News in Christian-Jewish Relations: April 2002
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From SIDIC: Rome Study Session on New Biblical Commission Document
On April 18, 2002 at the SIDIC-Roma Center (Service International de Documentation Judéo-Chrétienne - Roma), a study session was held on the recently published document from the Pontifical Biblical Commission: "The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible". The over 70 participants included students, teachers, seminarians, religious, priests and interested lay people. Many followed with text in hand as Prof. Johannes Beutler S.J., member of the Commission and professor at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, presented not only the content of the document but some of its implications for Jewish-Christian dialogue.
News of its publication immediately aroused interest in the document (originally written in French) among those most directly involved in Scripture studies and Jewish-Christian relations, who found certain of its affirmations particularly significant. The study session focussed on some of these: a) The contribution of Jewish exegesis to the study of the Bible ("... Christians can and ought to admit that the Jewish reading of the Bible is a possible one.... On the practical level of exegesis, Christians can, nonetheless, learn much from Jewish exegesis practised for more than two thousand years...," n. 22); b) The relationship between the two Testaments ("Without the Old Testament, the New Testament would be an incomprehensible book, a plant deprived of its roots and destined to dry up and wither" - n. 84); c) The question of anti-Judaism in the Christian Scriptures ("Real anti-Jewish feeling, that is, an attitude of contempt, hostility and persecution of the Jews as Jews, is not found in any New Testament text and is incompatible with its teaching" - n. 87). It should also be noted that the Document emphasizes the role of the Shoah in the re-examination of relations between Jews and Christians ("The horror in the wake of the extermination of the Jews (the Shoah) during the Second World War has led all the Churches to rethink their relationship with Judaism and, as a result, to reconsider their interpretation of the Jewish Bible, the Old Testament" - n. 22).
The reflection, which included participation from the audience, brought out the importance of such a document for Christians themselves as a further step toward a better appreciation of the Jews and their Sacred Scriptures. A critique from the Jewish point of view was offered with the calm frankness which characterizes true dialogue. It highlighted some of the gaps and the steps which must still be taken so that Christian reflections on these themes may be more easily understood by those outside the Church, especially in what concerns the language used.
The high attendance at the study session indicated the ever greater interest evoked by the Jewish-Christian dialogue when it touches the very foundations of the Christian faith, in an attitude of sincere openness. It is to be hoped that, through the various persons who participated, the "attitude of respect, esteem and love for the Jewish people... the only truly Christian attitude in a situation which is mysteriously part of the beneficent and positive plan of God" (n. 87) will become the spiritual and ethical patrimony of more and more believers in Christ.
Press Release of the ICCJ: "The Present Situation in Israel and Palestine"
April 25, 2002
Heppenheim. The International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), umbrella of 36 organisations worldwide engaged in dialogue between Christians and Jews and increasingly also including Muslims is pained and deeply distressed by the continuing suffering of the people in Palestine and Israel.
The ICCJ renews its appeal to the responsible political and religious leadership in the region and elsewhere to exert its influence to bring to an end the destructive violence in the Middle East and help to create conditions that will enable negotiations aimed at finding a just solution to restore civil life to the people in Israel and Palestine. The ICCJ welcomes the various statements of Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders who have clearly pointed at the inseparable correlation of peace and justice.
Concerned with the ramifications of the unresolved conflict in the Middle East and the growing re-emergence of antisemitism in particular in Europe the ICCJ states:
We support the continuing endeavours of our member organisations in the Middle East engaged in dialogue between members of the protagonists to the present conflict in order to achieve peace and justice.
We reject the abuse of religion as a means to legitimise terror. We welcome the statements of leading Islamic clerics that suicidal assassinations contradict the teaching and values of Islam.
We call again upon the government of Israel to bring to a halt all military activity in the occupied territories to prevent any further bloodshed among the Palestinians.
We call upon the Palestinian leadership and all responsible people among the Palestinians to combat and end terrorism and its infrastructure.
