The Catholic Church and the Jewish People: Recent Reflections from Rome

3. Jewish Perspectives on Christianity

3. Jewish Perspectives on Christianity Rabbi Giuseppe Laras 1. Introduction: Today’s Context of Interreligious Dialogue I would like to preface my considerations with a general observation that is also meant to be an expression of hope for the future. JewishChristian dialogue—despite the limits, the flaws, the disappointments, the criticisms, and the attacks that it continues to provoke—is a dynamic reality; we are not in a situation of stasis. I would also like to quote, applying it to us, a verse from the Book of Deuteronomy (5:3), ‘‘We, all of us who are alive here this day,’’ are armed more with goodwill and hope than with wisdom and certainties. The comparison between Christianity and Judaism typical of the past centuries is not that of today; yesterday, there were theological disputes, and the Jews were unilaterally asked to attend public assemblies where they had to justify their continued allegiance to the faith of their fathers. Today, Jews and Christians in the spirit of dialogue meet in very different circumstances and with markedly different attitudes. It is nonetheless difficult to deny that from a part of the Jewish world, rabbinic and nonrabbinic, there is still a certain resistance, a difficulty about entering into a relationship with Christianity in the context of the initiatives of dialogue. This happens for a series of reasons; some of them are clear and evident, some are less so, but do nonetheless exert a determining influence on our relations. 24 / Rabbi Giuseppe Laras There is, of course, still the fear or the suspicion that the true goal of the Christians is to attract the Jews to Christianity through dialogue or that through these contacts those Jews who are less religiously motivated , and thus are more fragile, may be induced to abandon their religion and to embrace Christianity. I have the impression, from a preliminary and substantial point of view, that the true reason behind this resistance is not tied to a subliminal fear or reluctance, but is connected with considerations of a doctrinal type: unlike Christianity in relation with Judaism, Judaism does not need Christianity to understand or to comprehend itself. Today, there is a tendency to talk of an ‘‘asymmetrical relationship’’ that connects Jews and Christians at the level of dialogue. In other words, for a Christian, the encounter with Israel means the rediscovery of one’s own roots, so that Christianity is more clearly defined, understood, and, so to speak, better justified. For a Jew, the encounter with Christianity does not carry the same significance. On the contrary, in this second case, the encounter with the other becomes a source of tension and contradiction as soon as the figure of Jesus comes under discussion (how could it be otherwise?)—a figure that, understood as divine and messianic, contrasts with Israel’s monotheistic and messianic understanding. It is also necessary to add that within Christianity’s religious doctrines , where we meet with openness and readiness to change as well as with resistance and hesitation, there are still serious difficulties whenever one tries to define and to indicate the role of the people of Israel. As an example, I am thinking of the interpretation given by the Church to the return of Israel to its land after two thousand years of galut (exile): is it a providential event within a theological vision or a historical and contingent event within a political perspective? I could continue to discuss these issues, adding yet other considerations , but instead, I would like to turn to a different matter. No longer assessing the Christian theological understanding of Judaism, I will attempt , starting from inside the Jewish tradition, to outline and evaluate the main points of a Jewish theological understanding of Christianity. Such Jewish understanding, even if essential, is not univocal; it is contradictory and is still being worked out. Its elaboration is certainly a very difficult and delicate task, whose starting point is the study of the definitions of Christianity given by the Jews in the past; I am thinking here especially of the Talmudic and the medieval periods. Jewish Perspectives on Christianity / 25 2. Talmudic Approaches to Christianity The question upon which all discussions converged, and thus also the main problem to be solved, was whether Christians had to be considered idolaters or not. In the Talmud, we find a distinction between the goyim (including the Christians...