Informal conversations with the Jewish community began in 1966. Formal dialogue with the bodies of the National Council of Synagogues (NCS) began in 1977 under the auspices of the Synagogue Council of America (SCA). In 1987, relations continued with the NCS as the successor of the SCA.

The National Council of Synagogues includes a variety of Jewish organizations from the Reconstructionist, Reform, and Conservative movements, including the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, the Rabbinical Assembly, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

Dialogue topics have included issues of common concern, such as moral education in public schools, pornography, holocaust revisionism, the death penalty, religious hatred, and children and the environment. The dialogue group has also had the opportunity to explore theological concept such as covenant and mission from both perspectives.

The dialogue with the National Council of Synagogues continues to meet semi-annually under the direction of Rabbi David Straus, Executive Director of the National Council of Synagogues and the Most Rev. Wilton D. Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, D.C. Rebecca Cohen currently staffs this dialogue for the SEIA.

Documents and News Releases Produced by the Dialogue

Link to our dialogue partner: National Council of Synagogues