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The memory of these past events is still present in Jewish life. But even the consideration of social
questions, recommended by Rabbi Soloveitchik as the only form of interfaith discussion, entails
background knowledge of the respective religious traditions and theological heritage. Otherwise
the discussion is a sociological deliberation rather than a religious spiritual understanding.
Vatican Creates Commission for Jews
In October, 1974, Pope Paul VI instituted a Vatican “Commission for Religious Relations with the
Jews,” which in 1975 issued the Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar
Declaration Nostra Aetate (n. 4). The document suggested changes in the approach to liturgy,
teaching and education, and joint social action. The document was an advance over Nostra Aetate,
but not in relation to previously published guidelines of episcopal conferences in the United States
and Europe. A third document was issued in 1985: Notes on the Correct Way To Present The Jews
and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis of the Roman Catholic Church.
Nostra Aetate is open to interpretation and committed reading, and that process deepens the
dialogue. This was done by Catholics all over the world. The statements of the U.S. National
Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1975, of the French Bishops Committee for Relations with
Jews in 1973, of the National Commission for Relations between Christians and Jews in Belgium
of 1973, of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands of 1970, the Synod of Vienna in 1969, and the
Brazilian Bishops in the 1980s are attempts to deepen the meaning of the Catholic-Jewish dialogue
through encounter and theological reflection.
A Jewish reading of the Vatican Statement requires a respectful consideration of the Catholic faith
commitment. This must be done in the perspective of Jewish religious thought and the covenantal
relationship, but mindful of the Christian vocation. Certain temptations must be avoided; for
instance, total negativism regarding the possibilities and future of the dialogue, based on past
experiences. Another is self-pity for past persecutions and pains; those were very real events,
unfortunate parts of Christian history. But self-righteousness is not an answer to the challenge of
dialogue, one of the most difficult challenges to a religious person. The right Jewish attitude in this
situation requires self-searching and a spirit of reconciliation. It entails recognition of the dialogue
partner as a subject of faith, a child of God. It also calls for a perception of Christianity’s role in
bringing God’s covenant to humanity following the obligation placed upon Noah, the biblical
symbol for humankind. Through dialogue, Christianity must overcome the triumphalism of power,
Judaism the triumphalism of pain.
Nostra Aetate (No. 4) begins with an explanation of the relationship of the church to Judaism,
referred to in the document as “Abraham’s stock.” The church acknowledges that, according to
God’s saving design, the beginnings of Christian faith and election “are found already among the
patriarchs, Moses and the prophets.” All who believe in Christ “are included in the same
patriarch’s call, and likewise that the salvation of the church is mysteriously foreshadowed by the
chosen people’s exodus from the land of bondage.” The church cannot forget that “she draws
sustenance from the root of that well-cultivated olive tree onto which has been grafted the wild
shoot, the Gentiles. Indeed, the church believes that by his cross Christ, our Peace, reconciled Jews
and Gentiles, making both one in himself.”
This terminology is open to misunderstandings, recalling the typological theology which was the
basis for much of the teaching of contempt that denied Judaism a place in God’s plan for
redemption. Christian typology stressed the concept that the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, is merely
a preparation for Jesus’ coming and mission, and that Israel lost its purpose and meaning in the
divine plan.
Catholic Education and Judaism
Underlying Nostra Aetate is the requirement to present the history of Jews and Judaism in a way
that reflects the gospel teaching:
Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or
accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in