Er ist ein hochrangiger Rabbiner – und hat den Schalk im Nacken:
„Intra-faith relations – intra! – is much more difficult than interfaith relations. People say to me, why are you spending so much time with the other religions? I say it is so much easier.“
Ich habe David Rosen in seinem Büro in Jerusalem getroffen. Er hat mich mehrfach überrascht – auch, als er über die Fleischindustrie herzog. David Rosen ist ein Mann, der keine Scheu hat, unbequem zu sein. In meinem neuesten Stück, das seine Arbeit porträtiert, geht es um dies:
„Der orthodoxe Rabbiner David Rosen kämpft für die Pluralität der Meinungen und Vielfalt der Religionen und Kulturen. Für sein christlich-jüdisches Engagement ist er vielfach geehrt worden. Dennoch fällt ihm der Dialog mit bestimmten jüdischen Strömungen schwer.“
Oder wenn er nach einem halben Jahr beim DLF nicht mehr zu hören ist, dann auch hier:
Copyright: Andreas Main
Als Bonus-Material noch ein paar Originalzitate, die so auf der DLF-Seite nicht zu finden sind:
„God creates this diversity for our benefit. And for me as I am a pluralist – I believe the idea that any one religious tradition can encapsulate the totality of the Divine is a ridiculous idea.“
„Most Israelis have never heard of Nostra Aetate. They don’t know the different documents. When you see a Pope at the western wall, at the Kotel, showing respect for jewish tradition, at Yad Vashem, showing solidarity with jewish pain and suffering, these things have a big impact.“
„Now, this generally speaking is very good news, because it means that Jews in Israel start to understand that Christians are not the simple stereotype of the history and generally the negative history that they remember. You need to take into account the fact that most Israelis have never met a modern Christian. When Israeli Jews travel abroad they meet Non-Jews as Non-Jews, not as modern Christians. And therefore most Israeli’s image of Christianity is taken form the tragic negative past in Europe. “
„This is a fascinating phenomenon because it’s probably the first time since the birth of Christianity where you have a community that sees itself as believers in Jesus as the Messiah, who at the same time see themselves as part of the body politic of Israel, of the Jewish people.“
„This christian diversity means that people encounter Christians now often without realizing it – and then discover it. For example, you have an old father, an old mother, you need a caregiver, disproportionately these are here from the Philippines. These are devout practicing Christians. They want to go to church, they practice, they do not do so in any aggressive manner, they are not imposing anything on you. You learn to discover, what wonderful, selfless devoted people they are. And then you understand: This devotion and dedication is coming from their faith. So you begin to look Christianity in a very different light. (…) – so there is a whole new movement in terms of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism taking place here within Israel, that is very different from anywhere else.
„This christian diversity means that people encounter Christians now often without realizing it – and then discover it. For example, you have an old father, an old mother, you need a caregiver, disproportionately these are here from the Philippines. These are devout practicing Christians. They want to go to church, they practice, they do not do so in any aggressive manner, they are not imposing anything on you. You learn to discover, what wonderful, selfless devoted people they are. And then you understand: This devotion and dedication is coming from their faith. So you begin to look Christianity in a very different light. So there is a whole new movement in terms of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism taking place here within Israel, that is very different from anywhere else.“
„A Judaism that is purely insular and inward looking is not authentic to its spirit, purpose and its mission. However, in terms of our history as you know we have genuinely experienced hostility – and sometimes violent hostility, and sometimes the most violent, and there it has been very difficult for us to be able to develop a universal approach, a universal vision, when the universe around has been hostile to us. And these wounds do not heal over night. So it takes time. And we have come – and the establishment of the State of Israel is critical event in terms of the development of our own self-confidence and own security to enable us to live up to that particular vision – but we have come into a context which itself is in conflict and where we feel threatened and where there is continuous threatening which of course exacerbates the trauma of our historical experience and makes it very difficult for many people still to open up to the world as we should. And especially those who are the most devout, are often the most insular. This is understandable. But it is lamentable.“
„In other words, I’m orthodox, but I choose – and I think I should – live as part of the modern world. If I understand what essentially my scripture, the hebrew bible and the prophets of Israel, are calling on me to be loyal to the revelation that is particular, which is the jewish way of life. We have to develop a rich jewish identity that is properly rooted in our particularity like a healthy tree, but with its branch is open to the world in a true universal engagement.“
„They don’t want to mix. The nature of their identity as Ulrtaorthodox is based on having nothing to do with the rest of jewish society. Let alone the rest of the world. That is their ideology. They believe that God preserves the rest of the world because they keep themselves separate. So therefore asking them not to be separate that is asking them not be ultra-orthodox.“
Copyright: Andreas Main
Andreas Main 