.ticketworks.com
651-209-6689, 800-762-6353

Adult                            $15
Adult 2-day pass        $25

Student (w /ID)            $10
Student 2-day pass     $15

For more information call the Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning: 651-962-5780

Sponsored by WomenSpirit,* Jay Phillips Center for Jewish Christian Learning of Saint John’s University and the University of St. Thomas, Luther Seminary, Plymouth Congregational Church, and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.

In cooperation with the Center for Religious Inquiry, the Downtown (Minneapolis) Interfaith Forum, members and organizations of the Muslim community, and the Saint Paul Interreligous Network.

* Members of WomenSpirit
  Basilica of St. Mary
  Benedictine Center for Spirituality of St. Paul's Monastery
  Central Lutheran Church
  House of Hope Presbyterian Church
  League of Catholic Women
  Luann Dummer Center for Women, University of St Thomas
  Plymouth Congregational Church
  St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
  St. Olaf Catholic Church
 Westminster Presbyterian Church
 Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality-Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
 

Peace and Violence in Our Religious Traditions
A Twin Cities Interfaith Dialogue Series
 
Six Monday Evenings
Oct. 8 – Nov. 12, 7-9 p.m (6:30–9 on Oct 8)

At a time of too much war, violence, and hatred in our world, we have been given a delightful gift, in that the Muslim sacred
month of Ramadan coincides with the Jewish sacred month of Tishrei.  Also, in autumn 2007, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Bahai'is, Buddhists and Christians all celebrate special holy days or festivals.  Both national and local interfaith organizations have
chosen to call this important time a Sacred Season of Peace-Making.  Religious communities around the world have
considered this "accident" of the calendar as a call to shared fasting, prayer, interfaith hospitality, dialogue and acts
of reconciliation—all parts of a broader struggle for justice, for peace and for non-violence.

Held at houses of worship of different traditions, this series will feature presentations by local religious leaders from Jewish, Catholic, Mennonite, Muslim, Bahai’i and Quaker traditions. Facilitated intra-and interreligious dialogue among participants
will be part of each session.  Presenters will discuss their tradition’s teachings on non-violence, how violence appears
in the tradition’s texts and history, and how the tradition practices peace-making and non-violence.  

Schedule of sessions:
Oct. 8, 6:30 p.m. (Beginning with a shared Iftar meal -- breaking fast during Ramadan)
Introduction to the Series and to Interfaith Dialogue
Facilitated by Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Consultant, Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning
Masjid An Nur, 1749 Lyndale Avenue North
Minneapolis, Minn.
Parking is on 18^th Avenue adjacent to the mosque.). 

Oct. 15, 7:00 p.m.
Two Christian Perspectives
Sr. Sharon Howell, CSJ, Associate Dean of Students, University of St. Thomas
Dr. Phil Stoltzfus, Justice and Peace Studies, University of St. Thomas
Mount Zion Temple
1300 Summit Avenue
St. Paul, Minn.
Parking in Temple lot (east of temple) and on city streets.

Oct 22, 7 p.m.
Two Jewish Perspectives
Rabbi Morris Allen, Beth Jacob Synagogue
Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker, Mt. Zion Temple
Hamline United Methodist Church
1514 Englewood Avenue
Hamline University
St. Paul, Minn.
Parking on campus and on city streets.

Oct 29, 7 p.m.
Two Muslim Perspectives
Imam Hesham Hussein, President, Muslim American Society of America
Imam Makram El-Amin, Masjid An-Nur Mosque
Temple of Aaron
616 Mississippi River Boulevard
St. Paul, Minn.
Parking in temple lot.

Nov. 5, 7 p.m.
Quaker & Bahai'i Perspectives
Michael Bischoff , Twin Cities Friends Meeting
Dr. Roya Majid, Spiritual Assembly of the Bahai'is of Maple Grove
Masjid Al-Salaam
1460 Skillman Avenue
Maplewood, Minn.
Parking on city streets.

Nov. 12, 7 p.m.
Continuing the Dialogue: Creating a Culture of Peace
Joan Haan and Katherine Wojtan
Facilitators of Creating a Culture of Peace
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
700 South Snelling Avenue
St. Paul, Minn.
Parking in church lot.

Sponsored by several area congregations and organizations of different traditions,
including the Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning

Free and open to the public.  Donations accepted.
For further information about this series and/or other Sacred Season of Peace-Making events,
see: www.interfaithings.org.
or contact Marc Blakesley at the Saint Paul Area Council of Churches MBlakesley@spacc.org, 651-789-3840

 Poster for the Peace & Violence events (pdf)
 

Classes offered at Saint John's University (www.csbsju.edu)
 through the Jay Phillips Center
Fall 2007 Semester

Theology Honor's class - The Jewish Encounter with Jesus and Christianity
Instructor:  Rabbi Barry Cytron
An exploration of the theological and historical encounters between Judaism and Christianity, from the emergence of  both Christianity and Judaism out of biblical religion, the disagreements and distancing one from the other over the centuries, but culminating in the late 20th century and efforts at rapprochement and acceptance.

