The World Council of Churches and the Theology of Christian-Jewish Relations

This essay explores the approach of the World Council of Churches (WCC) to the theological questions involved in Jewish-Christian relations, while also noting connections between these questions and political factors. The first part focuses on WCC assemblies. At Amsterdam in 1948, a brief document emphasized four key issues: the relationship of the Jewish people to God and to the Church; antisemitism; mission; and the State of Israel. At subsequent assemblies, especially after 1967, with attention focusing on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the plight of the Palestinians, theological discussion of these questions was avoided. The second part of the essay turns to the discussion of these four questions at other levels of the WCC, also considering the wider context of this discussion in the varied approaches developed among WCC member churches. A major theme throughout the essay is that because of the spectrum of ecclesiastical and regional affiliations across member churches, theological discussion of these questions has been controversial within the WCC. If its output in this field of theological work has therefore understandably been limited in comparison with that of some member churches and ecumenical partners, the WCC does nevertheless have a unique capacity to play a convening role for discussion of these difficult questions between Christians of different traditions and from very different political contexts.     

Psychological Distress and Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Jewish Adolescents Following a Brief Exposure to Concentration Camps

We investigated the psychological impact of an organized visit to Polish concentration camps on Jewish-American adolescents. Eighty-seven adolescents who participated in a B'nai B'rith memorial visit to concentration camps in Poland completed measures of general psychological adjustment and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at four time-points: pretest, posttest, 6-month follow-up and 12-month follow-up. Measures included the SCL-90-R, the Mississippi Scale for PTSD, and the Impact of Events Scale (IES) for PTSD. On the SCL-90-R, changes in somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, depression, anxiety, and phobic anxiety were observed over time, with peak symptom scores at posttest and 6-month follow-up. Scores on the Mississippi Scale for PTSD and the IES Intrusion subscale also increased at 6-months. Predictors of PTSD symptoms on the Mississippi Scale included previous psychiatric treatment and SCL-90-R symptoms of paranoia, depression, and psychosis. Elevated psychotic symptoms on the SCL-90-R predicted PTSD symptoms on the IES. Jewish adolescents with preexisting symptoms of generalized distress or psychoticism appeared at increased risk for PTSD symptoms following exposure to Holocaust stimuli. This study contributes a prospective, multi-measure assessment of trauma reactions in adolescents.     

The West Bank “Alternative Peace Movement” and its transnational infrastructure: a case study in “primordialist universalism”

This article provides an overview and theorization of the “Alternative Peace Movement” (APM), a transnational education and advocacy network based in the West Bank. Emerging in the troubled context of current Israel-diaspora relations and US campus politics, the APM promotes a syncretic Jewish identity narrative and boundary-crossing political programme. Drawing on a content and discourse analysis of the movement’s online documentation, as well as interviews with movement leaders, participants, and allies, the article outlines the APM’s infrastructure and discourse, and provides an historical backdrop and set of theoretical tools for rendering comprehensible the movement’s seeming contradictions and incoherencies. It describes the APM as a case study in “primordialist universalism,” a political orientation that aims to pursue civic and human rights of a universal character by inhabiting a “hard” ethnonational subjectivity and discursive frame. The concept of primordialist universalism offers social scientists a tool for making sense of hybrid social phenomena that confound traditional categories of political analysis.     

Visions as ‘Good to Think’: A Cognitive Approach to Visionary Experience in Islamic Sufi Thought

This article explores one type of visionary experience described and interpreted by mystics within certain traditions, which may be termed a ‘cognitive’ or ‘gnostic’ vision. Such visions provide information or offer solutions to problems of theology or religious interpretation.

A close textual analysis of a selection from the writings of an eighteenth century Indian Sufi, Shāh Wal? Allāh of Delhi, demonstrates this process of intensive thinking through superimposed grids which combine elements of religious symbol systems. This type of thinking triggers a mystical experience which is subsequently interpreted in a problem solving or divinatory mode.     

Harmful Ideas,The Structure and Consequences of Anti‐Semitic Beliefs in Poland

The harmfulness of anti‐Semitic beliefs is widely discussed in current political and legal debates (e.g., Cutler v. Dorn). At the same time, empirical studies of the psychological consequences of such beliefs are scarce. The present research is an attempt to explore the structure of contemporary anti‐Semitic beliefs in Poland—and to evaluate their predictive role in discriminatory intentions and behavior targeting Jews. Another aim was to determine dispositional, situational, and identity correlates of different forms of anti‐Semitic beliefs and behavior. Study 1, performed on a nation‐wide representative sample of Polish adults (N = 979), suggests a three‐factorial structure of anti‐Semitic beliefs, consisting of: (1) belief in Jewish conspiracy, (2) traditional religious anti‐Judaic beliefs, and (3) secondary anti‐Semitic beliefs, focusing on Holocaust commemoration. Of these three beliefs, belief in Jewish conspiracy was the closest antecedent of anti‐Semitic behavioral intentions. Study 2 (N = 600 Internet users in Poland) confirmed the three‐factor structure of anti‐Semitic beliefs and proved that these beliefs explain actual behavior toward Jews in monetary donations. Both studies show that anti‐Semitic beliefs are related to authoritarian personality characteristics, victimhood‐based social identity, and relative deprivation.     

The Use of Rituals in Grieving for a Miscarriage or Stillbirth

Abstract

Preparation for their changing roles in family and society, as well as readying their intimate space for the arrival of an infant, totally engage expectant parents. Miscarriage or stillbirth may bring on a grief storm that strips away many tender roots and branches of new life in the community that the parents have been nurturing. Creation and participation in a grief ritual can bring the grieving parents to a healing resolution. This article describes the healing efficacy of ritual, its elements, and how a compassionate therapist can create one in collaboration with grieving clients.     

Riding the Currents

Abstract

The overlapping, numinous roles of child therapist and mother demand focused compassion, connection and humility. Spiritual dimensions of Intention, Balance, and Integrity are examined as vehicles for “riding the currents” of energy available for nurturing and healing tasks. Archetypal and religious sources of passion and perspective are explored and applied to anecdotal family, dream and case materials. The psychoanalytic concept of a mother's reverie is extended to address a mother's role in supporting growth by mediating between the personal and the Universal. Multiple roles of offering and receiving personal and professional nurturance suggest approaches to replacing depletion with replenishment.     

Between Private and Public Sectors

This article validates Simon Kuznets’ argument that minorities prefer the private sector to the public sector in order to avoid discrimination. Based on new archival findings, comparative interethnic research shows that majority Greek civil engineers in the interwar years developed close, interlocking relations with the government and national institutions, which elevated their socio-professional status. Despite the absence of anti-Jewish legislation, this process effectively excluded equally qualified Jewish engineers from Greek-controlled power networks and employment. The Greek nationalistic climate of the times permeated the civil engineers’ professional associations and Greece's one higher educational institution (National Technical University of Athens) of engineering. As the professional networks consolidated to protect their interests, Jewish civil engineers and architects, employers and employees alike, were effectively shut out with no possibility of benefitting from professional integration or association with the mainstream community of civil engineers. Jewish civil engineers were, therefore, channelled into restricting their services to Jewish clients and community projects. However, with the newly developing large-scale armaments industries in the 1930s, Jews opted to train as chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineers to fill positions in family-owned firms (as did their fellow Greeks), and also found employment in lower paying jobs that Greek engineers considered unattractive in state-owned facilities.