AJC's Interreligious Affairs Timeline
1910-1919• 1910 - November. In its fourth Annual Report, AJC recognizes the importance of positive interreligious relations by praising the work of Christian organizations speaking out against prejudice and anti-Semitism. In particular, it notes the "enlightened resolution of protest" against Russian anti-Semitism issued May 24 by the Presbyterian Assembly, and in October by the American Convention of the Episcopal Church. Additionally, it notes that the New York Baptist Ministers Conference, at a regular session, held on June 6, 1910, "unanimously approved of the resolution of protest against the Russian persecution, introduced into the House of Representatives." • 1915 – On December 30, the AJC submits a petition to Pope Benedict XV calling on him to exercise his influence "to ameliorate the conditions of the Jews in the Eastern war zone, insofar as this condition was due to the unfriendly attitude of the Poles who are, in the main, members of the Roman Catholic Church." The petition includes the Words, "We recall with admiration and gratitude that on many occasions in the past some of the revered predecessors of Your Holiness have under like conditions extended protection to those of the Jewish faith, in the interest of right and justice." • 1916 - On February 9, Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, Vatican secretary of state, responds for the Pontiff in a letter categorized by the AJC as "a virtual encyclical against anti-Jewish prejudices." In it, the cardinal writes that the pope, as head of the Catholic Church, "considers all men as brethren and teaches them to love one another; he will not cease to inculcate the observances among individuals as among nations of the principles of natural right, and to reprove every violation of them." 1920-1929• 1921 - AJC praises the quadrennial convention of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ, attended by representatives of 30 denominations and 150,000 churches, for adopting the resolution: "Whereas, for sometime past there have been in circulation in this country publications tending to create race prejudice and arouse animosity against our Jewish fellow-citizens, and containing charges so preposterous as to be unworthy of credence, be it resolved that the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, impressed by the need at this period of our nation for unity and brotherhood, deplores all such cruel and unwarranted attacks upon our Jewish brethren and in a spirit of goodwill, extends to them an expression of confidence in their patriotism and good citizenship." • 1921 -January. After the AJC distributes copies of a Jewish statement condemning the spread of the anti-Semitic forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, to men and women in public life throughout the United States, a statement is published and signed by 119 "distinguished American Christians" deploring such anti-Jewish actions. The petition, whose first three signatories are Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft, and William Cardinal O'Connell, is entitled, "The Peril of Racial Prejudice," and begins with these words: "The undersigned citizens of Gentile birth and Christian faith view with profound regret and disapproval the appearance in this country of what is apparently an organized campaign of anti-Semitism...." • 1927 -January 10. AJC President Louis Marshall begins a series of correspondence with Augusta Stetsan, head of NewYork radio station WHAP, who, based on her interpretation of Christian Science beliefs, supported anti-Jewish and anti-Catholic radio pronouncements. In his letter Marshall quotes the prophet Malachi: "Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us all? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?" As a result of this exchange, AJC reports that the anti-Jewish radio condemnations are brought to an end. • 1928 - September. In one of the most shameful incidents of anti-Jewish prejudice in American history, the mayor of Messena, New York, after the reported disappearance of a four-year-old girl (eventually found, lost in a nearby woods), directs a state trooper to interrogate the rabbi and the Jewish community to ascertain whether Jews perform human sacrifice in conjunction with Yom Kippur, which was to begin that evening. A public letter from AJC to the mayor galvanizes public opinion against such ignorance and prejudice. Other organizations, such as the "Commission on Good Will Between Jews and Christians," condemn these unfounded beliefs, and a stirring NY Sun editorial on October 4 praises the leadership of AJC President Louis Marshall as an American who takes the lead to fight such evil. The paper writes that "somewhere in the blackest abyss of the Dark Ages malice and stupidity contrived to invent this slander against the Jews." • 1929 -AJC raises questions about the movie King of Kings – a film about the life of Jesus that includes anti-Semitic stereotypes, which stir up anti-Jewish feeling As a result, members of AJC's executive committee attend a private screening, along with handpicked Jewish scholars, and make recommendations—accepted by the filmmakers—to improve the movie. Film distributors also make the decision, based on AJC input, not to show the film in certain parts of the world where it might feed the flames of rising anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish policies. • 1929 -Theatrical producers in the United States announce plans to produce the Frieburg Passion Play. AJC distributes background material to Christian leaders, influencing many of them join with AJC to protest any production that encourages anti-Semitic stereotypes. The Committee on International Friendship of the Federation of Churches issues a statement that, "any such presentation which attaches blame to the Jews of today for a crime committed centuries ago is most reprehensible." • 1929 - May. The Committee on Good Will Between Jews and Christians, under the Federated Council of Churches of Christ in America, begins a correspondence with AJC regarding the issue of proselytization—and Jewish fears that the committee is a tool for missionary activity. AJC President Louis Marshall replies that the strongest Jewish relations will come when Christians seek to make their people better Christians, and Jews seek to make theirs better Jews. As a result of AJC's correspondence, the committee issues a statement that it does not favor conversionist efforts by Christian churches. 