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Professor Bridges Judaism and Christianity
by Kristalyn Bunyan
"Do not pull down mental venetian blinds," said Adjunct Professor Walter Ziffer on the first day of the "Prodigal Sisters: Early Christianity" class this semester at Mars Hill College.
Ziffer, 77, is a Holocaust survivor who was born into a German-speaking Jewish family, converted from Judaism to Christianity, became an ordained Christian pastor and professor in Christian seminaries, and then returned to Judaism. He has written a book about his view of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.
Many people see Christianity as a religion whose mother is Judaism, but Ziffer sees these two monotheistic faiths as sisters whose parent is the religion of ancient Israel.
"Dr. Ziffer has made learning about the Jewish and Christian traditions fun and interesting," said Mars Hill Junior Rachel Greybill. "He uses some of his experience to relate the two religions to us. He is a caring man who has made all his students comfortable in his class. I am enjoying having him as a teacher."
Ziffer does not see any problem in teaching at a Baptist institution or in teaching someone of another faith.
"This is a liberal arts college where we are dealing with subjects that are academically important to Jews as well as Christians," he says. "In teaching, I share feelings and experiences as a Jew, but the teaching itself is nondenominational and is not biased to my knowledge in a Jewish or Christian way." He wants to give academic knowledge so the students can understand the text.
In this course, Ziffer uses a number of quite unique tools. One of these tools is his book, The Birth of Christianity: From the Matrix of Judaism. In it he says that almost everything that has occurred for Jews is seen through the lens of the Exodus experience. For Christians, the lens is the Resurrection of Christ.
In his course he also uses particular teaching methods. He encourages the collaboration between two students, which is called havruta in Hebrew. He also opens every class with a question and response period.
During the class, Ziffer is continuously open to new ideas and does not mind if one does not agree with what is being said. He wants to bring the material to people so they can grasp it and let it enrich their lives.
"I like students to become human beings … and have full understanding without prejudices," he says. "A human being is never a full human being. One is always in transition, in pilgrimage to telos, the end."
He wants his students to have a rounded culture, which includes not only religion and theology but also literature and music and all the other disciplines that enrich one's life.
He understands that informed living includes having access to old established sources of wisdom. "In Judaism," Ziffer says, "we have a ladder of development to the top of full humanity." This ladder contains ordered steps of knowledge, then understanding, and finally wisdom. Ziffer thinks that we should all be striving for wise living.
Ziffer first got connected with the college about four or five years ago when he was invited to share his Holocaust experiences with students. Since then he has made several other appearances.
Last year, Ziffer taught a Hebrew class. It was a student from the Hebrew class who suggested to the chair of the Religion and Philosophy Department, Associate Professor Kathy Meacham, that Ziffer teach a course here. And so Ziffer on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons is teaching through sharing his knowledge, which includes many extraordinary experiences.
At one point he converted to Christianity, but then returned to Judaism. "I returned to Judaism because as a Christian I encountered quite often the ugly phenomenon of anti-Semitism that refuses to die," he says. "This persuaded me that my place should be among my brothers and sisters, the Jews, with whom I needed to stand in solidarity, especially after having suffered with them through the Holocaust.
"My return had nothing to do with any consideration of Jewish religious superiority over Christianity. Having gone through my particular life experience as Jew and Holocaust survivor and later (for 22 years) as ordained Christian pastor and professor in Christian theological seminaries, I found that I was uniquely equipped to be a bridge between the two religious faiths and by doing so hopefully to hasten reconciliation and harmony between Christians and Jews."
Ziffer has also taught at theological seminaries in Europe, both in France and in Belgium, as well as in Washington, D.C. In France he was one of the Protestant speakers on the nation-to-nation TV. He has lectured in many other universities, including Warren Wilson and the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), and has taught at UNCA. Ziffer has given sermons, Bible studies, and worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland. As he put it: "I've had my days of glory."
He described his Mars Hill College experience as one that "has been inspiring and enjoyable." He describes students at the college as "smart, and they ask good questions and are alert. They are the kind of students I like."
Ziffer recorded the story of his life during the Holocaust for a federally funded oral history project at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. It is available online at SHOAH: Survivors and Witnesses in Western North Carolina, http://toto.lib.unca.edu/projects/Shoa/ziffer.htm
In that account, he tells of being born on March 5, 1927 in Cieszyn, Silesia, Poland (now a part of Czechoslovakia). His parents were Leo and Anny Borger Ziffer, and he had one sister, Edith. His father was an attorney. Although his family was Jewish, he did not grow up in a particularly religious environment.
In 1938, the area where the Ziffer family lived was taken over by Hitler. His father was no longer permitted to practice law, and the family had to move in with an uncle. This first move was only the beginning of several other moves. In 1941 the family and all other Jews were forced into a ghetto -- in this case a huge farm with various outbuildings. Like all Jews they were required to wear a Star of David displayed on the front and back of their clothing.
When Ziffer was 14 he was deported and forced to work in a series of slave labor camps. He was in an almost constant state of starvation and considered himself to be a "Mussulman", which was one who was just "skin and bones." One of his tasks was burying fellow Jews who had been murdered.
In 1945 the war was over, and Ziffer weighed 87 pounds but was still alive. He found his mother and sister alive in a nearby concentration camp, and they later located his father at the home of a former family cook. Ziffer left the family due to the threat of Communist control of Czechoslovakia and went to an orphanage in France where he began his studying.
He managed to get an American student visa in 1948 and came to Nashville, Tennessee, where he studied mechanical drafting at a vocational high school. Later he earned an engineering degree, worked six years for General Motors, returned to school, earned three additional degrees, including a Ph.D., and became a professor of theology.
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