When they first hear about interfaith dialogue, many people are skeptical and hesitant about participating. For some, the idea of interfaith dialogue raises questions about their own religious understanding: "I’m not very knowledgeable or well-grounded in my own faith; maybe they’ll try to convert me." For others, interfaith dialogue seems like an effort to reach consensus: "Consensus will water down my ideas, and then I will become like everyone else." There are those who ask: "Can I really learn something important about my religious tradition from someone in another faith community?"

While such concerns are understandable, my experience does not bear out their anxieties. Let me begin with a story, a midrash, from my own religious tradition that may help explain why I think these concerns are unfounded. In the creation story in Torah (Genesis 1:27) we read, "So God created man in his image ..." The Jewish sages of the Talmud (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5) elaborate on this text to differentiate between God the Creator and King of the Universe, and the nature of a human king. The Rabbis say that when an earthly king mints coins for his realm, the best that he can achieve is coins that are exact replicas of each other. However, when God creates man, everyone from the same basic "stuff," each human is unique and special in the universe.

People participating in interfaith dialogue bring to the table their own unique stories -- their personal histories and life-experiences -- as they understand and interpret them through the lens of their own religious tradition.

Interfaith dialogue, as we practiced it in the ICJS Congre-gational Project, is text-based. We read a biblical text, and we discuss it. Each person’s approach to the text is unique. In this way, we read ourselves into the text, and we share our own perspectives on the text’s meaning. We hone and refine our beliefs, and in the process, we clarify our understanding of our respective faith traditions. Interfaith dialogue does not lead to conversion. On the contrary, it leads to self-affirmation.

Most importantly, with dialogue comes the recognition of our common humanity: we are, each of us, and all of us, created in the image of God. Therefore, at the very least, each of us deserves to be respected. In interfaith dialogue, respect translates into careful listening. This does not necessarily lead to consensus, but rather to recognition that other approaches to the text are also valid and meaningful. Under optimal conditions, dialogue creates the opportunity for "peak" experi-ences in learning and understanding. To illustrate, let me share something from my own experience in interfaith dialogue.

Several years ago, during the Bill Moyers series, Genesis: A Living Conversation, I was in a congregational study group with an African-American woman. We were studying the story of Sara and Hagar. She strongly identified with Hagar as a mistreated servant, and with deep emotion shared slave stories of her own ancestors. I had always had a sense of the unfairness of the way Hagar was treated in the story, but this woman’s elaboration and personalization on this Biblical text truly jarred me. The text didn’t change, but my understanding of that text deepened in ways I would not otherwise have appreciated or imagined.

Interfaith dialogue can have a profound impact on its participants. I understand this best by the verse from Exodus 33:11: "God would speak to Moses panim el panim (face to face), as one man speaks to another." The imperative is clear: to increase God’s presence in our midst, we must speak to one another panim el panim.