Psalm 34:14 commands us: "Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." Paul instructs us: "If it be possible...live peaceably with all men" (Romans 12:18). Jesus assures us: "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9).

Sarajevo's Jews Set Example of Promoting Peace
Taken From Winter, 1996 journal, Restore!

A very interesting story that can serve as an example for those who seek to bring about dialogue among competing factions througout the world--whether they be Christians and Jews in the western world, Jews and Moslems in the Middle East, Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, or a hundred other embattled peoples around the world--was reported in major newspapers recently.

Sarajevo, that once-majestic city of peace and tranquility that has been shattered by violent confrontation between "Christian" Serbs and Muslim Bosnians, has been the scene of efforts on the part of its Jewish community to bridge gaps of communication and work toward the welfare of the entire community. It is the Jews' vision to help lead their city's multicultural rebirth.

At the end of last year, the Jews of Sarajevo joined in their annual celebration of Hanukkah*, remembering that the first Hanukkah was celebrated in remembrance of their survival of a great war in l65 B.C.E. In that year, after thay had survived the vicious attempt of Antiochius Epiphanes, the Selucid emperor, to impose by force the Hellenic culture and religion upon the entire Jewish state, the Maccabees led a celebration of hope and rededication in which the Menorah of the temple miraculously burned for eight days on a one-day supply of consecrated oil. Those Jews of ancient times were survivors, whose hearts were filled with hope and not despair. Their counterparts today manifest that same quality wherever they are and in whatever difficult situation they find themselves.

As Sarajevo's Jewish population celebrated Hanukkah, they held out the same hope that the war in Bosnia would end and that the entire population could return to normalcy. They were continuing in the same posture that they had maintained throughout the war. One of the oldest elements of Sarajevo's multi-ethnic fabric, the Jewish community spent the entire war as a conduit between the warring factions. It also served as a bridge bewteen those trapped in the city and friends and family elsewhere. The Jews resolved very early on in the conflict to respect all sides in the fighting in a bid to give Sarajevo at least one ethnic anchor for its future. They drew from the lessons that Jews and others in Yugoslavia had learned during World War II. The ethnic cleansing, rape, and persecution of the Muslims and others during this current war were not lost on the Jews whose parents had experienced even greater atrocities during the "final solution" of the Holocaust.

"We knew that we had to show a good example of how to live together through all of this," noted Igor Gaon, director of the Jewish center in Sarajevo. "We told people that we will care about the man and his child, not his religion."

As the war intensified, the Jewish community established a soup kitchen that served over three hundred meals per day. It helped collect mail to send out of Sarajevo. It supported hospitals and distributed medicine in all areas. It also used radio to transmit messages from residents to relatives in other countries.

Throughout the time of the war, convoys of trucks bringing supplies for the Jewish humanitarian organization, La Benevolencia, were rarely stopped by either side of the conflict. Jews also had little trouble coming and going from the city.

The Jewish people have historically been a peace-loving people who have sought to bring about improved relations among the communities in which they have lived around the world. They have been successful in maintaining the equilibrium of remaining faithful to their faith while at the same time being conciliatory toward people of other faiths.

As Christianity becomes more and more an embattled minority in secularized society, believers can learn valuable lessons for the strategies of survival and faith that the Jewish people have employed during their nearly two millennia of struggle against overwhelming odds. Christians must learn the art of dialogue and diplomacy. This is true not only in interfaith dialogue, but also in interdenominational dialogue within the Christian community. Christian faith must not be compromised in the "feel-good" quest for a syncretized world religion that is no religion at all; however, Christians must position themselves to communicate the gospel effectively and diplomatically.

Psalm 34:14 commands us: "Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Paul instructs us: "If it be possible . . . live peaceably with all men" (Romans 12:18). Jesus assures us: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). Let us resolve to break down barriers of communication and create opportunities for dailogue not only with our Jewish neighbors but also with all men everywhere.

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