Edward Kessler

Claude Montefiore and Liberal Judaism

Upon obtaining a First Class Degree in 1889, he went to the Hochschule in Berlin with the intention of becoming a rabbi. There he was assigned to a young tutor by the name of Solomon Schechter who was already an outstanding biblical and talmudic scholar. Schechter formed quite a contrast to his student a native of Romania, from a Chassidic family, who received a yeshiva education at a famous Talmudic college at Lemberg (Lwow) in Galacia.

“I am Joseph, Your Brother”: A Jewish Perspective on Christian-Jewish Relations since Nostra Aetate No. 4

The article reviews the impact of Nostra aetate on Christian-Jewish relations and offers a Jewish perspective, including consideration of the Jewishness of Jesus as well as proposing a covenantal theology that grapples with supersessionism. It also explores the implications of the Holy Sees assertion in 1974 that “Christians must strive to learn by what essential traits the Jews define themselves in the light of their own religious experience” and suggests that the church did not know then, nor yet knows, the challenges this raises.

Jewish–Muslim dialogue in light of Jewish–Christian relations

Interfaith dialogue, as we understand it today, has been taking place between Christians and Jews for nearly a century, but Jewish–Muslim dialogue is a more recent phenomenon. Jews and Muslims have much in common, but relations are overshadowed by the failure to address the impact of the Middle East conflict. For most Jews, the creation of the State of Israel is an ancient promise fulfilled – the ingathering of exiles and a guarantee of physical and spiritual security. Yet many Muslims term the same events ‘The Disaster’, a time when an Islamic society was uprooted and became a minority. In Jewish–Muslim dialogue it is essential to be prepared for conflicting views.

Mary—The Jewish Mother:

Christians have re-awoken to the Jewishness of Jesus and rediscovered a respect for Judaism. Is it not time to reconsider Mary, in Jewish terms? Mary was an observant Jewish woman and she even carried on worshipping at the Temple in Jerusalem after the Christ Event. Although on the cusp of the divide between Judaism and Christianity, within a few centuries the Church was playing down her Jewishness and soon applied anti-Jewish teaching. By the early Middle Ages, Jews had responded with their own polemic, notably against the belief that Christ was born of a virgin. The Jewish rejection of the Virgin Birth resulted in a view of Jews as particular enemies of Mary, an understanding which was explored in medieval art and miracle tales. Today Catholics and Jews can redeem this antiquated understanding of Mary by portraying her positively—as a first-century Jewish mother.

Perceptions of the Other—Lessons from Jewish-Christian Dialogue

If we take the twentieth century as our starting point it is quite clear that two immense events have combined to provide a dual focus to Jewish-Christian Dialogue today: The Holocaust (Shoah) The Creation of the State of Israel