Calling Abe Foxman
It’s outlandish. Unthinkable in this day and age. I cannot believe that anyone could be so insensitive to Jewish people. This matter had been settled. The Catholic Church was wrong to bring back the Latin Mass and worse, prayers that call for the conversion of the Jews. What kind of person could say these things? To what things am I referring? You be the judge:
“I ask you, does this make sense? Where do we Jews get off making demands of Catholics that they only say prayers that meet with [the jews] approval?” he asks. “The audacity of Jews dictating to Christians how they should pray is simply mind-boggling.”
Shocking, I know. Who is this insensitive beast? This rabid anti-semite? It is none other than Rabbi Yerachmiel Seplowitz of Monsey New York.
In a welcome display of chutzpah and common sense, Rabbi Seplowitz defies the common wisdom of Abe Foxman and the Ordinary Ministers of the Media. CNA Reports:
In an article titled The Pope’s Got A Point and published in the July 18 issue of The Jewish Press, Rabbi Yerachmiel Seplowitz says he is “not at all put off by the fact that the leader of another religion sees that religion as primary.”
“I’ve always found it curious that people of different religions get together in a spirit of harmony to share their common faiths,” he writes. “By definition, these people should have strong opposition to the beliefs of their ‘colleagues’ at the table. The mode of prayer of one group should be an affront to the other group.
“What the pope is saying – and I agree 100 percent – is that there are irreconcilable differences, and we can’t pretend those differences don’t exist,” he states. “I can respect the pope for making an unambiguous statement of what he believes.”
While all people, created in God’s image, and their beliefs are worthy of respect, “we don’t need to play games of ‘I’m okay, your okay’ with beliefs we find unacceptable,” he writes.
Rabbi Seplowitz understands some very simple things. Definition of differences is not denigration. You can only find common ground with others when you don’t gloss over the differences. Ecumenism in honesty.