We urge the Palestinian leadership as well as the Israel government to bring about an immediate solution to the occupation of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem and to ensure that no harm is done to the nuns and monks held in the Church.
Legitimate actions taken against the terror endangering Israel must not ignore the need to secure a political perspective for the future of the Palestinian people. To that end cooperation between those in responsible positions in Israel, in the Palestinian Authority, in the neighbouring countries, in Europe and the USA is of foremost importance.
We categorically reject all unilateral attempts to apportion blame and responsibility for the present tragedy solely to one party to the conflict and to expect it to be solely responsible for finding a solution to the present crisis.
We call upon both the Israeli and the Palestinian leadership to cooperate with a UN Jenin commission to clarify background and events in the refugee camp.
We hope and pray that the efforts of the USA to secure an effective cease-fire will be successful. We are aware that such success depends on its support by Israel and the Palestinians. The European states are also urged to bring all possible political influence to bear upon the parties to the conflict to end the grim spiral of violence and find new ways of seeking a secure future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
It is with grave concern that in the wake of the unresolved conflict in the Middle East we witness in Europe but also elsewhere attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions. All people of good will are challenged to counteract this frightening wave of antisemitism, the worst in Europe since 1945.
At this time the ICCJ and its member organisations affirm our solidarity with the Jewish communities throughout the world.
We condemn every effort to use criticism of policies of the present Israel government as legitimisation of antisemitic attitudes and actions.
We urgently appeal to responsible politicians, to the Churches and Muslim congregations and to all social groups to denounce and stop every manifestation of this newly fomented antisemitism.
We call upon all Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities to support at all levels and with all possible means the increasingly necessary endeavours for encounter and mutual understanding among the three religions.
We are convinced that our joint Abrahamic heritage obliges us to do all in our power to overcome prejudice, ignorance, enmity and violence.
An end must be made to the damaging abuse of religion to legitimise hatred and violence. The religions must not allow extremists to destroy their manifold possibilities to further civil and peaceful coexistence. It is incumbent upon the religions to lead the way towards peace and justice.
Plague of Antisemitism in Europe
Webmaster's Note: Wherever one places blame for the months of violence and death in the complex Israeli- Palestinian conflict (click here for a historical timeline), the recent wave of attacks against innocent Jewish citizens and synagogues in several European nations are condemnable. The following compiled report is a chilling reminder of "the danger of anti-Semitism which is always ready to reappear under different guises" [1985 Vatican "Notes," I,8]. The legacy of the perennial Christian "teaching of contempt," that over the centuries marginalized Jews in European society and facilitated the Nazi genocide, clearly lingers. It has culturally embedded latent reflexes of hostility toward Jews that are triggered in times of crisis. Christians committed "to genuine brotherhood with the People of the Covenant" [papal prayer at the Western Wall, Mar. 26, 2000] have an obligation to denounce such behavior and to assist civil authorities in prosecuting these crimes.
Compiled from recent BBC, AP, CNN, ADL, and Jewish News Worldwide reports - April 25, 2000
The World Jewish Congress convened this week in Brussels for a two-day emergency meeting in light of the increasing European anti-Semitism. In attendance were 100 Jewish leaders from 25 countries. "There is nervousness and even fear among the Jews in many countries," WJC Sec.-Gen. Avi Becker said, "and some Holocaust survivors say they feel that they're being taken back to the 1930's." He noted that European Jewry, "which has not been known for its public activism, has now begun to wake up and rally publicly against this phenomenon. In the 24 hours that we have been here in Brussels, some of our members were victims of anti-Semitism, and a synagogue was even shot at."
The meeting was held in atmosphere of mounting fear among European Jews. There is today an anxiety on the part of Jews when they go to the religious centers, [when] they go to their social centers, when they send their children to school," Mr Beker said. He added that there have been over 300 cases of assaults on Jewish citizens or synagogues in France in the last two weeks alone.
