Catholic and Jewish women dialogued about each religious tradition's commitment to social justice at the recent 30th annual Catholic-Jewish Women's Conference held at Temple Leo Baeck in Los Angeles.

"Mine is a faith that must do justice," said Dr. Marie Egan, who served as the Catholic keynote speaker. She was followed by Rabbi Janet Offel, interim rabbi at Temple Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills.

Egan, professor emeritus of Religious Studies at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles, traced the development of Catholic social teaching in papal encyclicals beginning with Pope Leo XIII who, in Rerum Novarum (1891), noted the poverty and oppressed working conditions of workers in the newly industrialized world.

"Pope Leo lays out basic principles of God-given rights and equality of all persons, and he underscores responsibility of employers and governments to ensure that these rights are both acknowledged and honored," said Egan, a member and past president of the Immaculate Heart Community.

For years, such papal documents did not seem to impact Catholics in the pew, said Egan. That began to change in the 1960s when Catholics began to study and get involved in social movements. In the past three decades Catholics have created faith-based lobbying groups like NETWORK, peace organizations such as Pax Christi, relief efforts like Catholic Relief Services and empowerment organizations such as the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

The social teachings of the Catholic Church draw heavily on the sacred word of the Hebrew Scriptures, noted Egan. "The Exodus experience of the Israelites in which God showed concern for the physical conditions in which they lived is the pivotal beginning of every argument for social justice. God cares; we must care."

Rabbi Offel said that Jews have a long tradition of working to heal the world. It rests upon the idea of covenant and begins with the law God gave to Noah after the flood "to set up effective, honest judicial systems."

"Social justice was of primary importance to Hebrew prophets," added the rabbi. Three Jewish terms reveal the tradition's ancient tradition to bring about justice:

---Tzedekah means distributive justice and "how God's blessing of wealth is divided among people," she noted. Tzedekah is about the giving of money "to help others get up on their feet."

---Chesed means loving kindness and how one treats another person.

---Tikkun olam comes out of the Jewish mystical tradition to repair the world. "When we are out in the world, doing acts and giving our money in ways that brings about the healing and repairs the fractures the world, we are in fact gathering God's light and putting it back in its proper place," said Rabbi Offel.

She reminded those gathered that the work of social justice is difficult and that women "need a strong spiritual core and well to draw on spiritually."

Following the speakers, the 100 or so women participating in the conference at Leo Baeck Temple in Bel Air gathered in dialogue groups and shared stories with one another about ways they've put their Catholic and Jewish heritage of social justice into action today.

Jacqueline Cervantes, a sophomore at University of La Verne, told The Tidings that social justice for women is also about "being responsible for yourself and others and being a strong female --- so strong in who I am and knowing where I stand."

Jean Marie Cull, a parishioner at St. Jude Church in Westlake Village, said social justice begins at home and teaching by example. She was pleased to see her young granddaughter become enthusiastic on learning that she could do a good deed ---- what in Judaism is called a mitzvah.

"For many Jews, Judaism is expressed through social justice --- doing good deeds," Lillian Heller Conrad of Laguna Hills told The Tidings. One of the founding members of the Catholic-Jewish women's annual dialogue, Conrad said that in 30 years of listening to Catholic and Jewish women talk about their lives and their different perspectives, she was struck by the depth of common ground.

"We all want peace, safety, and we want the lives of our children to be better than our own," she said.