The Pope and the Rabbi

Read the article on the site of YNET here

The rabbi of the Pope. “Prayers of repentance”, Hannuka and Shoah ceremony

One of the best friends of the new Pope is Rabbi Abraham Skorka. The two have written a book together and even presented a joint television program: “I spoke with him many times. It was very intimate. Only he and I were present – and between us the Holy One blessed be He”.

A few hours before his inaugural mass yesterday (Tuesday), the new Pope picked up the telephone and called his good friend over the past 15 years – Rabbi Abraham Skorka. “It moved me greatly that some hours before his inaugural mass, the Pope of 1.2 billion Christian faithful, chose to speak with me, a Jewish rabbi,” he said in an interview to YNET.

It moved him but did not surprise him. At his inaugural mass, the Pope said that “he warmly welcomed the Jewish representatives and the representatives of the other religions”. He did not specify who the others were. Rabbi Skorka relates that the Catholic University in Argentina, at whose head stands the present Pope, granted him an honorary doctorate. “The official reason was my contribution to the culture of Argentina. However, what he really wanted was to show that for the first time this honor is bestowed on a Jew – and even a rabbi”.

Intimate talks and a shared television program

Skorka, the rabbi of the Bnei Tikva congregation in Buenos Aires, is the rector of the Latin American rabbinical seminary and professor of Bible and Talmud. However, his fame in Argentina and the countries of Latin America he gained thanks to a shared television program in which the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergolgio, later to be Pope Francis, participated.

“It weas called “Bible and living dialogue”, and we talked about all kinds of topics,” explains Rabbi Skorka. “The only thing we knew before the filming was the general topic. Everything else was spontaneous. We transmitted messages to one another. It was a very important and profound experience which allowed us to draw closer to another.”

The successful television program gave birth to a jointly authored book, “Between heaven and earth”, “which deals with a spectrum of themes that concern simple people: death, God, history, the State of Israel and the Israel-Palestine conflict. We touched upon all these things and we spoke in depth.”

“I also spoke to him privately many times. Conversations that dealt with religion, leadership, what is happening in the world. It was very intimate. Only he and I were there – and between us the Holy One blessed be He”.

He brought about a historic turning point in the relations of the Church and Judaism

Rabbi Skorka, who was invited to write the preface to the biography of his friend, the foremost religious leader in the Christian world, testifies that “Pope Francis brought about a turning pointr in the history of Jewish-Christian relations, which includes also difficult events. He understood that there has to be a change.”

He adds that “at that time, he was sharply criticized by fanatical Christians. During a Vatican celebration, he published a document that in my eyes constitutes the basis for change in the relations between the Jews and the Catholic Church. On this basis, a new age in relations has indeed begun.”

Skorka estimates that the new Pope will strengthen the dialogue between the Vatican and the Jews and also with Israel. “At that same ceremony, I invited to Israeli ambassadors and I spoke about the importance of the State of Israel in Judaism. I said that every Jew sees in Israel the only place in the world which continues to develop Jewish culture and tradition. Everyone perceives it as the land of our ancestors, as a state of the Jews. He listened and he understood.”

“Even if there will never be full agreement between the Jews and the Catholic Church, it is clear that today the door is open and ears are listening.”

Participates in repentance prayers and lights the Hannuka candelabrum

Among those participating in the inauguration mass of the 266th Pope was also Rabbi David Rosen, advisor on interreligious affairs to the Chief Rabbinate in Israel. “Never has there been a Pope with such a close and deep relationship with a living Jewish community as the one that has existed between Jorge Mario Bergolglio and the community of Buenos Aires,” he insists.

Rosen, director of interreligious relations for the American Jewish Committee and formerly Chief Rabbi of Ireland, knows the new Pope well. “During the major holidays, he was an annual guest at the synagogues of Buenos Aires and last year he held an event to commemorate the Shoah in the cathedral,” he told YNET. He has close friends among the leaders of the Jewish community.

Also Rabbi Mauricio Balter, deputy of the Congress of Rabbis of the Conservative Movement in Israel, formerly director of the movement in South America, testifies to the warm relationship of Father Francis to Israel.

“He is a man who is close to the Jewish community and connected to the rabbis there,” says Rabbi Blater. I have no doubt that he will bring about a prioritizing of relations between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people – something that will certainly cause a drop in anti Semitism that derives from the Church. I also believe that his link to Israel will be warmer than that of his predecessors, particularly because he is friendly with rabbis who are supporters of Israel.”

To read more in Hebrew see article

To view the video of the television program here