Similar attacks have been reported in many European countries, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Ukraine. Over the past weekend, the following incidents occurred:
The Marseille synagogue was apparently doused in petrol before being burnt to the ground.
About 15 masked assailants smashed two cars into a synagogue in Lyon and set it on fire.
Petrol bombs were thrown at the windows of a synagogue in Anderlecht, in Brussels.
A man fired a shotgun twice at a kosher butcher's shop in a village near the southern city of Toulouse.
Arsonists tried to burn down a synagogue in Strasbourg, but failed to do serious damage.
A Jewish school was broken into in Sarcelles, north of Paris.
A Jewish couple was assaulted in the town of Villeurbanne, in the Rhone region, causing the woman to spend the night in hospital.
A German newspaper reported that a Berlin police official advised Jews not to appear in public with clothes that identify them as Jewish, in order to avoid being attacked, saying that there was a "maximum security" alert for possible attacks against Jewish targets throughout the country. The police later denied that this advice had been given, though the paper stands by the story.
Whether accurate or not, the account testifies to the feelings of vulnerability being experienced by European Jews that recall terrible memories of the years before the Second World War, especially of Kristallnacht.
Many commentators attribute the rise in antisemitic attacks to the intensified conflict in the Middle-east and point to invocations to violence delivered by Muslim religious leaders in the region. According to published reports Sheik Abdul Rahman al-Sudais proclaimed last Friday at the Grand Mosque in Mecca that Jews are, the scum of the human race, the rats of the world, the killers of prophets and the grandsons of monkeys and pigs. Some European authorities suspect that young immigrants from North Africa are responsible for several of the attacks against Jews in Europe.
Speaking about the European media's coverage of Israel, the WJC's Becker dismissed it with one word: "Terrible. They are totally one-sided and do not give the full story. There even seems to be a cynical attitude towards the anti-Semitism here, as if it were just another part of the Israeli-Arab conflict in the Middle East. This is a terrible comparison, of course, as Jews don't place bombs in mosques and don't attack Moslems in the streets... We also want it to be known that this is a problem of the governments and the media, which have created an atmosphere so hostile to Israel that leads to what we are now seeing."
Two statements on the Middle-east Conflict from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Mark
S. Hanson Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America |
Bishop Hanson's April 4, 2002 Middle East Statement The statement which follows has been e-mailed to all synod offices, asking them to distribute it electronically to their congregations so that it might be read at or distributed during every ELCA congregation's worship service this coming Sunday, April 7, 2002: When a Passover meal becomes a bloody massacre, when the site of Jesus' birth is turned into a place of violence, when religious sanctuaries become battlegrounds for war, people of faith cannot remain silent. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) is deeply concerned about current events in the
occupied territories of the West Bank. The violence that we all have
witnessed through the media is unacceptable, no matter who may be at
fault. It is time for Israelis and Palestinians to end this violent
conflict, to stop killing each other, to stop the destruction of
property -- including church buildings -- to lay down their arms and
to engage in a process that leads to peace. I have called on President
Bush and Secretary Powell to use their great influence to halt this
dreadful and violent situation While we are concerned for the welfare of all people, I am especially concerned for our brothers and sisters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (and Palestine) (ELCJ). Their safety has been jeopardized. Basic needs such as food, water and medicine have been cut off. Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem has been damaged, was occupied by Israeli soldiers and its pastor held hostage for a few hours before the soldiers left. Actions such as these are totally unacceptable. The ELCA has responded to this crisis by providing a $20,000 gift to the ELCJ through International Disaster Response to be used for food, water and medicine. Another $100,000 has been provided for relief services to the Lutheran World Federation's Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem, the Middle East Council of Churches and the Near East Council of Churches Committee for Refugee Work in Gaza. In this difficult time in the Holy Land, I call upon the members of the ELCA to:
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson |
6 April 2002
TO: The E-News List of the Northeastern
Pennsylvania Synod
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
You have received, via this synod list-serve, Bishop Hansons message of
April 4, 2002, with the request to read or distribute it in our congregations
on Sunday, April 7, 2002.
