From: [S]@comcast.net]
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2011 5:06 PM
To: Eric
Subject: Article of interest...
Friday, April 15, 2011
Rabbi: Jews and Christians 'live in amazing new times'
since Vatican II |
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By Paula Doyle |
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Jewish-Catholic relations have come a long way, dramatically
changing for the better since Vatican II. So declared Rabbi Michael Mayersohn,
director at the Alliance for Christian and Jewish Studies based in Southern
California, in a recent Religious Education Congress workshop exploring the
growth in Jewish-Catholic relations in the decades following the Second
Vatican Council. Rabbi Mayersohn opened his March 20
talk, "Jews and the Roman Catholic Church since Vatican II," with a
personal story reflecting the changes experienced by the last couple of
generations in his family. His father, whose Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents in the
1930s were living in Kentucky, was often taunted with the words "Christ
Killer" by Catholic children on his way to school. Thirty years later in
the San Fernando Valley, young Mayersohn had a
close Catholic friend, but his friend couldn't be a guest at a Temple service
since there was a restriction at the time on Catholics attending worship
services outside of their faith. "Now," related Rabbi Mayersohn,
"Catholic churches throughout Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and
Arizona are inviting that kid from Van Nuys [who grew up to be a rabbi] to
teach people about the Jewish roots of their Christian faith, the Jewish
context of Jesus' life and his teaching and why it matters, why it's relevant
to his teaching." He noted that his daughter, now in her late 20s, never
heard the epithet, "Christ Killer," while growing up in Orange
County. "It's good for us," declared Rabbi Mayersohn,
"to take a moment and realize how dramatic that change is, how much has
happened just in the last couple of generations, and especially since Vatican
II and its document, 'Nostra Aetate,' in 1965. We
live in amazing new times." The rabbi called "Nostra Aetate"
a "game changer" for Jewish-Catholic relations as it declared that
all Jews cannot be held responsible for Christ's death and condemned any
expression of persecution or anti-Semitism. "It changed everything about the nature of our relationship
between Catholics and Jews ... even the rest of the Christian world has been
influenced over the last 45 years by this statement coming out of the
Vatican" endorsed by 2,221 bishops, said Rabbi Mayersohn.
"If the Church and the Jewish community had responded to
this declaration with silence, it probably would have been the end of
it," noted the rabbi. Instead, dialogue started happening at leadership
levels in the 1970s. "It took another generation or so for us to begin having
dialogue at the street or pew level, for people to begin talking with each
other," said Rabbi Mayersohn. He said the ensuing discussions among bishops led them to say
that Jews can achieve salvation from their own teachings. "What flows
from that is that, therefore, people don't have to be committed to converting
Jews," said the rabbi. He praised Pope John Paul II's courage and wisdom in his
declarations against anti-Semitism and his historic 1986 visit to the
synagogue in Rome, where he said to the Jewish congregation, "You are
our beloved brothers. It could be said you are our elder brothers." "It was a statement of the heart, a statement of the
spirit," said Rabbi Mayersohn. "There are
times, like all siblings, when we will disagree. We can disagree with each
other and we can love each other. We can know we have this bond that began
2,000 years ago." The rabbi added that another sign of John Paul's decision to
walk a new path into the future was his 1993 decision that the Vatican should
recognize the state of Israel, which had been established 45 years earlier. "John Paul II showed his willingness to walk that new path
and create a new present for all of us, and it was his words and his actions
which breathed life into Nostra Aetate of Vatican
II," said Rabbi Mayersohn. "Without the
courage of his actions and words that percolated through the entire Catholic
community, it would have been a document that sat on a shelf." Though much progress has
been made in Jewish-Catholic dialogue, Mayersohn
pointed out, some Jews are still skeptical about interfaith relations
considering their long history of persecution. "I believe with all
my heart it will take one more generation for the spiritual and emotional
change to take part," said the rabbi. At the same time, he added,
"I believe that we as Jews and Christians are finally at a time when we
can say to each other, 'I know what causes you pain, I know what hurts you.' "John Paul II said
we can get to a place where we can see each other, Jews and Christians, as a
blessing to one another. I believe that we are. "I believe that Jews
are a blessing to Christians and that Christians are a blessing to Jews and
that, together, we can do just about anything. Most importantly of all, we
can love each other well, fully and in God's spirit." |
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Pasted from <http://www.the-tidings.com/2011/041511/rabbi.htm>