Rabbi David Rosen is adviser to the Chief
Rabbinate of Israel and director of the Department for Interreligious Affairs of
the American Jewish Committee and Heilbrunn Institute for International and
Interreligious Understanding.
The relationship today between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people is a
blessed transformation in our times — arguably without historic parallel.
In his words in the great synagogue here in Rome last January, H.H. Pope
Benedict XVI referred to the teaching of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council
as “a clear landmark t o which constant reference is made in our attitude
and our relations with the Jewish people, marking a new and significant
stage.”
Naturally this striking transformation in the way the Jewish people is viewed
and presented , still had and has to contend with the influence of centuries,
if not millenia, of the “teaching of contempt” towards Jews and
Judaism, which obviously is not eliminated overnight nor even over forty five
years. Inevitably, the impact of this transformation in Catholic-Jewish
relations varies considerably from one context to another, influenced by sociological,
educational and even political factors. Arguably the most dramatic
internalization has taken place in the United States of America where Jews and
Christians live in an open society side by side as vibrant self-confident and
civically engaged minorities. As a result the relationship has advanced there
to a unique degree involving cooperation and exchanges between the communities
and their educational institutions; and today the US boasts literally dozens of
academic institutions for Catholic-Jewish studies and relations, while there
are perhaps three in the rest of the world.
Indeed there is a widespread perception among the Jewish communities in the US
of the Catholic Church as a genuine friend with profound values and interests
in common. It is my privilege to head the international interfaith
representation of the American Jewish Committee, which has been and continues
to be the leading Jewish organization in this remarkable and historic
transformation.
However, there are many countries where such social and demographic factors are
not present. In most countries where Catholicism is the dominant social force,
Jewish communities are small if present at all, and the relationship between
the Church and Judaism often gets little notice. I confess to having been
surprised to find Catholic clergy and sometimes even hierarchy from some count
ries not only ignorant about contemporary Judaism but often even about Nostra
Aetate itself, the Vatican documents that flowed from it and thus the relevant
teachings of the Magisterium concerning Jews and Judaism.
While as indicated, Jewish experience in the US has done much to alleviate
negative impressions of the tragic past; there is still widespread ignorance
about Christianity in the Jewish world – especially where there is little or no
contact at all with modern Christians.
In the only polity in the world where Jews are a majority, the State of Israel,
this problem is further compounded by the political and sociological context.
In the Middle East, as in most parts of the world, communities tend to live in
their own linguistic, cultural and confessional settings, and Israel is no
exception. Moreover Christian Arabs in Israel are a minority within a
minority–approximately 120,000 among an Arab citizenry of around a million and
a half which is overwhelmingly Muslim and which constitutes some twenty per
cent of the Israeli citizenry as a whole (some seven and a half million.)
It is true that Christian Arab Israelis are a particularly successful religious
minority in many respects. Their socio-economic and educational standards are
well above average–their schools receive the highest grades in annual
matriculation examinations–many of them have been politically prominent and
they have been able to derive much benefit from the democratic system of which
they are an integral part. However, the daily life of the vast majority of
Arabs and Jews takes place in their own respective contexts. As a result, most
Jewish Israelis do not meet contemporary Christians; and even when they travel
abroad, they tend to meet non-Jews as such, not as modern Christians.
Accordingly, until recently most of Israeli society has been quite unaware of
the profound changes in Catholic-Jewish relations. However, this situ ation has
begun to alter significantly in the last decade for different reasons, but two
in particular are especially noteworthy.
The first is the impact of the visit of the late Pope John Paul II in the year
2000, following the establishment of full bilateral relations between Israel
and the Holy See six years earlier. While the latter had already had some
effect on perceptions in Israel, it was the power of the visual images, the
significance of which Pope John Paul II understood so well, that revealed
clearly to the majority of Israeli society the transformation that had taken
place in Christian attitudes and teaching towards the Jewish people with whom
the Pope himself had maintained and further sought mutual friendship and
respect. For Israelis to see the Pope at the Western Wall, the remnant of the
Second Temple, standing there in respect for Jewish tradition and placing there
the text that he had composed for a liturgy of forgiveness that had taken place
two weeks earlier here at St. Peter’s, asking Divine forgiveness for sins
committed against the Jews down the ages, was stunning and overwhelming in its
effect. Israeli Jewry still has a long way to go in overcoming the negative
past, but there is no question that attitudes have changed since that historic
visit. In addition it led to the remarkable new avenue for dialogue,
understanding and collaboration in the form of the bilateral commission of the
Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations
with Jewry, established at John Paul II’s initiative and praised extensively by
Pope Benedict XVI during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land last year and also in
his words at the great synagogue here in Rome earlier this year.
The other major factor is the influx of other Christians who have doubled the
demographic make-up of Christianity in Israel.
I refer first of all to the estimated approximately fifty thousand practicing
Christians who were part and parcel of the immigration to Israel in the last
two decades from the former Soviet Union. As integrally connected at the same
time to Jewish society through familial and cultural ties, they arguably
represent the first Christian minority that sees itself at the same time as
part and parcel of a Jewish majority since the very first Christian community.
