"Rushing in Where Angels Fear to Tread": Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, The Rabbinical Council of America, Modern Orthodox Jewry and the Second Vatican Council
2009; Oxford University Press; Volume: 29; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/mj/kjp015
ISSN1086-3273
Autores Tópico(s)Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies
ResumoWriting in the September 1964 issue of The Jewish Horizon, the official literary organ of the Religious Zionists of America (Hapoel-Mizrachi), Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik published a letter expressing his thoughts and feelings on the developments that had transpired over the past three years between the Vatican and the Jews during the Second Vatican Council. “They should say chatanu (we have sinned) for rushing in where angels fear to tread,” he wrote in reference to those Jews who had participated in theological dialogue with the Church.1 The evocation of this provocative imagery served as his admonition of the actions of certain individuals and organizations that had served as ambassadors over the previous three years for the Jewish people to the Vatican. Between the years 1961–1965, at the Vatican Council, the Catholic Church began to reevaluate its stance towards the Jews. Ultimately, Nostra Aetate, In our Time, would be proclaimed by the Council as an attempt to radically alter the relationship between Christians and Jews. While Jews would definitely be affected by the pronouncement, would they have an influence on its proclamation? To whom did Rabbi Soloveitchik direct his passionate criticism in 1964? Why did he feel the need to employ such severe language?
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