Israel prays for gentiles, so the other monotheists, the Catholic Church included, have the right to do the same — and no one should feel offended, as many have by Pope Benedict XVI’s recent revision of the Tridentine Mass.
Any other policy toward gentiles would deny their access to the one God whom Israel knows in the Torah. And the Catholic prayer expresses the same generous spirit that characterizes Judaism at worship.
God’s kingdom opens its gates to all humanity and when at worship, the Israelites ask for the speedy advent of God’s kingdom. They express the same liberality of spirit that characterizes the pope’s text for the prayer for the Jews on Good Friday.
Let me explain. I derive evidence of the theology of Judaism toward gentiles from the standard liturgy of the synagogue. I draw the text from “The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire,” published in London in 1953, which sets forth an English translation of a prayer for the conversion of gentiles that concludes public worship three times a day every day through the year.
The text is uniform in the worship of Judaism. In it Israel — the holy people, not to be confused with the State of Israel — thanks God for not making the holy people like the other nations. In worship, holy Israel asks that the world be perfected when all mankind calls upon God’s name and knows that to God, every knee must bow.
The text of the prayer reads, “It is our duty to praise the Lord of all things.” It offers thanks to God for giving Israel its own “portion,” its own destiny and lot in life, and making it different from the other nations of the world. God is asked to remove “the abominations from the earth” when the world will be perfected under the kingdom of the Almighty.
This prayer for the conversion of “all the wicked of the earth,” who are “all the inhabitants of the world,” is recited in normative Judaism not once a year, but every day.
Normative Judaism, it can reasonably be argued, asks God to enlighten the nations and bring them into his kingdom. As if to underscore this aspiration, the prayer “It is our duty” is followed by the Kaddish: “May he establish his kingdom during your life and during your days and during the life of all the house of Israel, even speedily and at a near time.” I do not see how in spirit or in intent these prayers differ from the Tridentine Mass.
These passages from the standard, daily liturgy of normative Judaism leave no doubt that when holy Israel assembles for worship, it asks God to illuminate gentiles’ hearts. The eschatological vision finds nourishment in the prophets and their vision of a single, united humanity, and in a liberal spirit encompassing all humanity.
The condemnation of idolatry does not afford much comfort to Christianity or Islam, which are passed by in silence. The prayers beseech God to hasten the coming of his kingdom.
These normative Jewish prayers form the counterpart to the Catholic one that asks for the salvation of all Israel “in the fullness of time, when all mankind enters the Church.”
The proselytizing prayers of Judaism and Christianity share an eschatological focus and mean to keep the door to salvation open for all peoples. Holy Israel should object to the Catholic prayer no more than Christianity and Islam should take umbrage at the Israelite one. Both “It is our duty” and “Let us also pray for the Jews” realize the logic of monotheism and its eschatological hope.
Jacob Neusner, a professor of the history and theology of Judaism at Bard College, is the author of “A Rabbi Talks With Jesus” (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000).
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Praying for the removal of "the abominations of the earth" is the best ever I've heard. Hopefully the "abomination" of all thought controlling religions will be wiped from the human experience to be replaced by true free thinking and free speech... perhaps then as a species we can evolve to the next stage of our existence... in peace, harmony, truth & love.
Catholics praying for the Jews is like wolves praying for the sheep. All it creates is anymosity between the two groups and in the past the frustrated Caths used to attack and kill Jews for their refusal to accept Jesus. I thought somebody should have learned the lesson by now. I suggest the Caths focus their attention on something else after all the trouble they have caused Jews in the past with all this nonsense.
Would it not be more theologically correct to state in simple truth : "The proselytizing prayers of judeo-christian-islamic monotheism share a monocular, one-eyed focus that obfuscates the direct access to a common salvation for all peoples (each one proposing his inescapable go-between: Israël, Christ, Mohamad.)?
I would note that the Alenynu prayer is praying for humanity’s rejection of idolatry, not that all people convert to Judaism. So far as I understand, the Catholic prayer is asking for the conversion of all people to Catholicism. There is a difference.
It's one thing to pray for the other to find the relationship with God that one has found in his religion, in God's own time ("the fullness of time"). It is quite another to pray and hope for the other to abandon, here and now, his self-identified faith tradition in favor of one's own, based upon the judgement that one's own rites, rituals, history, and institutions are true and real while the others' are false and deceptive. If explained properly, the vast majority of Jews would have no problem with the former scenario, insofar as it assumes a respect for the other's present allegiance to his own faith tradition. What we have a problem with, and obviously for very good historical reasons, is the latter scenario. Judaism has never regarded other religions as inherently false and deceptive.
My sentiments are the same as Leo's, so my internal debate about whether or not to express them is irrelevant. However, I think Neusner is acting and thinking politically, in the sense that he is looking forwards, rather than backwards, and focused on the Jewish community's interests, rather than its ideals. (The story of the fall is presumably a cautionary tale about thinking we can have it all.) The unhappy history of pagan and gentile persecution of the Jews is real. What is also real is the limited nature of our time on earth, and the need to express ourselves judiciously in order to maximze the saving potential of our inheritance. It grates on my nerves to hear apologies for the Catholic Church coming from a rabbi, but we have to face the fact that idle dreams such as those of Bill Walsh are little more than religion purged of its self-knowledge. I don't believe you'll find any mention of "the next stage of our existence" in Darwin, notwithstanding his role in disseminating the theory of evolution. That kind of language is straight out of the next-world theology of the Bible. 3,500 years we've been waiting for the Messiah... you'd think we'd have learned a little patience by now. What's that line from Micah? ... no, not the one about Bethlehem... although they do have the right to read it that way...
I agree with the article. I was a bit taken aback when I heard the expressions of outrage among Jews about a detail of Catholic liturgy. Since we don't believe in Catholic theology, as long as they're not hurting us (which they are not), it's not our business to quibble with their prayers. As Prof. Neusner correctly points out (indeed, he seriously understates the matter), Jewish liturgy does give a rather unfavorable review to non-Jews. I would hate to defend some of the details of Jewish traditions, or the comments of Jewish leaders, with regard to non-Jews. As I am not prepared to do this, I am equally unwilling to challenge other religions on their particular texts, provided I'm allowed to pursue my own in peace.
SURPRISE! SURPRISE! I don't need either group to be saved. Only a personal relationship with my GOD. They do err; not knowing the scriptures....
Truth be told, there is something to offer offense to others in all of the three scriptures arising out of the Abrahamic tradition……If you are looking for offense. Rabbi Neusner’s article has captured an important truth. His perspective has its parallel in the New Testament when Christ says “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." When He says that he is talking as a Jew to other Jews. From time to time I have found myself in one of those debates peculiar to Christians about “who will be saved.” Invariably someone voices a narrow view of God’s munificence and excludes most of those outside of his theological perspective (It is rarely enough to be a Christian). At such times I always ask, “Tell me, if a Jew lives according to the Law of Moses in its fullness, will he not be saved?” I have never had a Christian who could answer me no. The fact is that I know Jews living according to the Law who better fit the standard Christians set for themselves than do most Christians.
All this excessive attention goes with being a Chosen People, I suppose, like a Britney Spears being chased by paparazzi. The Caths can't resist; instead of minding their own business and trying to ensure the "salvation" of their own butts, they keep looking at the Jews, seeing if there is something they can do there. I think they believe they get extra credit for converting Jews - the stiff-necked people - and will have to spend less time in Purgatory if they present proof of having converted a Jew. I want to start a business, "Conversions R Us." For a fee, I, a certified Jew, will convert to Christianity (certain sects and denominations at extra cost.) Converted, I can prove my bona fides with a recital of the Mass and the Nicaene Creed in Latin, satisfying even the most discriminating customer. My Christian clientele will have proof of Jew-conversion, to be presented at the gate of Purgatory. At the end of the contract period, I handily convert back to Judaism (with the assistance of my business partner, a rabbi.) And the signs are lit again: "Jew Available for Conversion! Get Yours Now!" and "The Sooner Your Gold in the Jew's Coffers Clings, the Sooner Your Soul Out of Purgatory Springs!"