These Christians, as the Arab Christian communities, are Israeli citizens who
enjoy full franchise and equality before the law. However, there is a third
significant Christian population in Israel whose legal standing is sometimes
problematic.
These are the scores of thousands of practicing Christians among almost a
quarter of a million of migrant workers – from the Philippines, Eastern Europe,
Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. Most of them are in the country legally
and temporarily. However, close to half of them have entered or remained
illegally and their position is legally precarious.
Nevertheless the substantial Christian presence among this population maintains
a vibrant religious life and constitutes a significant third dimension to the
Christian reality in Israel today.
These factors have contributed, among others, to an increasing familiarity in
Israel with contemporary Christianity. In addition, while there are an
estimated two hundred or so Israeli organizations promoting Arab-Jewish understanding
and cooperation generally , there are also literally dozens of bodies promoting
interreligious encounter, dialogue and studies, and the Christian presence in
these is disproportionate and highly significant. This of course is
substantially due to the presence of Christian institutions and their clergy,
scholars, international representatives of churches and so on, who contribute
totally out of proportion to their numbers to these efforts especially in the
field of scholarship.
Moreover the fact that in the State of Israel, Christians, as Muslims, are
minorities with a need to be accepted and understood by the Jewish majority
also serves as impetus for interfaith engagement (as opposed to elsewhere where
the contrary may often be the case.)
Christians in Israel are obviously in a very different situation from their
sister communities in the Holy Land who are part and parcel of a Palestinian
society struggling for its independence and who are inevitably caught up in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict on a daily basis. Indeed the location of some of
these communities on the intersection between Israeli and Palestinian
jurisdiction means that they often bear the brunt of security measures which
the Jewish State feels obliged to maintain in order to protect its own
citizenry against continuous violence from within the Palestinian territories.
It is only right and proper that such Palestinian Christians should express
their distress and their hopes regarding the situation. However it is notable
and regrett able that such expressions have not always been in consonance with
the letter and spirit of the Magisterium concerning the relationship to Jews
and Judaism. This would seem to be reflected in a wider geographical context,
where the impact of the Arab-Israeli conflict has all too often meant a
discomfort for many Christians with the Church’s rediscovery of its Jewish
roots and sometimes a preference for historical prejudice.
Nevertheless the plight of Palestinians generally and Palestinian Christians in
particular should be of profound concern to Jews both in Israel and the
Diaspora.
To begin with, especially as Judaism brought the recognition to the world that
every human person is created in the Divine Image; and that accordingly, as the
sages of the Talmud teach, any action of disrespect for another person, is an
act of disrespect for the Creator himself; we have a special responsibility in
particular for neighbors who suffer. This responsibility is even gr eater when
suffering is born out of a conflict of which we are a part and paradoxically
precisely where we have the moral and religious duty to protect and defend
ourselves.
For me personally as an Israeli Jerusalemite, the distressing situation in the
Holy Land and the suffering of so many on the different sides of the political
divide, is a source of much pain; even as I fully realize that it is used and
abused to heighten various tensions that go well beyond the geographical
context of the conflict itself.
Yet I give thanks to God for the remarkable amount of organizations in our
society working to alleviate as much suffering as possible in this very
difficult context.
I am proud to be a founder of one of these organizations, Rabbis for Human
Rights, whose director and members, precisely as loyal Israeli citizens,
continue to struggle to preserve and advance the human dignity of all and
especially of the vulnerable. I am of course fully conscious of the carnage of
the recent past in the streets of our cities and the ongoing threats of the
present from those openly committed to the destruction and extermination of
Israel. Notwithstanding, we must strive to do all we can to alleviate the
hardships of the situation and especially as they pertain to the Christian
communities in Jerusalem and environs.
In fact, in recent months there has been a notable improvement in conditions,
for example, regarding the free movement of clergy, and there have also been
recent indications that there is a growing understanding of the needs of the
local Christian communities by the authorities, notwithstanding the security
challenges. We continue to advocate for such, believing it to be ultimately in
the interests of all.
Indeed, Jewish responsibility to ensure that Christian communities flourish in
our midst, respecting the very fact that the Holy Land is the land of
Christianity’s birth and holy places, is strengthened by o ur increasingly
rediscovered fraternity.
Yet even beyond our particular relationship, Christians as a minority in both
Jewish and Muslim contexts play a very special role for our societies at large.
The situation of minorities is always a profound reflection of the social and
moral condition of a society as a whole. The wellbeing of Christian communities
in the Middle East is nothing less than a kind of barometer of the moral
condition of our countries. The degree to which Christians enjoy civil and
religious rights and liberties testifies to the health or infirmity of the
respective societies in the Middle East.
Moreover, as I have already indicated, Christians play a disproportionate role
in promoting interreligious understanding and cooperation in the country.
Indeed I would presume to suggest that this is precisely the Christian métier,
to contribute to overcoming the prejudice and misunderstanding that bedevil the
Holy Land and which of co urse are greatly reinforced in the region at large.
