Jews and Waldensians: a dialogue to keep open

In Turin and Piedmont, there is a long-standing tradition of closeness and friendship between the Jewish and Waldensian communities, stemming from several factors: their shared status as religious minorities emancipated in 1848, the physical proximity of their respective places of worship and associated centers in Turin, and numerous jointly organized events and opportunities for dialogue and exchange.
This is a vibrant relationship that has never been broken, even though dialogue on certain issues—particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—has seemed more difficult in recent times. I do not believe it would be accurate to speak of diverging opinions between the two communities, as neither is internally monolithic. We might perhaps speak of differing sensibilities—or, more precisely, the sensibilities of the majority within each group. For instance, one cannot deny that a proposal such as awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the children of Gaza—which appears to overlook the suffering of Israeli children killed or kidnapped on October 7, or otherwise caught up in the conflict—raises serious concerns within the Jewish community. It is important to emphasize, however, that these differences in sensibility have never prevented dialogue and joint activities from continuing on other matters.
For this reason, the decisions reached at the recently concluded Synod of the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches are of great interest to us. We are particularly pleased that the Synod expressed itself clearly and unequivocally against all forms of antisemitism and reaffirmed its commitment to Jewish-Christian dialogue. This is by no means a foregone conclusion, given that in many contexts, the true scale of antisemitism is not fully grasped. Thus, the mere fact that this issue was discussed at the Synod is undoubtedly a positive development. The President of the Jewish Community of Turin, Dario Disegni, congratulated the newly elected Moderator, William Jourdan, and invited him to attend the upcoming European Day of Jewish Culture. Pastor Jourdan will be unable to attend due to prior commitments but expressed a hope to meet soon.

Anna Segre