Winter 1984 - 1985 - Quarterly Review

QUARTERLY REVIEW, WINTER 1984
In February, 1962, the year in which the council was to open, three of
Heschel's books were sent to Cardinal Bea, who warmly acknowledged
them "as a strong common spiritual bond between us." The books were
God in Search of Man, Man Is Not Alone, and The Sabbath.
Discussion of the Declaration on the Jews was postponed to the
second session, scheduled to open in September, 1963. In the spring
of that year Cardinal Bea visited the United States, speaking at
Harvard and in New York City. Heschel chaired a private meeting
between Bea and a group of Jewish leaders and was the speaker at an
interfaith banquet held in the cardinal's honor, which was attended
by U.N. officials and political and religious leaders. On this occasion
Heschel addressed the common threat faced by all human beings
today, the threat of evil, of the darkness all about us, a darkness of our
own making. He also spoke of the great spiritual renewal inspired by
Pope John XXIII.
Pope John died on June 4, 1963, and the second session opened in
September under his successor, Paul VI, who supported the
secretariat's position with regard to the Jewish people. The promising
beginning that had been made was, however, destined to undergo
much turbulence and controversy. Despite the support of Paul VI,
opposition to the proposed declaration grew and pressures on the
secretariat began to mount. In November, 1963, Heschel wrote to
Cardinal Bea, expressing his deep concern that the theme of
conversion of the Jews had been introduced into a new text.
A new version of this draft appeared in a newspaper story shortly
before the third session was to open. The original text had been
watered down, and the hope was expressed for the Jews' eventual
conversion. In a statement of September 3, 1964, Heschel strongly
condemned the new version. His harshest words were reserved for
the theme of conversion, and show that he could, if necessary, be
sarcastic—a tone which was generally quite alien to him:
it must be stated that spiritual fratricide is hardly a means of
"reciprocal understanding." . . . Jews throughout the world will be
dismayed by a call from the Vatican to abandon their faith in a
generation which witnessed the massacre of six million Jews... on
a continent where the dominant religion was not Islam, Buddhism,
or Shintoism.
The situation was so critical that the AJC arranged an audience for
Heschel with Pope Paul VI for September 14,1964, literally the eve of
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