A new book explores faith perspectives on the Uluru Statement from the Heart. RABBI DAVID SAPERSTEIN highlights major Jewish themes.

The Uluru Statement and the proposed referendum on constitutional recognition for Australia’s Indigenous communities are powerful declarations. The referendum will give the Indigenous peoples of Australia a strong voice in the country’s legislative process on issues affecting them.

The religiously insightful and morally powerful essays gathered in Statements from the Soul reflect religion’s ability to transcend political, ideological and cultural differences to forge a moral consensus.

Common themes and values of justice, equity, equality and communal responsibility are expressed in the distinctive texts, language and theologies of the diverse religious and moral approaches presented in these essays.

 I see this through a Jewish filter. I found the insights provided by Rabbi Ralph Genende compelling. I was particularly moved by his theme, derived from Jewish thought, that words from the heart speak to the heart – a concept that Archbishop Peter Comensoli, in his essay, attributes to the Catholic theologian John Henry Newman (as it has also been attributed to the 13th-century Muslim writer Rumi).

Allow me to add to Rabbi Genende’s words some additional relevant insights derived from the Jewish tradition and Jewish history, some of which resonate with points made from other faith traditions; some are distinctive to Judaism. First, we Jews are ourselves an indigenous people.

 For 3800 years, our destiny has been tied up with the land of Israel. For the past 3200 years, there has been a continuous, unbroken Jewish presence in the land of Israel. Even when we faced ethnic cleansing, when the Babylonians forcibly took the leadership of the Jewish community and their families to Babylonia, and when the Romans forced most Jews into exile from their own land, the attachment remained.