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Twentieth Anniversary of Nostra Aetate N. 4: Guidelines for Religious Educators
The Sidic Center

The Declaration of the Second Vatican Council: Nostra Aetate, N° 4, promulgated on October 28, 1965, was an important turning point in the history of Jewish-Christian relations. This year will mark the twentieth anniversary of that promulgation. On this occasion the SIDIC Center would like to present the following reflections to its readers, to those, above all, who are educators, whether in seminaries, theological faculties, formation programs or schools. We gladly acknowledge our indebtedness to the inspiration received from the excellent book of Dr. Eugene J. Fisher: Seminary Education and Christian-Jewish Relations, A Curriculum and Resource Handbook, published by the National Catholic Educational Association, Seminary Dept., Washington D.C. 1983. Although written primarily for Seminary and Theological College professors, as its title implies, it can be recommended as background material for teachers of religion at any level whatsoever.

The Conciliar text is further expounded in Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing Nostra Aetate N° 4, issued by the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism on December 1, 1974. In the light of both these official texts, SIDIC presents its reflections under three main headings:

• Theological
• Historical
• Liturgico-catechetical

THEOLOGICAL TEACHING

"Christians must . . strive to acquire a better knowledge of the basic components of the religious tradition of Judaism; they must strive to learn by what essential traits the Jews define themselves in the light of their own religious experience" (Guidelines and Suggestions 1974). With this in mind they should teach:

1. In the Field of Jewish Scriptures

— the unity of the salvif ic plan of God and his irrevocable promise made to the Jewish people (Rom 9-11);
— the importance of the Jewish Scriptures, which are not opposed to the New Testament and Jesus' message, but are the basis for understanding and interpreting it;
— the theological and spiritual meaning of the Torah ("Law") lest it be thought of as merely external formalism and legalism.

2. In the Field of Christian Scriptures

— the New Testament link with the Old, its theological and spiritual foundation, not only its linguistic and cultural source;
— an unprejudiced presentation of ancient Judaism, especially of the pharisaical movement with its great religious values;
- problems linked to the condemnation and death of Jesus and of "deicide";
the process of the formation of New Testament texts (cf Divino Afflante Spiritu and the Instruction of the Biblical Commission), recognizing where antiJewishness is a reflection of a later polemic.

3. In the Field of Primitive Christianity

— the context of primitive Judaism from which were born both Christianity and rabbinic Judaism;
— the Jewishness of Jesus, of Mary, of the Apostles and of the first Christian community;
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— the way in which Church and Synagogue lived together for some decades until the destruction of the temple.

4. In the Field of Judaism

— the historical and theological complexity of Judaism
which should not be simplified or generalized;
— Judaism is not only a historical tradition but also a living and present-day reality;
— Judaism has its own intrinsic worth independently of Christianity;
— Judaism must be defined on its own terms as Jews see themselves, and not as Christians would imagine them to be.

5. In the Field of Theological Research

— the various attitudes of the Protestant Churches, the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church towards Judaism;
— that "our two religious communities (Catholic and Jewish) are linked at the very level of their identities" (John Paul II, 6 March 1982);
— the theological importance of Judaism in research and in ecumenical dialogue;
— the history of the misdeeds of the so-called "teaching of contempt" (Jules Isaac);
— the scandal and challenge of the holocaust (genocide) for Christian theology;
— a theology of continuity-fulfilment rather than that of discontinuity-substitution;
— the elaboration of a theological plan more appropriate for interpreting the relations between Christians and Jews

THE TEACHING OF HISTORY

'Research into the problems bearing on Judaism and Jewish-Christian relations will be encouraged among specialists, particularly in the fields of exegesis, theology, history and sociology. Higher institutions of Catholic research, in association if possible with other similar Christian institutions and experts, are invited to contribute to the solution of such problems" (Guidelines and Suggestions, 1974). In what concerns the history of the Church and its conflicts with the Jewish world, it will be necessary to study:

1. Post-exilic and Inter-testamentary Judaism

— the renewal of Jewish faith and its new religious institutions;
— the vitality of Judaism (Wisdom and apocalyptic literature) and the plurality of religious movements, such as the Pharisee; the Sadducees, etc.;
— the birth of Christianity, the relations between synagogal and Christian liturgy, the reasons for the split between Church and Synagogue and the "protoschism".

