Peacemaking as Muslim-Jewish Co-Production Under God: The (A)political Theology of Rabbi Menachem Froman

How do various religious groups from Late Antiquity to the Medieval period conceptualize divine will and how do those notions change once these groups begin using explicitly philosophical reasoning? As I reflect over the course of this year on how ideas often moved across faith lines despite the enmity that existed at times between the religious groups, I find it helpful of think of a near-contemporary religious figure who both prescribed and performed this mode of engagement across difference. This essay presents the (a)political theology of Rabbi Menachem Froman, whose approach to peacemaking I find deeply thought-provoking and worthy of study in its own right. It depicts a devout Jew who emphasized what he held in common with his religious Muslim neighbors, and who often adopted their language and embrace of their love of the Land alongside his own. This case study opens new directions in thinking about how religious communities interact and think together. For my particular research interests, the proposition that emphasizing God and not denomination as ultimate authority allows for greater sense of shared purpose with religious counterparts is a shared feature of Rabbi Froman’s thought and Jewish-Christian-Muslim medieval scholasticism.