While it is not fair to expect the small local Christian communities to be
capable of bearing such responsibility alone, perhaps we may hope that
supported in this by their universal Church and its central authority, they may
indeed be blessed peacemakers in the city whose name means peace and which has
such significance for our communities. Already some initial sign of this has
been evident in the local Catholic leadership role in the establishment in
recent years of the Council of the Religious Institutions of the Holy Land,
which brings together the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the Shaaria Courts and
Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, and the official
Christian leadership in the Holy Land.
This Council not only facilitates communication between the various religious
authorities, but it is also committed and working to combat misunderstanding ,
bigotry and incitement, and also seeks to be a fo rce for reconciliation and
peace so that two nations and three religions may live in the land in full
dignity, freedom and tranquility.
The Instrumentum Laboris of this Special Assembly for the Middle East quotes
Pope Benedict XVI in his interview with Osservatore Romano on his way to the
Holy Land as follows: “it is important on the one hand to have bilateral
dialogues–with the Jews and with Islam–and then also trilateral dialogue”
(sect.96). Indeed this last year, for the first time, the Pontifical Council
for Interreligious Relations and the Pontifical Commission for Religious
Relations with the Jews co-hosted together with the International Jewish
Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) and the foundation for the
Three Cultures in Seville Spain, our first trilateral dialogue.
This was a particular joy for me as the proposal for this was put forward
during my chairmanship of IJCIC and I earnestly hope that this is just the beg
inning of more extensive trilateral dialogue, to overcome suspicion, prejudice
and misunderstanding, so that we may be able to highlight the shared values in
the family of Abraham for the well-being of all humanity.
It appears to me that the aforementioned bilateral commission with the Chief
Rabbinate of Israel and the Council of the Religious Institutions of the Holy
Land together offer even greater opportunity and challenge in this regard.
The Instrumentum Laboris also provides important insights into the nature of
relations for Christians with both Muslims and Jews. It quotes Pope Benedict
XVI’s words in Cologne in August 2005 when he described relations with Islam as
“a vital necessity….on which in large measure our future depends”
(sect.95).
Indeed in the Middle East this is a truism. Whether one understands the concept
of dar el Islam in just a geographical/cultural context or in a theological
one, the critical question for th e future of our respective communities is
whether or not our Muslim brethren can see the Christian and Jewish presence as
a fully legitimate and integral part of the region as a whole. Truly the need
to address this issue is nothing less than “a vital necessity…on which…our
future depends”.
Indeed this relates to very issue that is at the “root” of the
Israeli-Arab conflict. Those who claim that “occupation” is the
“root cause” of conflict are at best disingenuous.
This conflict had been going on for decades long before the Six Day War in 1967
as a result of which the West Bank and Gaza came under Israeli control.
“Occupation” in fact is precisely a consequence of the conflict, the
real “root issue” of which is precisely whether the Arab world can
tolerate a non-Arab sovereign polity within its midst.
However, the Instrumentum Laboris commenting on Dei Verbum describes the
dialogue of the Church “with her elder brothers” as not just
necessary, but as “essential” (sect.87). Indeed in his visit to the
great synagogue in this city this year, Pope Benedict XVI quoted the Catechism
of the Catholic Church (sect.839).
“It is in pondering her own mystery that the Church, the People of God of
the New Covenant, discovers her own profound bond with the Jews, who were
chosen by the Lord before all others to receive His word”, and added that
“the Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a
response to God’s revelation”.
These words echo those of the late Pope John Paul II who in his historic visit
to the same central Jewish place of worship in this city in 1986 declared that
“the Jewish religion is not extrinsic to us but in a certain way is
intrinsic to our own religion. With Judaism therefore we have a relationship
which we do not have with any other religion.” Furthermore in his
Apostolic Exhortation of June 28th 2003 he described “dialogue and
cooperation with believers of the Jewish religion” as being
“fundamentally important for the self-knowledge of Christians” in
keeping with the Synod’s call “for acknowledgment of the common roots
linking Christianity and the Jewish people, who are called by God to a covenant
which remains irrevocable”.
As I have noted, the political realities in the Middle East do not always make
it easy for Christians in the region to acknowledge, let alone embrace, these
exhortations. However I pray that the miracle of what John Paul II referred to
as “the flowering of a new springtime in mutual relations” will
increasingly become evident in the Middle East as throughout the world.
To this end let us dedicate ourselves ever more devotedly both through prayer
and in work for peace and dignity for all. Let us pray in the words of Pope
John Paul II at the Western Wall in Jerusalem with which Pope Benedict XVI
concluded his presentation at the Rome great synagogue: “Send Your peace
upon the Holy Land, upon the Middle East, upon the entire human family; stir the
hearts of those who call upon Your Name, to walk humbly in the path of justice
and compassion”.
And allow me, as one who comes to you from the city that is holy and beloved to
us all, to conclude with the words of the Psalmist “May the Lord bless you
from Zion and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your
life”(Psalm 128:5).