The “mir” in Smireni transfers from the more-known Russian word for peace, and “Smireni” means “reconciliation”.
An amazing demonstration of forethought and planning, this conference is! Jewish traditional songs on the P.A. system, scenes from Israel flashing on the screen, and live Jewish music, bordering on the klezmer style.
On the opening night, a German woman – the first speaker – brought tears to many eyes as she linked the purpose of the conference to Jesus’ story of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. What have we done, or not, to the least.
Walter’s opening comments set a tone as well, and a couple of passages from that:
“Some might think: “What can a reconciliation or peace conference like this one ever really accomplish? We are a small town in a small country! How can the words and acts of our small community hope to influence the greater political global situation? … When I encounter such pessimistic attitudes, the words of Rabbi Tarphon, a 2nd century Talmudic Jewish sage from Israel, comes to mind. He used to say, “The work is not upon thee to finish, but neither are thou free to desist from it.”
“Many years ago, I had the privilege to participate at an international conference on the Old Testament, in Rome. My major professor … introduced me, still a theology student, to Augustin Cardinal Bea, during the reception. After hearing about my interest in Jewish-Christian dialogue, Cardinal Bea took me aside and said to me: “Young man, remember this: Jews and Christians will not succeed to bridge their differences until Jews honestly dig down to the bedrock of their faith and until Christians dig down to the bedrock of their faith. Once they’ll have done so, they will discover that they stand on the same rock! And only at that point will they realize that, in fact, they are brothers and sisters.” [Applause]
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