Of Rabbits and Rabbinates

The Italian rabbinate is in a snit because the Church prays for the conversion of Jews along with everybody else. That pretty much goes with the whole “go into all the world” thing that Christ commanded. However, the Italian rabbinate somehow considers this an attack on Jews and refused to participate in Italian Catholic Church’s annual Day of Judaism.

To me, the most absurd part of this is this statement:

This has been the more or less official response (a response from the Conference of Bishops is lacking): the Jews have nothing to fear, the hope expressed in the prayer ‘Pro Judaeis’ is ‘purely eschatological,’ a hope for the End Times, and not an invitation to active proselytism (which already was forbidden by Paul VI). This response has not satisfied the Italian Rabbinate. If I insist, even in a purely eschatological tone, that my neighbor would have to become like me to be worthy of salvation, I am not respecting his identity. It is not a matter, therefore, of hypersensitivity; it is a matter of the most banal sense of respect owed to the other person as a creature of God.

I will take the rabbi at his word when he says that “the more or less official response [is] the Jews have nothing to fear, the hope expressed in the prayer ‘Pro Judaeis’ is ‘purely eschatological,’ a hope for the End Times, and not an invitation to active proselytism (which already was forbidden by Paul VI).” I’m not up on Paul VI’s views on evangelization of Jews, nor do I quite grasp the difference between “proselytizing” and “evangelizing”. I’m less than convinced that Paul VI really forbids the evangelization of a segment of humanity due to their ethnicity. But I find it easy to believe that some prelates are so timid that they effectively mean “we’re not praying for Jews to come to faith in Christ, you know, now or anything. Just in the sweet bye and bye.”

What cracks me up is that even this watery wish is denounced by the rabbis as some sort of big threat and a spectacle is whomped up to shout down the already pathetically timid Italian church. Even more incredible is the claim that refusing to so much as suggest that Christ is the savior of the world (including Jews) is “not a matter, therefore, of hypersensitivity; it is a matter of the most banal sense of respect owed to the other person as a creature of God.”

Penn Jillette, for heaven’s sake, gets it better than the parties in this dispute

If Christians really believe what Christ says, then they must bear witness to it, even to Jews. It is no insult to Jews to do so. Indeed, the insult, as Jillette makes clear, would be to do nothing and let souls be lost.

I’ve always thought Michael Medved and Rabbi Daniel Lapin had as sane a response as a Jew can have to Christian evangelization (short of actually believing in Christ, which is the sanest response). Lapin says, “I don’t care if you think I’m going to hell. I care if you want to kill me or drive me out of my home. That’s in pretty short supply from Christians today, most of whom are the most philo-semitic people on earth. Why should I set out to alienate them?” Medved is similar, remarking, “Christians who evangelize me are trying to give me the most precious thing in their lives. Why should I resent that?” The Italian rabbis could learn from that.

And Italian churchmen could grow a bit of spine and stop being ashamed of the gospel.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)