Between Jerusalem and Rome

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Between Jerusalem and Rome (כלל ופרט בין ירושלים לרומי "Between Jerusalem and Rome") is a Jewish Orthodox position on the relationship with the Roman Catholic Church. It was on the occasion of the 50 years previously promulgation of Nostra Aetate developed and is dated 10 February 2016th In March 2016 it was accepted by the European Rabbinical Conference (it represents around 700 rabbis) and the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Council of America (which represents around 1000 Orthodox rabbis) and handed over to Pope Francis on August 31, 2017 by a delegation .

meaning

In contrast to Dabru Emet and the Orthodox Rabbinical Declaration on Christianity , Between Jerusalem and Rome is not the responsibility of individual rabbis but of two umbrella organizations of Jewish Orthodoxy and reflects a broad consensus. The German Bishops' Conference therefore welcomed the statement as a milestone in the Judeo-Christian dialogue.

The document had a forerunner in the Orthodox Rabbinical Declaration on Christianity, which is supported by a group of Orthodox rabbis interested in interreligious dialogue. As Jehoshua Ahrens told the Jewish General , this statement went too far for some rabbis in the positive view of Christianity. "The Conference of European Rabbis wanted to express itself alternatively, the Israeli chief rabbinate was very reluctant for a long time, and the American-Orthodox rabbinate did not want a declaration without the chief rabbinate." Arie Folger described Between Jerusalem and Rome as a conservative document, but behind which the majority of Orthodox rabbis in America, Israel and Europe.

content

The document defines the dual task of the Jewish people to be the light of the nations and to secure their own existence. It looks back on the history of persecution of Judaism as a minority in Christian countries, culminating in the Shoah . For centuries Christianity had nourished the hostility towards Jews that made this crime possible in the first place; on the other hand, Catholic individuals resisted and saved Jews during the centuries of persecution of the Jews. It was only the establishment of the State of Israel that made it possible for Judaism to enter into interreligious dialogue as an equal partner after the end of the Second World War.

Reorientation in the Catholic Church

Nostra aetate is called the turning point. A process of rethinking had started in the Roman Catholic Church, and elements hostile to Jews had been removed from church teaching. With the following statements in particular, Nostra aetate created a new basis:

  • A Jew who was not directly involved in the crucifixion of Jesus is not to be blamed. Here the development of this idea through Benedict XVI. specially honored in the work of Jesus of Nazareth .
  • The permanent, irrevocable election of Israel by God was confirmed by Nostra aetate. In Evangelii gaudium , Pope Francis had developed what “treasures of wisdom” God brought forth through the study of the Hebrew Bible in Judaism.

On the basis of Nostra aetate, the Vatican established full diplomatic relations with Israel in 1993. He made it clear that he no longer interpreted the Jewish diaspora as God's punishment. As a consequence, John Paul II visited the Holy Land as a pilgrim (2000). In 2015, Pope Francis declared that an attack directed directly against the right of the State of Israel to exist should be considered anti-Semitism.

Among the latest developments, it is particularly emphasized that the Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism in 2015 released the document “For irrevocable grace and calling that God grants (Rom 11:29)”, in which it rejected the organized mission to the Jews and thus clarified a point that was particularly sensitive for the Jewish dialogue partner.

Reaction of Jewish Orthodoxy to These Developments

collaboration

In the course of the decades the certainty had grown in Jewish orthodoxy that the reorientation in the Catholic Church was profound and irreversible. As a result, a bilateral committee was set up in 2002 by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate and the Vatican, which was initially headed by the Chief Rabbi of Haifa, She'ar Yashuv Cohen . This committee, which meets alternately in Jerusalem and Rome, is devoted to various practical questions, but avoids theological topics.

Halachic foundation

Because the theological differences between the two religions are still serious and fundamental. They concern the core of the Christian belief that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of Israel and the second person of a divine Trinity . The story of suffering of Jewish martyrs in Christian countries is also dividing. Nevertheless, there are well-known authorities in Judaism who give Christianity a special status among religions, because Christians believe in God the Creator, the God of Exodus, who continually sustains all of creation:

  • Tosafot to the Talmud passage Sanhedrin 63b;
  • Jerucham ben Meshullam: Toledot Adam ve-Havvah 17: 5;
  • Moses Isserles : Commentary on Shulchan Aruch , Orach Chajjim 156: 2;
  • Moses Rivkis , Be'er ha-Golah: Commentary on Shulchan Aruch, Choshen haMishpat 226: 1 and 425: 5;
  • Samson Raphael Hirsch : Principles of Education , " Talmudic Judaism and Society ," pp. 225-227.

Orthodox Judaism did not deviate from its belief in the written and oral Torah and entered into interreligious dialogue based on the principles of Joseph Soloveitchik ( Confrontation , 1964), Immanuel Jakobovits ( The Timely and the Timeless , 1977) and others Have set up rabbis.

Perspectives

It is possible to work together peacefully with existing and irreconcilable beliefs with the aim of improving the world. The signatories see the Catholic Church as a partner and name the following points of common commitment:

  • Protection of religious freedom on the one hand against secular forces, on the other hand against religious extremism;
  • Protection of moral values, especially the sanctity of life;
  • Protection of Christian minorities in the Middle East;
  • Fight against radical Islamism (the “new barbarism of our generation”), which also threatens many moderate Muslims and endangers world peace;
  • Rejection of violence, persuasion, and social pressure to achieve religious goals.

The signatories call on the non-Catholic churches, following the example of the Roman Catholic Church, to remove traditional anti-Jewish elements from their liturgy and teaching, to stop active missions among Jews and to work together with the Jewish people for a better world.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b "Between Jerusalem and Rome" Declaration of the European Rabbinical Conference together with the Rabbinical Council of America. Retrieved August 9, 2018 .
  2. ↑ "Christians are our partners". In: domradio.de. August 31, 2017, accessed August 9, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b brothers and partners. In: Jüdische Allgemeine. September 7, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Benedict XVI: Jesus of Nazareth. Part Two: From Entry into Jerusalem to Resurrection . Freiburg 2011, p. 208-211 .
  5. ^ Evangelii gaudium. In: Diocese of Essen. P. 152 , accessed on August 9, 2018 : "God continues to work in the people of the old covenant and creates a wealth of wisdom that arises from the encounter with the divine word."