Together with the Jack Pearlstone Institute for Living Judaism, the ICJS sponsored an evening on March 9^th with Rabbi Law-rence Kushner and Dr. Mary Jo Leddy, two scholars deeply grounded in the spiritual disciplines of their respective tra-ditions of Judaism and Catholicism. They brought their considerable learning and experience to bear on the challenge of uncovering the rich resources of their religious cultures in a contemporary context.

Kushner used personal life-stories to illustrate that "Jewish spirituality" is revealed in action more than in statements of belief. He chose three words to express the heart of his spiritual tradition: Torah, Mitzvah, and Teshuvah. Torah is "the way of all being . . . what is going on in God's mind." Torah reveals what exists inside us; therefore Jews learn who thay are in the study of Torah. Mitzvah is not so much a "commandment" as the free response of one who is in love, an act that carries us outside of our normal self-centeredness. Teshuvah conveys "I'm sorry" in two senses: in the conven-tional sense it highlights the attitude of repentance; in the cosmic sense, it involves going back to who God created us to be. Kushner believes he hears teshuvah when Christians speak of Jesus. Kushner suggested that there are profound implications for the Jewish-Christian encounter in this psycho-spiritual gesture of returning to the Source, letting go of waywardness and sin, and discovering the light within.

Leddy critiqued North American culture for its loss of common vision, its lack of motivating myth, metaphor, and meaning. She pointed out that in a consumer society, where there is never "enough," people eventually see themselves as not "enough," causing a pervasive sense of inadequacy. Spirituality is ambiguous in a context where seekers on the spiritual quest see themselves as "consumers." On the one hand, the contemporary spiritual search fosters openness and desire for meaning. On the other hand, religion is expected to deliver liberal self-development or conservative law-and-order. Like Kushner, Leddy emphasized that talk is insufficient. It is only by living as Jesus would, she noted, that Christians come to know who he is and who they are called to be. From the clear portrayal of "God and creature" in the Book of Genesis, we recognize that our very lives are a gift. Leddy exhorted her audience to embrace a sense of gratitude, one which tells us that what God has given is "enough," and to demonstrate our gratitude to the world by our actions. She concluded that Jews and Christians must engage one another for the sake of the name of God, who is always faithful and has not rejected any one or any group of us. Whatever the problems of this age or this dialogue, God is and remains faithful.