Advanced Seminar in Theology: Faith After Auschwitz, Jewish and Christian Perspectives
Instructor: Rabbi Barry Cytron
Why do bad things happen to good people?  From the earliest of days, the Jewish and Christian traditions have wrestled with the questions of divine justice, human suffering, and the struggle for human goodness in a world tainted by human evil.  the events of the 20th century, especially genocide, have served to sharpen these questions for many.

We begin by reading from biblical and other early responses to these questions, and then turn to modern perspectives, focusing on the ways modern Jewish thought and Christian theology are coming to terms with the catastrophe of the Holocaust and genocide.  We conclude by examining the moral lessons that these events thrust on us.

 

Dr. John Merkle is on sabbatical during the 2007-08 school year.

 

Other Events of Interest:

Saturday, August 25 - September 15
Four Shabbat Mornings - 9-10 a.m.
Adath Jeshurun Congregation
10500 West Hillside Lane
Minnetonka, Minn.
952-545-2424
The Many Faces of God
Speaker: Rabbi Barry Cytron
    Director of the Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning

Sponsored by Adath Jeshurun Congregation
Free and open to the public.
 

November 8-December 13, 2007
Uprooted Lights
An installation by Leah Golbersterin
Form + Content Gallery
Whitney Square Building
210 North 2nd Street, Suite 104
Minneapolis, Minn.

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Gallery hours: Thursday - Saturday, noon - 6 p.m. and by appointment.

The handmade paper and plant material sculptures of Leah Golberstein's installation, "Uprooted Lights," transform
Form + content Gallery into a chapel-like space.  Golberstein recently traveled to Rhodes, Greece to edit the new
gallery guide for the Jewish Museum.  While there she discovered a two thousand year history in which multi-cultural, religiously diverse communities alternated between co-existence and marginalization.

Golberstein's installation gives life to the simultaneous beauty and pain she found embedded in this Mediterranean island civilization that has lived under the successive rule of the Knights of St. John, the Ottoman Turks, and Greece.

Trees, witnesses to the political and social change, stand in the gallery, uprooted and wrapped in handmade paper. 
The trees symbolize both displaced persons and conflicting emotions.  the paper, bark, flax, and rose petals in the floor
and wall sculptures represent generations of individuals and their diverse sources of spiritual light.

For more information: 612-436-1151, www.formandcontent.org

Monday, November 19, 2007, 7:00 p.m.
NORTHEAST MINNEAPOLIS HARVEST GATHERING
BUILDING BRIDGES OF PEACE AND THANKSGIVING
Northeast Middle School
Hayes St. and 29^th Ave. NE, Minneapolis
(Enter from south parking lot.)

All Are Welcome!

Representatives from Buddhist, Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions

Welcome:
Dr. William D. Green, Minneapolis Superintendent of Schools

Speakers:
TBA, Shambahla Meditation Center
Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning
Rev. Craig Pederson, Northeast Community Lutheran Church
Zafar Siddiqui, Islamic Resource Center
Keith Ellison, United States Congressman (5th District, Minnesota)

Interfaith Choir directed by Kimberly Lueck, Shambahla Meditation Center
Artistic presentations
Refreshments

Free and open to the public.
For more information call: Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church, 612-781-2796.

Sponsors: Catholic Eldercare, Islamic Center of Minnesota, Islamic Resource Center,
Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning, Northeast Minneapolis Ministerial Association,
Shambhala Meditation Center, and the Unity Chamber of Commerce.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007 - 7:30 p.m.
Israel and the Arab States Facing the Challenge of Iran and the Danger of Islamic Radicalism
Speaker: Michael Eppel
    University of Haifa - Department of Middle Eastern History
Beth El Synagogue
5224 West 26th Street
St. Louis Park, Minn
952-920-6407

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 - 7:30 p.m.
Why Did the Arab States Invade Israel in 1948?  The Tangle of Contradictions
Speaker: Michael Eppel
    University of Haifa - Department of Middle Eastern History
Adath Jeshurun Congregation
10500 West Hillside Lane
Minnetonka, Minn.
952-545-2424

These two events are Sponsored by the University of Minnesota Center for Jewish Studies
(jwst.cla.umn.edu, 612-624-4914) and the March 4 program is in cooperation with the Jay Phillips Center.
Free and open to the public; no reservations or tickets required.
 

See www.chgs.umn.edu for the programs sponsored by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota.

See www.roseensemble.org for information about Peace Among the Nations: Abraham in Judaism, Christianity & Islam, Saturday, April 12 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 13, 7 p.m.