FROM CONFRONTATION TO COVENANTAL PARTNERSHIP
Price:
$27.95
$25.00
FROM CONFRONTATION TO COVENANTAL PARTNERSHIP
Jews and Christians Reflect on the Orthodox Rabbinic Statement of "To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven"
Edited by Jehoschua Ahrens, Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, and Eugene Korn
Preface by Karl Hermann Blickle
Introductions by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
Hardcover, 302 Pages
Urim Publications, 2021
ISBN: 978-160-280-411-1
In December, twenty-five Orthodox rabbis around the world published the controversial statement, To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven: Toward a Partnership between Jews and Christians. It was the first public Orthodox statement on Christianity since the Catholic Church changed its teachings toward Judaism and the Jewish People in 1965. Citing rabbinic precedents, To Do the Will of Our Father articulated a bold vision of covenantal appreciation between Jews and Christians. Today more than one hundred Orthodox rabbis, teachers, professors and communal leaders have signed the statement. From Confrontation to Covenantal Partnership offers reflections by prominent Jewish and Christian thinkers on To Do the Will of Our Father. The authors discuss the history of To Do the Will of Our Father, its breakthroughs and its theological, legal and communal implications. This book will interest Jews, Christians, scholars, laypersons, communal leaders and everyone interested in building a better future together.
About the Editors
Rabbi Dr. Jehoschua Ahrens is Director Central Europe of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding in Jerusalem. He is a board member of the German Coordinating-Council for Christian-Jewish cooperation organizations and of the Muslim Jewish Leadership Council. In 2017 he was awarded the papal medal by Pope Francis personally for his work in Jewish-Catholic relations. Rabbi Ahrens is one of the initiators and authors of To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven.
Rabbi Dr. Irving Greenberg served in the Orthodox Rabbinate and as Professor of Jewish Studies at City College of City University of New York. He served for 23 years as a Founding President of the educational organization CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and ten years as Founding President of the Jewish Life Network/ Steinhardt Foundation. Among his many writings are: Living in the Image of God and For the Sake of Heaven and Earth: The New Encounter between Judaism and Christianity. He is one of the initiators and authors of To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven.
Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn resides in Jerusalem and is the former Academic Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding in Jerusalem, which he helped found. He has served as Executive Director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding at Sacred Heart University and National Director of Interfaith Affairs at the Anti-Defamation League. His writings on Jewish ethics and theology have been translated into Hebrew, Italian, German and Spanish. He holds a doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University and was ordained as Rabbi by Pirchei Shoshanim program of the Israeli Rabbinate. He was one of the first rabbis to support and shape To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven.
Additional Contributors
Karl-Hermann Blickle
David Bollag
Philip Cunningham
Gerald McDermott
Timothy Dolan
Adam Gregerman
Murray Johnston
Marcie Lenk
Alon Meltzer
Peter Pettit
Shlomo Riskin
David Rosen
Christian Rutishauser
Malka Simkovitch
Abraham Skorka
Daniel Sperber
Gabriel Strenger
Andreas, Verhülsdonk
Rowan Williams
Laurie Zoloth
Praise for From Confrontation to Covenantal Partnership
“To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven rests on the firm foundation of Jewish law and precedent… but no one could have predicted the massive media attention to it… the Statement had a divine timing and the people drafting it operated for the sake of Heaven.”
– Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of Efrat, Israel
“My hope is that scholars, clergy and laity – especially among the young – will use this book as a basis for their own inquiries and on-going dialogues…Both communities are open to healing painful memories and a renewed desire to walk on a path of partnership and mutual esteem. In this, do we not fulfill our common mandate to do the will of the Heavenly Father?”
– Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of the Diocese of New York
“If we tell our stories in a way that leaves room for the Other… something may be done to mend the appalling history generated by the arrogant Christian assumption that the Jewish story is over. To Do the Will of Our Father bears witness to the vigor of Orthodox thinking. For that we can give thanks to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who keeps his promise forever.”
– Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury