“Christian Life and Judaism” celebrates ten years

On Wednesday, May 29, 2013, the association “Christian Life and Judaism” celebrated its tenth anniversary during a mass celebrated partially in Hebrew in a chapel of the religious congregation of the Auxiliaries in Paris. Founded in 2003 by the Auxiliary Agnes Tichit, this association brings together members who desire to know better the Jewish roots of Christianity. The members, very diverse in their origins and formation, have in common a passion for Jewish tradition, the study of Hebrew and the Sacred Scriptures. Study sessions, cultural outings, participation in the prayers at friendly synagogues are regularly organized as well as masses celebrated partially in Hebrew. The association manifests a strong desire to maintain a communion of prayer with the Hebrew speaking Catholic kehillot in Israel. As a sign of this, each new member receives the blue mass booklet and the kehilla’s song book on becoming integrated in the association. On this anniversary, Helene, who became a member, also received the mass booklet and the song book.

During the mass, celebrated as a simple weekday mass, the assembly sang in Hebrew the prayers of the mass, reciting by heart the Our Father in Hebrew. The priest said the words of the preface and those of the consecration in Hebrew too. I was invited by Agnes Tichit to animate the celebration with song and my violin and I was accompanied by Christophe, a very talented musician who played the clarinet and who is a member of the association. The prayerful silence, the manifest joy evident in each of the participants who experienced the beauty of the language and the songs evoked the beautiful prayers of the kehillot. We send our best wishes to these faithful in their peaceful desire to study more and their intention to participate a little in the experience of the kehillot here in the Diaspora.