I found most challenging, provocative, and interesting the work of the ICJS National Jewish Scholars Project -- both the Dabru Emet statement and the volume, Christianity in Jewish Terms, which ICJS so kindly provided to all Consultation participants. Jewish responses to the profound post-Holocaust revaluation of Judaism and the Jewish roots of Christianity by many Christian churches have sometimes appeared to be asymmetrical: "We indeed have much to teach you about us, now that you are sincerely interested, but little to learn from you." (At one level this is a caricature, since liberal Jewish movements in particular historically have learned much from their Christian counterparts in areas ranging from the language and rhetoric of theological discourse to biblical criticism to liturgical aesthetics and ritual theory and creativity. But with the resurgence in the 1970s and '80s of ethnic pride and religious traditionalism -- both American cultural phenomena not limited to Jews -- Jews have often turned inward, seeking their identity in opposition to the "Other.") The ICJS National Jewish Scholars Project papers suggest, in contrast, the appropriateness of a Jewish theological response to Christian openness, and that this should register in seminary education. This is a significant challenge -- first of all, for many Jews to recover theological language in a secular-driven culture (the responses will be different across the Jewish religious spec-trum), then to apply this language to an understanding of, and engagement with, Christianity in its multiple forms. There are, of course, no deliberative bodies in the Jewish world that can issue pronouncements with the same degree of authority as in the more hierarchical of the Christian denominations. The Jewish authors of Dabru Emet, all academics, themselves acknowledge that they are not speaking on behalf of any Jewish institutional bodies, so the various Jewish religious movements in North America must be involved in the process.

Most challenging, perhaps, is to move the insights gained by academics, religious leaders, and seminarians -- both Christian and Jewish -- out into the pews. Many rank-and-file Jews and Christians, when push comes to shove, simply fall back on the old negative stereotypes and mythologies imbibed as children. Herein lies, I believe, our greatest educational and culture-reforming challenge. I am grateful to the ICJS for the high level of its commitment and work in these areas.

Richard Sarason is Professor of Rabbinical Literature and Thought at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati.