One a file cabinet in my office is a magnet that shows the portion of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel fresco in which God imparts life to Adam. The magnet depicts God and Adam ex-tending hands to one another. Between their hands is a space. One might see it as an empty space. Or one might describe it as that space within which the potential for the divine spark of creation exists: a space that holds the moment when a connection is about to occur and life is to be created.

When I think of the ICJS's recent Congregational Project, "Wrestling With Angels: Texts of Transformation in a Violent World," I think of that image. Held at Beth El Congregation on four consecutive Tuesday evenings, attendees were divided into fourteen tables randomly arranged to provide a balance of Christian and Jewish participants. At each table participants were asked to reflect upon scriptural passages from both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and to answer a series of thought-provoking questions about them. Seemingly, it was a rather academic exercise. Some might have considered it Bible study. Its goal was to surface differing interpretations of the texts by Christians and Jews in order to create greater understanding of the texts and, hopefully, new understandings of the "other."

What was it about the encounter at my table and at many other tables that made so many participants express their pro-found appreciation for this program? What was it that created a particular "energy" among participants that so excited and enriched them that they returned each week to continue the conversation? What was it that created "the community" described by one of the participants?

I think it was the divine spark of connection created in the moment when Christians and Jews were skillfully led to study together and, in the process, to learn about one another. Through the expert facilitation of ICJS panelists Executive Director Chris Leighton, ICJS Scholars Rosann Catalano and Joel Zaiman, and the Reverend Grady Yeargin, a safe and sacred space was created for individuals to speak their thoughts, their understandings, and their questions about the texts presented. Participants were able to listen willingly and genuinely, to consider the thoughts of the "other," and to reflect upon their own faith tradition as well as their limited knowledge of the other tradition. A space was created within which the divine spark of creation could occur. I recall an aphorism, "Together, through our words, we create a new world." Is that not what can and does occur at the tables of the Congregational Project?

The Congregational Project is the most grassroots program offered by the ICJS. It is a pedagogically innovative master-piece, honed after many years of practice and ongoing consideration by ICJS scholars and guest scholars. It has been born and continues to grow from a deep place within the heart of the ICJS. It is tended caringly. It challenges and energizes intellectually and spiritually. For me, as for many participants, it exemplifies the very best of the noble work of the ICJS.

   "The exchange was stimulating, enlightening and exciting. I greatly value the opportunity to embrace and celebrate the diversity of our faith traditions to better understand ourselves and each other. I look forward to the next opportunity to study with the ICJS."