I am grateful to Bishop Hanson for his courage and forthrightness in
addressing such a timely, difficult and conflicted issue as he does, and to
offer his leadership to our church.
As you share his message in your congregation, please recall the following
points that are relevant to the situation and may not be obvious from his
message:
the ELCA has committed itself in actions of the churchwide assembly and the church council to live out our faith in Jesus Christ with love and respect for the Jewish people
the State of Israel is not synonymous with Jews or Judaism, and there are differing views in the Jewish community, both within and outside Israel, regarding the policies that Israel should pursue in response to the Palestinian uprising (intifada)
there are some in the Arab and Muslim world who are using the present conflict as an opportunity to dredge up and republish horrendous, vicious anti-Jewish lies and libels that have their origins in Christian anti-Judaism, which we therefore have a special responsibility to repudiate and refute
both the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian soldiers have violated Christian sanctuaries and jeopardized or detained innocent civilians. Bp. Hanson mentions the Israeli incursion in Christmas Lutheran church and The Lutheran had coverage of a similar incursion in the Lutheran compound in Beit Jala several months ago; Palestinian fighters entered the Church of the Nativity several days ago and still have nearly 40 priests inside with them, having refused an offer from the Vatican to mediate a resolution. Neither military force can be excused for such violations of holy grounds.
Lutheran ethics makes no particular case for the suffering of Lutherans as more worthy of our concern or as weighing differently in the moral balance than any other suffering. We all, of course, have particular concern when individuals we know personally or with whom we have something in common face a crisis, but our assessment of justice and our work for peace must surely take account of every human life as equally worthy in Gods eyes.
an international observer force is specifically one of the points in the Palestinian negotiating position, which the Israelis have rejected both as being inappropriate within a sovereign nation and based on past experience with UN missions in the region (see the recent editorial on this point in the Allentown Morning Call at: http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview [4/4/2002--Why Israel mistrusts United Nations, other agencies]
These are difficult and
challenging times, emotionally fraught and ethically complex. In our
deep desire for peace and justice and perhaps deeper frustration at the
difficulty of achieving them, let our prayers and our discussions strive to
avoid the pitfalls of polarization that plague the Middle East conflict
itself. Let us lift up a vision of life together within difference that
affirms our Lords embrace of the outcast and the marginalized, from
whatever perspective they may find themselves thus portrayed. God bless
you and guide you in your ministry.
The Rev. Peter A. Pettit, Director
Institute for
Jewish-Christian Understanding of Muhlenberg College
Allentown, PA 18104-5586
Two U.S. Catholic Statements on the Middle-east Conflict
Bishops' President Condemns Middle East Violence
STATEMENT BY BERNARD CARDINAL LAW
THE MIDDLE EAST
The situation in the Middle East is spiraling out of control. The ruthless killing of Israeli civilians by terrorist suicide bombers and the crushing Israeli military presence in Palestinian territory constitute a crisis which demands action by the U.S. government and the International Community.
It is imperative that Chairman Arafat denounces terrorist acts against Israeli civilians, that he do so in Arabic as well as English, and that he take all possible action to end this violence. It is also essential that the Israeli military withdraw from Palestinian territory. Both sides must be pressured by the U.S. and the International Community to resume face-to-face contacts in an effort to restart the peace process.
Without a just peace, there is no future for either Israel or the Palestinians.
Both Israeli military and Palestinian militia have violated shrines and Christian institutions in Bethlehem. This is a new and menacing development.
I commend to the attention of the Archdiocese the excellent statement of Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and request the faithful of this Archdiocese to let their voices be heard on this matter by President Bush and our Congressional delegation. Our government must take decisive action in the interest of both Israel and the Palestinians.
We must pray urgently and ceaselessly for the peace of Jerusalem and for peace throughout the land made holy by Our Savior.
April 3, 2002