His stated intention may be even more important in the long run :
The cardinal cited three New York Jewish communities he visited last year —“homogeneous in their spiritual and practical choices” — as models for how religion can successfully integrate modernity.Yeshiva University is the flagship modern Orthodoxy, the Jewish Theological Seminary trains Conservative rabbis and cantors, and Lubavitch is the chassidic ultra-Orthodox group with the aggressive outreach program. All very different, but in my personal experience the Cardinal nailed it. All those groups are fully engaged with modern life and respectful of secular people, and at the same time deeply love traditional Jewish life.
“Their fervor and strict observance obviously did not prevent the members of those communities from taking part actively in contemporary culture and modern life, insofar as they considered this compatible with their religious commitment,” Cardinal Lustiger said. “Those Jews have managed to offer an answer to the fundamental question that both Christian and Jewish communities have to face worldwide. This question is how to articulate the history and geography of our communities with the history and geography of modernity. Nowhere else perhaps than here in New York has a better answer been experienced.”
Asked later by The Jewish Week to which communities he was referring, Cardinal Lustiger said “Yeshiva University, the Jewish Theological Seminary and Lubavitch.”
As part of the continuing Jewish-Catholic discourse, next month the North American Boards of Rabbis will participate in a two-day dialogue in Paris with the leadership of the European Catholic Church, hosted by Cardinal Lustiger, to address the rise of anti-Semitism in France and throughout Europe.And thus are attitudes shifted and alliances made.
<< Home