September 25, 2008

Israeli Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, co-chairman of the Israeli-Vatican dialogue commission and chief rabbi of Haifa, will become the first non-Christian ever to address a world Synod of Bishops.

Catholic News Service reports that Rabbi Cohen will lead a one-day discussion on the Jewish interpretation of the Scriptures.

"(The invitation) brings with it a message of love, coexistence and peace for generations," Rabbi Cohen told Catholic News Service in an interview in his Jerusalem office.

"We see in (the) invitation a kind of declaration that (the church) intends to continue with the policy and doctrine established by Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II, and we appreciate very deeply this declaration."

Despite the history of violence and bloodshed from the Christian world, said Rabbi Cohen, the invitation can also be seen as a declaration of "respect and coexistence with Judaism as the older brother of Christianity."

He said he actually felt a bit of trepidation in accepting the invitation because some rabbinical leaders feel that interreligious dialogue is simply another way of trying to convince Jews to become Christians, and some Jewish leaders opposed his addressing the synod.

"There is an extreme group that is afraid and who say that, since (Christians) didn't succeed by force to convert us, they are trying now to do it by talking; they call it the kiss of death," said Rabbi Cohen. "If they are right, I am making a mistake, but I believe that is not the situation."

The rabbi said he sees the invitation as a partial fulfillment of an ancient daily prayer that seeks a day when all people will join together to worship God.

Rabbi Cohen noted Christianity, Islam and Judaism are Abrahamic faiths that believe in one God.

"You can't deny the fact that, despite the difference in opinion, the roots are the same. They start from Abraham, and we can call these three religions the Abrahamic faiths. We all continue the sanctity and loyalty to the Bible," he said.

Rabbi Cohen – the 18th generation of a family of rabbis and biblical scholars – said he will speak to the synod about the centrality of the Jewish Scripture in Jewish tradition and daily life and the importance of it in the education of every Jewish child, as well as its importance to Israel. He gave the example of a yearly Bible quiz, which is broadcast nationally and whose winners are congratulated by the Israeli president.

"I believe that is what should be copied by all nations of the world. They should learn the Bible and know it and be inspired by it," he said.

He said he was able to recite almost the entire Torah – the first five books of the Bible – by the time he was 8 years old.

Rabbi Cohen described interreligious dialogue as a block to the spreading of the anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic sentiment of the past, without which the Holocaust could not have taken place.

While there may not be room for Scripture scholarship between Jews and Christians because of the different conclusions both reach from the readings, such discussions might be possible on a scientific level at academic institutions, he said.

"I believe we should leave each to his own tradition and not try to blur the differences," said Rabbi Cohen. "One part of every dialogue is not only to speak to each other but also to listen to each other and respect his right to be different. We can't expect Christians to do that for us if we don't do that for them."

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