For both the LDS and Jewish cultures, many words are the same: Zion, Gentile, New Jerusalem, temple, prophet.
But the meaning of those words is often a world apart. Finding common ground requires more than a dictionary. It requires someone with a sense of history, a sense of people and a sense of humor.For many, Daniel Rona, the self-described Jewish-Mormon-American-Israeli, fills the bill nicely.
As the torch-bearer for the non-profit Ensign Foundation, Rona has made it his goal to forge strong links between the Jewish and Mormon worlds.
And over the years he's become quite a blacksmith.
Born Daniel Denis Rosenthal in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1941, Rona moved to New York City with his father when he just a boy. There, he set about to find his heart and make sense of his new world.
When the older Rona came across an LDS congregation meeting in a New York synagogue, he felt he'd come home. Or, in LDS parlance, he felt "the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph" had united inside of him.
Today, when Daniel teaches about about the two cultures, Rona views the traditions as one seamless piece of cloth. And he sees them that way because he's blended them so completely within himself.
"I don't feel any tension between Judaism and Mormonism," Rona says. "I know many LDS people think there must be. But for me, it's very natural. Some LDS professors have asked why I don't give up Judaism and simply be a Mormon. I tell them 'I don't have to.' For me, one represents the ancient covenant, the other is the New and Everlasting Covenant. They are parts of a whole."
One tool Rona uses to make his point is the Passover Seder, a vital Jewish feast. In the months before Passover begins (Wednesday, March 31, this year), Rona spends weeks demonstrating the Jewish holiday for LDS groups and explaining why Jews practice it.
It's an approach that makes some members of the Jewish community uncomfortable.
"Personally, I have no problem with people learning about a Passover Seder," says Ann Grenier of the Jewish Community Center. "But it's hard for me to understand why there needs to be a new interpretation."
Rabbi Frederick Wenger of the Congregation Kol Ami, however, is cautious but open about such efforts.
"There are many congregations that have Passover experiences this time of year," he says. "And Christian churches often relate it to the life of Jesus and the Last Supper. I don't think there is anything wrong with that, as long as they do it within their own membership and don't represent it as a Jewish Seder. But otherwise, if it helps bring people together, I see no harm."
That, of course, is Rona's mission statement: "Let's bring people together."
And however you feel about that work, a Daniel Rona Passover lecture is unforgettable.
Tonight," he says, "we're going to turn this room into a time tunnel. Tonight, we go back to the future."
Then he begins with the most vital element of all cultures -- the family -- and builds from there. Under his guiding hand, the Passover is seen as a family reunion -- a reunion of our own family and God's family.
He places family members in their proper positions (oldest, youngest, patriarch, child), serves dishes with symbolic meanings (bitter, sweet). He dons the proper attire and relates each element of the feast to the Old Testament, the New Testament, and ultimately our own day.
"Religion should be enlightening and enlivening," he says.
Stories are told.
Games are played.
Songs are sung.
Scriptures are read.
And, of course, food is eaten.
By the time the last hymn is sung, participants feel both filled and drained, informed yet mystified.
The Passover, of course, commemorates the angel of death passing by the families of the children of Israel in Egypt.
And the message for people today is clear.
It is the same message. The angel approaches. Salvation is at hand. Don't dawdle.
"I see the Passover as the hinge between the Old and New testaments," says Rona. "It is a meal fit for a king -- the King of Kings."
For more information about Rona's work and the Ensign Foundation, call Denise Metcalf at 553-0184.