During my lifetime two subjects were strictly taboo at cocktail parties; religion and politics. But beyond the cocktail parties, as reformed Jews, we shied away from public forum discussions of religion in education.
However, we were a question posing family and I became aware that Catholic parents were paying double taxes for the public schools as well as the Catholic schools their child attended. A trial case in Chicago was initiated by a Catholic high school, a few blocks away from a public high school, as to the possible attendance of parochial high school students to be bussed to certain classes in the public school. The "Shared Time Experience" was challenged in the courts (enclosed see some of the documentation).
I liked the idea of the Shared Time and was inspired, no doubt by the Holy Spirit (although I was a Jew at the time), to invite a Catholic priest, a Protestant minister and an Orthodox Rabbi to dialogue in a public forum regarding the pros and cons of such a program in our democracy.
I am embarrassed to say that I wasn't positive our senior Rabbi would approve of such a meeting.
We met in his office at 8AM. His face began to redden as I began my story with escalating enthusiasm. He was stonily silent. After a short while he squeezed his hands and declared, "Ruth, don't do it! You will be opening a Pandora's box of antisemitism. My voice was trembling as I countered this highly respected Rabbi but nevertheless responded, "Rabbi, I am sorry but I do not agree with you, I have spoken to Hans Adler of the anti-defamation league (an organization that promotes greater peace and understanding among faith, cultural, and racial groups) he agrees that this program will lead to greater understanding among faith and cultural groups in our North Shore communities.
He responded with, "I won't be at that meeting."
"I am very sorry Rabbi, but we are going to go ahead with the meeting." Two days later I called that Rabbi and said, "If you choose not to attend would you please recommend another Rabbi and we will accept whomever you choose. It will be set for November 18, 1964."
Although the program was intended to explore the possibilities of the Shared Time Experiment, Msgr. William Mcmamas (head of theArchdiocese of the Catholic school system in Chicago) recommended that we change the title from "The Shared Time Experiment" to "Religion in Education," broadening the discussion. I shall never forget his statement that "Our goal is to educate the whole person."
Rabbi Irving Rossenbaum (from the Loop Synagogue in Chicago) was the third panelist.
Dr. Edgar Chandler, director of the church federation, was very agreeable to the broadening of the discussion.
It was an unforgettable, glorious, evening, held in a neutral setting- Newtrear High School. We had a delicious dinner for the panelists and a Kosher dinner for Rabbi Rossenbaum and his wife. We finalized the date with Norman Ross Jr., a respected TV moderator. The attendance on that stormy winter night was about 700 people, including 40 Catholic nuns who were cloistered. After a most successful, enlightening discussion, we distributed assessment queries to the audience. Their positive response gave rise to the formation of our North Shore Interfaith Lay Committee composed of representatives of a wide variety from churches and synagogues.
We met, dialogued, socialized and dreamed together of bringing greater understanding among differing faith groups and reflected deeply on the teachings of Leviticus 19:18 "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (NIV) and Jesus' teachings from Matthew 22: 37-39 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself " (NIV).
P.S And thanks be to God our senior Rabbi did appear at the meeting. And to our knowledge the Pandora's box lid was not opened.
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