Remembering Daniel Rossing

On Thursday, November 24, 2011, three organizations, the JCJCR, the ICCI and the Jerusalem Institute organized a commemoration of Daniel Rossing, long time head of the Christian Communities Department in the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs and founder of the JCJCR. The audience included Daniel's wife Tina, his children and numerous friends and colleagues.

The first part of the evening was dedicated to remembering Daniel and his life's work. Dr. Amnon Ramon of the Jerusalem Institute gave a survey of Daniel's life and work. Dr. David Satran of the Hebrew University spoke of Daniel within the context of Jewish Christian relations. Ms. Hanna Bendcowsky, Daniel's close collaborator, shared some personal reflections on Daniel and screened a collection of photographs, showing Daniel at work with heads of Churches and Christian communities. Finally, Mr. Bernd Mussinghoff, of the German Association of the Holy Land, shared some personal memories of working with Daniel.

The second part of the evening was focused on Daniel's description of Jerusalem as a city between – between heaven and earth, between past and future, between desert and fertile land… The three speakers represented the three main Churches of Jerusalem: Archbishop Aristarchos represented the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Archbishop Aris Shirvanian, represented the Armenian Church and Father David Neuhaus, represented the Latin Patriarchate. Each one evoked the memory of Daniel as man of great humanity, a man of peace, consecrated to serve Jerusalem and her inhabitants.