Church of England says Christians must repent for past antisemitism

From The Guardian-

Christians must repent for centuries of antisemitism which ultimately led to the Holocaust, the Church of England has said in a document that seeks to promote a new Christian-Jewish relationship.

However, the church’s move to take responsibility for its part in Jewish persecution was impaired by stinging criticism by the chief rabbi of the continued “specific targeting” of Jews for conversion to Christianity.

The document, God’s Unfailing Word, is the first authoritative statement by the C of E on the part played by Christians in the stereotyping and persecution of Jews. Attitudes towards Judaism over centuries had provided a “fertile seed-bed for murderous antisemitism”, it said.

Theological teachings had helped spread antisemitism, and Anglicans and other Christians must not only repent for the “sins of the past” but actively challenge such attitudes or stereotypes.

More here-

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/21/church-of-england-says-christians-must-repent-for-past-antisemitism

Archbishop Justin Welby urges parties to make reassuring Jews and Muslims who are 'living in fear' an 'absolute priority' during the general election

From The Daily Mail-

The Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday urged all parties in the General Election to make 'an absolute priority' of reassuring minority groups.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said politicians must 'avoid anything that increases the perception of fear'.

His intervention, which is backed by the Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend John Sentamu, followed accusations from Jewish groups of anti-Semitism among Jeremy Corbyn's supporters.

The Church of England's two most senior archbishops said that 'several groups, especially in Jewish and Muslim communities, feel threatened and are in much anxiety. 

More here-

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7704149/Justin-Welby-urges-parties-reassure-Jews-Muslims-living-fear-priority.html

ABRAHAM EXPLORED: FAITH GROUPS REVISIT SHARED ROOTS IN INTERFAITH EXHIBIT IN BOSTON

From Boston-

Just over a year ago, the day after the deadly mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, more than a thousand locals gathered together on the Boston Common to mourn and pray.

As Rev Amy McCreath, dean of the historic St Paul Cathedral that overlooks America’s oldest park, watched people of various faiths unite once again to mourn another national tragedy, she was hit with an emotional realisation.

“I looked out over the crowds of people, and it was so clear that all of them really want a peaceful future,” she remembered. “We want to work together against violence, but we don’t even know each other. Unfortunately, the odds are good that something like that will happen again, and we need to be prepared to support one another and defend one another."

That’s part of the reason the Episcopal cathedral agreed to host a new interfaith art exhibit that explores the faith and life of Abraham, the shared spiritual forefather of the world’s three largest monotheistic religions - and launched an accompanying interfaith book study to spotlight Abraham’s wives, Sarah and Hagar.

More here-

https://www.sightmagazine.com.au/features/13907-abraham-explored-faith-groups-revisit-shared-roots-in-interfaith-exhibit-in-boston

Pittsburgh Synagogue Gets Help From Neighboring Church, 1 Year After Deadly Shooting

From NPR-

Nearly a year after a man opened fire in Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue, members of the congregation are holding their High Holy Days celebration at an Episcopal church that welcomed them in.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: 

The Jewish High Holidays are here, and we're going to look now at how the synagogue that suffered the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history is marking them. That attack, of course, was in Pittsburgh nearly a year ago. As Bill O'Driscoll of member station WESA reports, the congregation is getting support from Christian neighbors.

BILL O'DRISCOLL, BYLINE: As soon as regular Sunday services ended yesterday, Calvary Episcopal Church volunteers began preparing the 113-year-old sanctuary for a second service. That evening, hundreds of members of Tree of Life, or L’Simcha Synagogue, arrived to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

WILLIAM STEVENS: These will be covered for the next two weeks.

More here-

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/30/765834514/pittsburgh-synagogue-gets-help-from-neighboring-church-1-year-after-deadly-shoot 

also here-

https://www.wesa.fm/post/gesture-hospitality-tree-life-marks-high-holidays-calvary-episcopal#stream/0

Calvary Episcopal Church Opens Doors For Tree Of Life Congregation

From Pittsburgh-

The Jewish New Year has begun and with it comes a time of reflection, forgiveness, and new beginnings. 

