Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania

A group of Christian and Jewish clergy and scholars have formed an intensive study group, and completed their first session.  The group has begun with a study of the book Isaiah.  For logistical points, please send an email to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Informal Minutes of the first meeting written by Rabbi Carl Choper:

THE FIRST SESSION of our Intensive Study Group met on August 25, 2009 to begin our study of Isaiah.

We discussed how we might go about approaching a study of the book in a way that could facilitate Jewish-Christian dialogue.  Even within either tradition there are various issues that we need to navigate, including the questions around authorship.  Modern scholarship asserts two or three Isaiahs, but Jewish tradition and Christian tradition both assumed one Isaiah when each tradition interpreted and applied the book in its own ways.

Both traditions make heavy use of Isaiah liturgically, and especially in connection to major annual seasons.  Verses of Isaiah are regularly used in daily liturgy, and entire sections are read liturgically during Advent and Lent, and before and after Tisha B’Av and on Yom Kippur, and many other times.

The meaning of certain specific sections of Isaiah are hotly contested between Jewish and Christian tradition, but with the development of modern scholarship the meaning of various parts of Isaiah may also be contested within each tradition as well.  We discussed the need to try to understand the Book – and fragments of the Book – from the perspective of different audiences throughout history.  We listed hearing the text(s) of Isaiah from the perspective of:

• The audiences in the First Temple period before the Babylonian Destruction;
• The audiences during the Exilic and post-Exilic period;
• In its earlier pieces;
• In its form redacted as we have it now, but before the end of the Second Temple period;
• As interpreted by Rabbinic Jewish tradition;
• As interpreted by Christian scripture and tradition;
• As interpreted by modern critical scholarship;
• As we hear it now as contemporary Christians and Jews.

Other points that we touched upon:

• A transmitted text, while seemingly fixed in print, has to be seen as something fluid;
• The words of a prophet can possibly mean something other than even that prophet knew them to mean;
• That Zion and Jerusalem are central themes of the Book of Isaiah, and yet the destruction of Jerusalem while assumed is never mentioned.
• We should not overlook the many images in art history that are derived from Isaiah.

WE DECIDED that as we proceed, each time we meet we will focus on a specific section of the Book.

We can each prepare in advance for that session not only by reading that section, but whatever other parts of the book provide context to that particular section.  We can also each read and bring whatever particular commentaries we have or may obtain that can help illuminate that particular section from the perspective of its various audiences.

AFTER EACH SESSION two summaries of our discussion can be written, one from a Jewish perspective and one from a Christian perspective.  These summaries can be posted on the website of The Religion and Society Center so that the wider circle of people who are becoming involved in these dialogues can read them and respond.  The responses themselves will also become part of the dialogue of our Intensive Study Group as well as the wider group.

We will plan for another luncheon dialogue series with a wider group in the form of a “Lenten Dialogue.”  By then, we expect our dialogue will have produced enough material for us to build another face-to-face series around.

Plans are in the works for a weblog.  If there are any persons in your circles or congregations who have an interest in this effort and the technical expertise to hep us with a website and blog, please put them in touch with Rabbi Carl Choper, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .