SCJR 12, no. 1 (2017): 1-2   

 

 

Silvina Chemen and Franciso Canzani 

A Dialogue of Life: Towards the  

Encounter of Jews and Christians 
(New York: New City Press of the Focolare and the  

Jewish Theological Seminary, 2015), paperback, xii + 189 pp. 

 

 
MARCUS BRAYBROOKE 

marcusbraybrooke4@gmail.com 

World Congress of Faiths, London, W1T 4PW, UK 

 

 

This book was a welcome surprise. I expected another summary of the key 

developments in Christian-Jewish dialogue, such as are found in statements by 

various churches. Instead, the book focuses on the dynamics of interreligious dia-

logue itself, which Silvina Chemen and Francisco Canzani have discovered in 

their long partnership. Another welcome surprise is that in the book we hear voic-

es from Latin America. 

Rabbi Silvina Chemen studied education at the University of Buenos Aires 

and then attended rabbinical school. She now serves a congregation in Buenos 

Aires. Francisco Canzani grew up in Uruguay and now teaches Ecumenical The-

ology at the University of Montevideo. A consecrated lay person, he has been 

much influenced by the Catholic Focolare Movement, which was founded by 

Chiara Lubich and which emphasizes dialogue as an important contribution to 

building a better world. In some sections, the authors express their own views; 

other sections are jointly authored. 

Francisco begins by emphasizing the importance of interreligious dialogue, 

which involves a “dual allegiance” (p. 28) of loyalty to the gifts that God has giv-

en us in our respective traditions and “faithfulness to the project of universal 

brotherhood that God harbors for humanity” (p. 30). Silvina speaks of dialogue as 

“our hope for healing.” The authors largely focus on methodologies of Jewish-

Christian dialogue (such as overcoming stereotypes and the relationship between 

intrareligious and interreligious dialogue) and discuss some of the stumbling 

blocks (such as concerns about missionizing). The starting point is to build trust. 

Silvina makes clear that this takes time and “requires perseverance, commitment 

and some risk” (p. 47). (I learned this myself as a member of the Manor House 

Group in Britain, which hosted a regular dialogue of Jewish and Christian clergy 

for nearly ten years, though larger, less frequent dialogues have both a symbolic 

importance and promote practical co-operation in the search for peace and the 

protection of human rights.)  



               

               Braybrooke: Chemen and Canzani’s A Dialogue of Life                                       2 
 

 

                   

Silvina and Francisco insist that real listening is essential: “Without listening, 

we don’t understand and will never get close to the other” (p. 69). This message 

is reinforced in the Afterword. They quote the Argentinian Archbishop of Resis-

tencia, the Most Reverend Ramon Alfredo Dus, who says “Without silence, 

words lose density and content… We allow the one before us to speak and ex-

press himself by being silent instead of clinging to our words and ideas” (p. 177). 

Rabbi Daniel Goldman of the Community of Beth El in Buenos Aires, in his “Ten 

Principles for Dialogue,” emphasizes the personal nature of the “I-Thou” relation-

ship. He quotes the story Martin Buber told of a time when he was a university 

counselor and a young student shared with him his feelings of despair: “Busy 

with other matters, Buber did not give much importance to the conversation. The 

next day he read in the university newspaper that his student had committed sui-

cide” (p. 171). 

They give considerable attention to the art of asking questions of others with 

sensitivity. It is particularly important not to make the other feel defensive. Sil-

vina recounts her experience being asked, following a talk she had given in a 

Catechetical Seminary, “Why don’t you believe in Jesus Christ?” She replied, 

“This question does not do any good to anyone. Do you intend… to draw us apart 

again?...We have learned not to slap with a question” (p. 85). Dialogue, they in-

sist, does not involve any dilution of a person’s beliefs. Still, many people find 

their perspectives and self-understanding change as they participate in dialogue. 

For example, as Christians have learned more about Jews and Judaism, the views 

of individual Christians and the teachings of the churches have changed, as Rabbi 

Jack Bemporand, the Director of the Centre for Interreligious Understanding in 

New Jersey, makes clear in his Prologue.  

In light of this focus, they are less interested in historical or theological is-

sues. Different ways of thinking theologically in the rabbinic and the Christian 

traditions (the latter much influenced by Greek philosophical ideas) are largely 

ignored, though this may explain some continuing tensions in Jewish-Christian 

relations. (For works that grapple with this divide, evident for example in Chris-

tian creeds, see Mary Boys’ Has God Only One Blessing? [2000] or Hans Küng’s 

Judaism [1992].) It is not, however, the purpose of this book to discuss such 

questions. Its approach is more practical, and it will be very helpful for those 

starting a dialogue group. Even for those with long experience of dialogue, the 

book will encourage them to look self-critically at their own approach. Indeed, as 

one woman said after she had heard talks by Silvina and Francisco, their insights 

are “useful not only for interreligious dialogue, but also for all other dialogues, in 

our homes, in our jobs. How many times we pretend we are listening while all we 

are doing is preparing our response” (pp. 168-69). 

 

(The book was first published in Spanish as Un Diálogo Para la Vida: Haciael 

Encuentro Emtre Judios y Cristianos: A dos Voces y al Unison, Buenos Aires: 

Ciudad Nueva, 2013.)