It comes nearly one year after the mass shootings that took place at the Tree of Life.
The Calvary Episcopal Chruch in Shadyside has opened its doors to the Tree of Life congregation as a place of worship. 

This week, after the final prayers and goodbyes were said, the church covered their crosses, removed the hymnals, and a transformation began to making the church a welcoming home for the Jewish community. 

“Anyway that they would feel comfortable and know this could be their building, they could use it,” said William Stevens, Director of the Calvary Episcopal Church Altar Guild. 

After the tragedy last year, the church offered their space for worship, meetings, and offices. The Tree of Life took them up on the proposal and after several meetings decided to have their High Holiday of Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur at the church. 

More here-

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2019/09/30/shadyside-church-open-for-tree-of-life/

Shadyside church to host Tree of Life's High Holy Day services

From Pittsburgh-

An unusual sound echoed Monday through the cavernous walls and gothic vaults of Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside — the sonorous reveille of a shofar, or ram’s horn, used to mark the start of the Jewish new year.

The new year hasn’t arrived quite yet, but several members of the Tree of Life / Or L’Simcha Congregation were preparing for it.

They were visiting Calvary to learn about the place where they will be commemorating Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the High Holy Days of the Jewish religious calendar, for the first time since their synagogue was attacked by an anti-Semitic gunman Oct. 27.

The Tree of Life members have been conducting weekly worship at another synagogue, Rodef Shalom Congregation of Shadyside, since Oct. 27. On that date, an attacker killed 11 worshipers from three congregations who were observing the Sabbath at the Tree of Life building.

More here-

 https://www.post-gazette.com/news/faith-religion/2019/09/09/Tree-of-Life-Calvary-Episcopal-Rosh-Hashana-Yom-Kippur/stories/201909090141

Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life shul to hold High Holiday services at local church

From Pittsburgh-

Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life congregation will hold its High Holiday services in an Episcopal church located just down the street. 

The Calvary Episcopal Church reached out to the congregation just days after the October 27 attack that left 11 Jewish worshippers dead, offering its building for any of the congregation’s needs, the Episcopal News Service reported. 

The congregation, known formally as Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation, has been holding Shabbat services in the social hall of Rodef Shalom Congregation, another Pittsburgh-area congregation, but it needs a location that can hold at least 800 people for services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle reported. The church’s sanctuary can seat 1,000 people.  

More here-

https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/pittsburghs-tree-of-life-shul-to-hold-high-holiday-services-at-local-church/

Pittsburgh Episcopal church will host Jewish High Holiday services for synagogue targeted in 2018 mass shooting

From ENS-

The Pittsburgh synagogue that was devastated by a mass shooting last October will hold its Jewish High Holiday services this fall at an Episcopal church down the street.

The Rev. Jonathon Jensen, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church, offered his church as a worship space shortly after neo-Nazi terrorist Robert Bowers opened fire during a Sabbath service at Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation on Oct. 27, killing 11 people, according to authorities.

That day, Calvary was packed with parishioners for a fundraiser, Jensen told the Episcopal News Service. Along with a financial gift and card from Calvary parishioners, Jensen sent a letter to Tree of Life.

“Everybody says something like, ‘let us know if there’s anything we can do to help,’ and I was specific in guessing that they would need space – worship, office, meeting – and so I offered specifically. ‘We’re good at doing that. If you need any of this, it’s yours,’” Jensen said.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/08/21/pittsburgh-episcopal-church-will-host-jewish-high-holiday-services-for-synagogue-targeted-in-2018-mass-shooting/

Anglican Church of Canada to remove prayer for Jewish conversion

From Canada-

The Anglican Church of Canada’s move to expunge a prayer for the conversion of the Jews from its liturgy is being hailed as a milestone.

Meeting in Vancouver, the church’s General Synod – its governing body – approved a measure on July 16 to delete an invocation calling for the conversion of Jews from the Book of Common Prayer, and replace it with a prayer entitled “For Reconciliation with the Jews.”

Successful resolutions before a synod must pass in all three of the church’s “houses.” This one was approved with near unanimous support: Among the laity, it passed by a 99 per cent plurality, and by 100 per cent among both clergy and bishops.

The amendment will require ratification at the next General Synod in 2022. But Edward Simonton, the church’s Vicar General of Quebec, told The CJN the resolution’s passage at the next synod will be “just a formality,” given its overwhelming support this time.

More here-

https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/anglican-church-of-canada-to-remove-prayer-for-jewish-conversion

Passover and Easter — a divine double-feature

From the Boston Globe-

The Episcopal Church isn’t in the news very often. Even an annual spate of headlines — like the current one — seems excessive. Bishop Michael Curry stole the show at last year’s royal wedding with a charismatic sermon celebrating love. And this year, just in time for Holy Week, there’s been a flurry of attention thanks to a presidential hopeful, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. 

Mayor Pete, who left the Catholic church of his upbringing to marry his husband, is crafting a candidacy aimed at the Christian left, where there’s a wide-open lane. His status as a devout Episcopalian came up on the campaign trail when he wielded it to cut a contrast between his faith and the anti-LGBT policies of Vice President Mike Pence, another cradle Catholic, whose turn to evangelicalism shaped his politics. 

Co-opting Episcopalianism’s political pedigree is a sensible play. Inclusion has been central to the church’s “brand” since the 1970s, when it started ordaining women and declared that gay men and lesbians have “full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church.” The ordination of LGBT clergy came next — followed, in 2003, by the controversial election of an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in New Hampshire. Conservative parishes who protested in the months leading up to his consecration would later split from the Episcopal Church altogether. In the colonial Connecticut town where I grew up, some families left our church for Catholic or evangelical alternatives. 


More here-

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2019/04/18/passover-and-easter-divine-double-feature/Ha2fDftKZqOc3fmgiRvmjK/story.html

Anglicans mull replacement for conversion of Jews prayer

From Canada-

The Anglican Church of Canada, one of the largest Protestant denominations, is considering replacing a prayer for the conversion of the Jews with a new one calling for “reconciliation” with the Jewish people.

Right Rev. Bruce Myers, Bishop of the Quebec diocese, has proposed that the last vestige of anti-Semitism in the traditional Anglican prayerbook be removed. He was tasked by the church’s leadership to draft a motion to that effect, leading up to the triennial General Synod, the church’s highest governing body, which meets in July in Vancouver.

Inexplicably, the Prayer for the Conversion of the Jews remains in the 1962 edition of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), more than 25 years after another, more harshly worded prayer that was recited on Good Friday was expunged.

The prayer now in question, which is found on page 41 of the BCP, is apparently not often recited nowadays, largely because the 1985 Book of Alternative Services is often used instead. In addition, unlike the Good Friday prayer, which had roots in 16th-century England and was part of an annual service, the Prayer for the Conversion of the Jews is among about 50 prayers that are used discretionally, Rev. Myers explained.

More here-

https://www.cjnews.com/news/canada/anglicans-mull-replacement-for-conversion-of-jews-prayer

Episcopal, Roman Catholic Bishops Call On Their Flocks To Be Compassionate

From Long Island-

Last week, the bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn published pastoral letters regarding the recent shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, and acts of vandalism against Jews in Brooklyn, as well as the then-upcoming elections and national political climate.

The Rt. Rev. Lawrence Provenzano, the Episcopal Bishop of a diocese that includes Brooklyn and Queens, addressed the anti-Semitic attacks. His letter reads, 

“Last week there was the horrendous anti-Semitic attack on worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. Today [Friday, Nov. 2] there is news of several Brooklyn synagogues and Jewish schools being attacked by an arsonist and Union Temple vandalized by graffiti—additional ugly displays of evil that appear to be on the increase in our nation.

“To counter this evil, I call on the priests and deacons of our diocese and the people of each of our congregations to be the personal, outward and visible expressions of God’s goodness for our Jewish sisters and brothers whose lives and worship are being silenced, threatened or disrupted.

More here-

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2018/11/8/faith-brooklyn-november-8-%E2%80%98showupforshabbat%E2%80%99-packs-several-brooklyn-synagogues

Church of England bishops adopt full IHRA definition of antisemitism

From Jewish News-

Church of England bishops have adopted the full international definition of antisemitism. 

A statement endorsing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, including all its working examples, was agreed during the annual residential meeting of the College of Bishops in Oxford this week. 

This comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spoke of the need for its full backing during a pre-Rosh Hashanah video shot at the house of Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.  

The statement “notes the necessity of making explicit its adoption of and adherence to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, including all examples, without qualification or exemption.”

More here-

https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/church-of-england-bishops-adopt-full-ihra-definition-of-antisemitism/

Why Some Catholics Defend the Kidnapping of a Jewish Boy

From Atlantic-

One summer evening in 1858, the police showed up at the home of a Jewish family in Bologna, Italy, and took their six-year-old child. Authorities had discovered that the child, Edgardo Mortara, had been secretly baptized when he was a baby. Edgardo had fallen gravely ill and his Catholic nanny baptized him for fear that he would die a Jew and be locked out of heaven. But Edgardo survived—and, in the eyes of the Church, he was now a Catholic. Papal law mandated that all Catholic children must receive a Catholic education, and so he was separated from his Jewish family, with Pope Pius IX personally overseeing his religious education.

The “Mortara case” spurred a wave of protests, with activists and intellectuals from Europe and the U.S. petitioning Pius IX to return the child to his parents. The pope refused. Edgardo eventually became a priest, and in 1940 he died in a Belgian monastery. The Vatican never apologized for his kidnapping specifically. But in 2000, John Paul II issued an apology for the persecution of Jews. Today, the dominant Catholic attitude toward the Mortara case is one of regret: “It’s not one of the episodes that the Church is very proud of,” Massimo Faggioli, a Church historian at Villanova University, told me.

More here-

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/01/some-catholics-are-defending-the-kidnapping-of-a-jewish-boy/551240/

I’m Jewish. My husband is Christian. What do I tell our daughter about Santa?

From The Washington Post-

My daughter started asking the inevitable Santa plausibility questions last year. She had just turned 4, and on Christmas Eve she rattled off a litany of queries: How does he get to all the houses in one night? How will he get inside if our door is locked? Doesn’t he feel sick from all those cookies? She only asked me these questions, not her father, even though I’m Jewish and he’s our resident Christian. Perhaps because she knew I was more likely to tell it to her straight — children can smell your uncertainty, and she sensed I wasn’t fully committed to this Santa business. In response to her skepticism, all I could muster was: “He’s magic!”

A sorry excuse for an answer, I know. But it’s one that I come by honestly.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/12/13/im-jewish-my-husband-is-christian-what-do-i-tell-our-daughter-about-santa/?utm_term=.64e03e1ca3a0

200 years that shaped Judaism, Jesus, and all that followed

From Christian Century (Philip Jenkins)-

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of a man sowing good seed in a field. In the night, an enemy sows tares (weeds) among the wheat, and the two kinds of plants grow up together. The farmer tells his servants not to try purging the tares immediately, lest they damage the wheat. Jesus explains his meaning:

He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. . . . The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (Matt. 13:37–43, KJV)

The rigorous determinism of this passage—the implication that humans are born good or wicked, with no ability to change their destiny—together with its hellfire imagery, makes it unpopular among modern-day Christian preachers.


More here-

https://www.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/200-years-shaped-judaism-jesus-and-all-followed

Archbishop Justin Welby’s message to all those celebrating Rosh Hoshanah

From Justin Welby-

It was an extraordinary experience to spend ten days in the Holy Land in May this year.

What helped to make the visit so unique was the willingness of [United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth] Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis to provide his own personal guided tour of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. His breadth of historical understanding and knowledge was combined with his reflections of spending time living in the city himself. We finished with an act of prayer side-by-side at the Western Wall – an unforgettable moment.

More here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/blogs/2017/09/archbishop-justin-welbys-message-to-all-those-celebrating-rosh-hoshanah.aspx

What did it take to finally unite Al Sharpton and Jews? Donald Trump.

From The Washington Post-

President Trump has united us, after all.

He brought together the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Jews.

This modern-day miracle was on display Monday, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the Mall, 54 years to the day after the great man gave his greatest speech. There, clergy of all varieties, but mostly rabbis and black ministers, came together in common cause against the despicable anti-Semitism and racism Trump has unleashed, most conspicuously in Charlottesville.

Sharpton has been a controversial figure in the Jewish community for decades, earning criticism during the Crown Heights riot in 1991 and when he called a Jewish landlord in Harlem a “white interloper” before a deadly attack on the man’s store in 1995.

But that was long ago, and a rehabilitated Sharpton, who has privately expressed regrets to Jewish leaders for his past actions, made Jews the centerpiece of his Thousand Minister March for Justice on Monday. The civil rights leader, joined by Martin Luther King III, stopped in at a pre-march prayer session held by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and addressed the assembly of 300 rabbis, cantors and lay leaders.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/what-did-it-take-to-finally-unite-blacks-and-jews-donald-trump/2017/08/28/6b740d66-8c32-11e7-91d5-ab4e4bb76a3a_story.html?tid=ss_fb&utm_term=.7efd7d1aa353

Cranston Episcopal church welcomes Jewish congregation into its home

From Rhode Island-

It could be considered a tale of three religions involving a Jewish congregation, the state’s only Hindu temple, and an Episcopal parish.

On Sunday, Congregation Or Chadash marked its move from the Hindu temple that once served as its home to its new home at Trinity Episcopal Church in Cranston with the ceremonial carrying of its three Torahs through Pawtuxet Village.

“This whole event is to celebrate a new life,” said Judith Bessoff. The congregation’s name itself — Or Chadash — stands for new light, she said.

The procession started in the parking lot of the former Bank Cafe, in the heart of the village on the Warwick side. Three congregation members carried hefty Torah scrolls, each containing five books central to Jewish teachings, under the cover of a sheer white chuppah. The group made its way across the Narragansett Parkway, over the Pawtuxet River Bridge and onto Broad Street up Cranston.

“When you move a Torah, you’re supposed to hold it close to keep it safe,” Bessoff explained.

Traffic halted to let the procession pass in the blazing heat. Onlookers shot photos as the parade of 30-plus members of Or Chadash and Trinity Episcopal marched through the village, as a light breeze blew under overcast skies. The group passed restaurants, ice cream shops and a liquor store as it made its way.

More here-

http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170611/cranston-episcopal-church-welcomes-jewish-congregation-into-its-home

New Jewish congregation finds home in Episcopal church

From Rhode Island-

Gaspee Days is a good time for a fresh beginning.

Beth Veltri hadn’t thought of it that way, but the timing for a new Jewish congregation to move from its former temple in Warwick to Trinity Church in Pawtuxet coincides with the day for the closing of the celebration of the colonial defiance of British rule in 1772.

On Sunday, June 11 at 1 p.m. Veltri, who is president of the Or Chadash Congregation, and an estimated 30 members in addition to untold others from the Episcopal Church and the community will assemble near Pawtuxet Park. The park should be busy. There will be a colonial encampment with tents with local militia. There will be games for the kids and at 4 p.m. people will focus on the cove where a group will set fire to the Gaspee.

By then Or Chadash, New Light in Hebrew will be ensconced in Trinity Church. The congregation will occupy a classroom in the church that had formally housed day care. The congregation will have access to church facilities including the kitchen and meeting room.

More here-

http://cranstononline.com/stories/new-jewish-congregation-finds-home-in-episcopal-church,124821