'When all mankind enters the church' is not the counterpart to "All the wicked of the earth'. The Jewish prayer asks that all wicked revise their ways and enter the Kingdom of Gd. The Catholic church calls for the conversion of Jews. This apple/orange comparison is made through a christological lens, not a Jewish one.
Jacob Neusner is mistaken. I challenge Jacob Neusner to find a source from the Talmud, Shulchan Aruch (code of Jewish law), or siddur that requires Jews to pray for or persuade Non-Jews to convert to Judaism. The verse from the Aleinu prayer that he quotes refers to Non-Jews to accept the basic laws of human morality, referred as the "Seven Mitzvos of the Children of Noah". E.g. Idolatry, setting up a court system, etc. Jewish Law recognizes that Non-Jews need not convert to Judaism in order to be considered good and moral human beings.
Yasher Koach Rabbi Dr Neusner! Well said! The "but" for me - who has been an active participant in liberal Reform American communities is that I have never recited the traditional text of the Alenu in the entire 70 years of my life. As a child - the universalist aspirations of Szold/ Jastrow provided the content of prayer for me and my family, and later in life this was amended by Mordechai Kaplan's philosophy and reading of our tradition. Thank you for reminding all of us of similarities between traditional Jewish liturgy and the words of the Tridentine Mass, I do not question any groups' right to pray in terms that are not inclusive of all the people of the world - but as a long time synagogue member - Shabbat observant Jew - I am not able to recite this kind of prayer. However, Jews and Catholics and all other people must exercise their conscience and support their personal theology when they pray. I hope that some of our sisters and brothers who are raising objections to the wording in the Latin Mass will begin to apply the same standards to the traditional Alenu text that is too frequently recited withlittle or no knowledge of its intent and its content at the end of every davenning!
I really dont understand the whole bruhaha. If what the catholic pray is going to be heard by God then obviously we should be converting to catholisism, if on the other hand as jews we believe that god does not listen to Goyim but only to us the "keepers of the truth" the who cares what they pray for. and If god does not exist then who cares who prays what.
Harry Fisher's comments are a complete distortion of Catholic Theology, sarcastic and disrespectful. Oleg Jankovic on salvation. The Mercy of God is infinite and only his mercy will save us. However, since the new testament was cited, here are other quotes on salvation Galatians 2:16 But knowing that man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; we also believe in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. Romans 10:9 For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Harry Fisher's comments are a complete distortion of Catholic Theology, sarcastic and disrespectful. Oleg Jankovic on salvation. The Mercy of God is infinite and only his mercy will save us. However, since the new testament was cited, here are other quotes on salvation Galatians 2:16 But knowing that man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; we also believe in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. Romans 10:9 For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Quite interesting, well thought out...one problem...both Christianity and Islam have forcibly converted Jews, persecuted them, and regardless of adherence to the Jewish concept of God's Kingdom on Earth, incorporate in their respective teachings eschatological outcomes inimical to Jews and their covenant with God which ironically is the very basis of the "legitimacy" and "chain of tradition" from which both Christianity and Islam derive their claims of supercession.
Wow, what a straw man. The issue is not whether Christians, including Catholics, can pray for Jews. I once had a whole Baptist Church in Little Rock prayering for my recovery after a difficult surgery. The problem arises when Catholics start praying for Jews to "see the light," to accept Jesus as their personal Savior" or whatever other euphamism they might have. There is a lot wrong with my soul, but " I am the way" will not do me any good on Yom Kippur. The kind of prayers you are defending are form of religious imperalism or, in another sense, polite anti-Semitism. At any rate, after two thousand years of experience, I know where those prayers can lead and I feel no need to apologize for objecting to them as Jew.
Daniel Klatzkow has already made the point I wanted to make, but let me amplify it. Catholics, by-and-large, already meet the requirements of the "Laws of Noah", and need not be converted. They are just fine where they are. "The righteous of all nations have a place in the world to come." This is better explained at http://www.jewfaq.org/gentiles.htm
geila nailed it: "This apple/orange comparison is made through a christological lens, not a Jewish one." The reference to fruit is spot on. When the subject of "salvation" comes up, I perceive a distinct aroma of fruitcake ...