Jewish religious education as peace education: from crisis to opportunity.

Samuel Huntington is famous for having used the phrase ‘clash of civilizations’. Many other observers of the geopolitical scene have suggested that the reality is more like a clash ‘within civilizations’, and that the response to this should lie in discovering the resources within each cultural tradition that could inform a more peaceful outlook. For some time, within the Middle East, questions have been raised as to whether the great religious traditions of the region are only a factor promoting extremism and violence or could also be ‘tools for peace’. This article looks at Jewish religious education as a test case, considering what resources are available in classical Jewish sources for a more open, peaceful perspective. The question is raised as to why there seem to be relatively few religious Jews in the ‘Peace Camp’ in Israel, but what steps could be taken, at least from an educational point of view, to change that situation. Part of the solution lies in developing a new balance between the particular and the universal, between Jewish identity and openness towards the Other. The author, an Orthodox Jew, draws upon her own personal experiences both as a senior Jewish educator and as an active participant in inter‐religious and inter‐group dialogues, both in Israel and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]