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Editorial
The Editors

This issue of SIDIC is consecrated to Pharisaism and the Pharisees. The word « Pharisee » is perhaps the best example to show concretely how far Judaism and Christianity have separated from each other. « Pharisee » has very generally, in non-Jewish and Christian circles, been equated with « hypocrite », and dictionaries show that this usage has become part of our common language. In Judaism on the other hand, the words Pharisee and Pharisaism evoke the great period of the teachers of the Torah, the religious leaders of the people who saved Judaism at the time of the destruction of the Temple and later, and made an essential contribution to its future development.
The way in which the word « Pharisee » and the many expressions linked to it are used by Christians and others, therefore sounds offensive to Jews, especially because it touches their deepest religious values. Where Jewish-Christian relations develop, people begin to avoid these expressions in order not to hurt their Jewish neigh bors and friends. This is praiseworthy, of course, because such an attitude expresses more respect for the identity and the values of the Jewish people. But it is not enough. What is needed is a re-evaluation of the Pharisees and Pharisaism. The equation of « Pharisee » with « hypocrite » is not only offensive, it is also a demonstration of ignorance.
Some texts of the New Testament, such as Matthew 23, do indeed link Pharisees with hypocrites and other evildoers. But this polemical form of literature in no way justifies a generally negative view of the historic phenomenon of the Pharisees and Pharisaism. Recent studies have given clear evidence not only of the complexity of the pharisaic movement, of the tensions and opposition among the various factions of Pharisaism, but also of the overwhelmingly positive and impressively religious significance of pharisaic teaching and leadership. Moreover, as the New Testament texts also show, Jesus himself not only agreed with the Pharisees on many even basic points, but he used the same or similar methods of teaching and lived a very similar way of life. Without denying or minimizing the differences, one can therefore state that the pharisaic movement is a positive link between Judaism and Christianity. However, the awareness of that basic relationship has been lost under the influence of historical and theological developments.
This issue of SIDIC hopes to contribute to a better and more accurate understanding of the Pharisees and of their fundamental link with Christianity. Jewish-Christian relations could be greatly improved by this return to the sources.