The kinship between Jews and Mormons is being stoked at the new Center for Jewish Studies at Utah Valley State College.
Through classes, lecture series and public forums the center is trying to build bridges of understanding between the two faiths, which both assert a relationship to the house of Israel and have histories shaped by persecution.The impetus for the center came from Marlene Telford. She grew acquainted with Jewish culture and history while working in the garment industry in California.
Six years ago, after moving to Utah, Telford was asked to teach a gospel doctrine class on the Old Testament at her Mormon ward.
"As a youngster I felt that was the most boring book I'd read," Telford said. "All I could remember were the begats, the begats, the begats."
But she was mesmerized by Jewish history as she researched material for her class. Telford whet her interest in the subject by completing a major in Near Eastern studies at Brigham Young University.
Telford then figured if she was so entranced with Jewish history, other Mormons must be. In 1993, she proposed setting up the center at the college.
She received support from UVSC President Kerry Romes-burg and gathered an illustrious group of people willing to get the center rolling.
"The thrust of the center is to further understanding of the Jewish people, Judaism and the land of Israel among the peoples of Utah," Telford said.
The center's 25 board directors include David Galbraith, a Brigham Young University professor and former director of the school's Jerusalem Center; Victor Ludlow, a BYU professor of ancient scripture; Joe Cannon, Geneva Steel magnate and the largest gentile donor to the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.; businessman Jack Solomon, who also serves as a trustee for Hebrew University; Wayne Nelson, president of HealthCost Management Foundation of Utah; Laurence Loeb, a University of Utah professor and cantor at the Kol Ami synagogue; and L.K. Abbott, executive director of the National Conference for Christians and Jews.
UVSC provides a perfect home for the center, Telford said. The college is dynamic and growing. It is close to but distinct from BYU, which has taken a broad approach through its center for international studies. The U. is home to a center for Middle Eastern studies.
Recent headlines about graduation exercises at West High School show there is definitely a need for interfaith dialogue, Telford said.
"If we really want results in terms of understanding, then it must come from the heart, not directives mandated by law, governments, courts or coercion," Telford said. "And each mistake must be overlooked with a smile and forgiveness, not attacked through allegations of false assumptions. It is time to heal."
Board member Jack Solomon, who has lived in Utah 15 years, said there is "no place in the world where the Christian community has been so supportive of the Jewish people and Judaism."
In fact, Brigham Young donated the land for the Jewish community's cemetery. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also donated money to help built the synagogue Montfesiore in Salt Lake City. In 1903, when the synagogue was dedicated, then-LDS Church President George Fielding Smith gave an address.
"This community has been very, very interested in Judaism and the Old Testament," Solomon said. "The center will satisfy a worthwhile purpose so both groups can get to know more about each other and their common heritage."
After all, Solomon said, the two groups share not just a common heritage, but a similar landscape: in both Utah and Israel, a Jordan River joins a body of fresh water to a body of salt water.
Through the center, Telford has taught a class on Jewish history. The center also offered a mini-lecture series last year on "What is a Jew?" and this year on "Zionism and the state of Israel." Guest speakers at the lectures have included Harris Lenowitz, a Hebrew-language scholar at the University of Utah and Rabbi Frederick Wenger of Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City.
Telford's "hidden agenda" is to eventually bring a Jewish historian to lead the center and through Ednet, reach out to other schools in the state - no Utah institution has a Jewish historian on staff. She also hopes the center will become a "home" for Jews to come to in the future to lecture and teach.