2. Rabbinic Judaism

— the affirmation of Judaism within the Synagogue
and the superiority of the Pharisaic movement;
— the origin, structure and content of the major Jewish religious works (Targum, Midrash, Talmud) and their relationship with the Fathers of the Church.

3. Medieval Judaism

— the originality of Jewish thought in the important Jewish centres of learning in Babylon from 5th to 11th centuries (Saadia Gaon, etc.);
— Jewish philosophers and commentators in France
from 11th to 16th cents. (Ibu Gabirol, Rashi, J.
Haley!, Maimonides, etc.) and the interaction among
the three cultures — Judaism, Christianity and Islam; — the development of Jewish mysticism and its vicissi
tudes in medieval Christianity;
— Crusades, expulsions, forced conversions and ecclesiastical legislation with regard to the Jews.

4. Judaism from the Reformation to the Twentieth Century

— the marginalization and persecution of the Jews through the Inquisition and the Ghetto;
— the hasidic movement and its importance in the history of spirituality;
— the enlightenment and its consequences for Judaism (Mendelssohn) and Christianity;
— the religious thinking of modern Jewish philosophy and literature and its links with Christian thought.

5. Judaism and the Nazi Genocide

— the role of anti-Jewish theological prejudice and the attitude of the Church in the development of neo-pagan nazism (Hitler, the concentration camps and the extermination of millions of Jews);
— the theology and the history of the Church in the light of the nazi genocide.

6. Modern Judaism

— the religious identity of modern Jewish Diaspora;
— the rebirth of Israel and the problem posed for Christian theology.

LITURGICAL-CATECHETICAL TEACHING

"With respect to liturgical readings, care will be taken to see that homilies based on (biblical texts) will not distort their meaning, especially when it is a question of passages which seem to show the Jewish people as such in an unfavourable light. Efforts will be made so to instruct the Christian people that they will understand the true interpretation of all the texts and their meaning for the contemporary believer" (Guidelines and Suggestions 1974). With this in mind it is necessary to:

1. Overcome Marcionism

— affirm the value of the whole Bible and present the Jewish scriptures as the Word of God, of equal value and dignity as the Christian scriptures;
— situate in its proper historical context the typology of biblical readings without either exaggerating or minimizing their importance;
— educate the faithful in three typological stages (past, present and future) rather than the dual promise-fulfilment scheme;
— avoid developing salvation history in a way that
would minimize the worth of Jewish scriptures;
— avoid the dualism that would oppose the New Testament to the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition;
— never speak of Jewish scriptures and Judaism as superseded, abrogated, or simply as preparation for the New Testament.

2. Avoid Triumphalism

— underline the common manner of living liturgically salvation history;
— recall the links between the Last Supper, the paschal meal and the Eucharist;
— discern humbly the meaning of promise, in prophetical readings above all, whose full accomplishment we are still awaiting;
— underline that in the living relationship of the scriptures there is the same continuity which exists between root and branches (Rom. 9-11);
— show how Jesus and his teaching are deeply rooted in Jewish tradition;
— make use of the positive elements of scriptures contained in such passages as Rom. 9-11;
— make use of the Jewish sources of scripture commentary and make the Jewish tradition appreciated and loved.

3. Clarity the Ambiguous

— interpret liturgical readings, Jewish ones especially, in the light of the above two paragraphs;
avoid giving the impression that the "Old Testament" is no longer valid; rather it is living and life-giving. "Hebrew Scriptures" may be preferred;
— avoid pronouncing the Tetragram on account of the Jewish prohibition of so doing and also because of the impossibility of knowing the correct vocalization of the word;
— avoid speaking of the Church as the "new Israel", an expression which is not found in the New Testament;
— explain how the expressions "the Jews° in John's Gospel or "the Pharisees" in Matthew's have become stereotypes;
— be clear in explaining the context of the passion and death of Jesus during Lent and Holy Week, remembering that "neither all Jews indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the crimes committed during his passion" (Nostra Aetate, 4);
— being given the deep meaning of the "Improperia" of Good Friday, either apply them to the whole people of God, or else substitute them with more appropriate texts;
— revise the Way of the Cross by giving a true picture of the events narrated;
— evaluate critically religious iconography both ancient and modern, which often reflects the religious thought of a given period.