1930-1939• 1932 -AJC begins a three-year pioneer program with Drew Theological Seminary aimed at removing bias and prejudiced teachings from religious textbooks. • 1936 -December. AJC commends the appeal issued by representatives of the five synods of the American Lutheran Conference, deploring anti-Semitism as incompatible with the doctrines of the Bible and the teachings of the Lutheran Church. • 1937 - January. At its Annual Meeting, AJC forcefully condemns anti-Semitism as an attack on America, not just an attack on Jews. "Anti-Semitism is a manifestation of the spirit of dictatorship, which first attacks the weakest—the Jews—and then proceeds to destroy all liberty." Along with the condemnation of anti-Semitism, AJC commends the "Good Will Movement" in America that crosses religious lines, symbolized by organizations such as the National Conference of Christians and Jews and its sponsorship of Brotherhood Day. The third annual Brotherhood Day in America, in 1937, culminates in a radio address by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which includes words from Catholic leader Michael Francis Doyle of Philadelphia and AJC President Cyrus Adler. • 1938 -As anti-Semitism increases in the world, AJC continues to commend and work with the Christian and interfaith organizations that take strong stands against prejudice. In the 1938 Annual Report, AJC recognizes the threat, but applauds the fact that American public opinion—with the help of many church leaders, as well as the general press—continues to stand against the policies of "the Nazi regime in Germany." AJC specifically commends the May protest of George Cardinal Mundelein of Chicago and the open letter to Hitler written by the Rev. Charles MacFarland, general secretary emeritus of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States. When AJC protests a New York Catholic publication that links Jews to communism, providing background material to dispute the claim, the editor retracts his comments. When the National Conference of Christians and Jews holds an institute on "Unifying Influences in a Democracy," AJC representative James N. Rosenberg speaks on the subject of "Group Defamation and Freedom of Speech." AJC's recognition of the importance of positive interreligious relations is stressed when it notes that, while it "does not minimize anti-Semitism," it is "heartened... by the fact that our Christian neighbors... are busily engaged in ever-extending efforts to spread the message of good will between Jews and Christians, and to awaken comprehension of the fact that anti-Semitism is only a spearhead for attacks on all religion." 1940-1949• 1943 -NBC requests AJC assistance in setting up a Jewish religious radio series to be sponsored by the Jewish Theological Seminary. The first series of thirteen broadcasts about famous "Synagogues of History" is so successful that NBC requests AJC's cooperation in a new series of thirteen broadcasts to dramatize the lives of Jews who have made significant contributions to civilization. • 1943 -In addition to AJC work to identify and eliminate anti-Jewish references in Christian religious teaching materials, a similar study of Jewish textbooks that might strengthen anti-Christian prejudice is initiated. AJC publishes the findings of the committee headed by Rabbi Leo Jung and announces that publishers are taking steps to correct problems that have been identified. • 1944 -AJC's report on "Domestic Public Relations" notes a major change in strategy regarding public awareness initiatives. Whereas past attempts utilized a "mass approach," now increased attention would be given to a "class approach" – special efforts and initiatives targeting particular groups, such as labor, industry, veterans, and religious leaders and communities. One example is the assignment to the Boston's "Governor Saltonstall's Committee for Racial and Religious Understanding" of the preparation of teaching materials primarily aimed at Catholic and Protestant religious school students.
• 1948 - September. AJC announces that three AJC Interfaith Fellowships will be made available for Christian ministers who have displayed promise in the field of Hebrew scholarship, and who plan to teach in Christian theological seminaries. The fellowships will be available for study at Hebrew Union College. 1950-1959
• 1951 -AJC announces that, while examination of Christian materials for prejudicial content will continue to be a priority, its emphasis will now shift to establishing lines of communication with Christian leadership education groups. As AJC's "Highlights of 1951" report notes, "Our scientific studies make it clear that not only the curriculum materials, but the attitudes of those who attempt to use the materials are vital in the education of young children."
• 1952 -AJC seeks clarification of Catholic doctrine on the Jews from Father Louis Hartman, the general secretary of the Catholic Bible Association. In an historic statement, Fr. Hartman says there is "no basis for the claim that the Jews as a people were responsible for the death of Christ." • 1952 - Fall. Through the initiative of the AJC, and with the help of an AJC grant, Yale University Divinity School launches a two-year survey to determine the extent of racial and religious bias and prejudice in Protestant church literature in use in the United States. At the same time, AJC is one of the Jewish agencies working with the National Council of Churches of Christ's newly formed Department of Intergroup Education to plan and execute special leadership training courses for ministers and religious educators. • 1956 -Rabbi Morris Kertzer leads the first delegation of American rabbis to the Soviet Union. • 1957 -An AJC delegation is the first Jewish group to receive a private audience with Pope Pius XII in the eighteen years of his pontificate. In a formal statement, the Pope recognizes the importance of AJC's work, condemns discrimination of all kinds including anti-Semitism and urges the countries of the world to provide havens to victims of persecution. The delegation also meets with Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. • 1957 -At the April AJC Annual Meeting—the fiftieth anniversary of AJC— an interreligious forum includes presentations by Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, president of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.; the Rev. Dr. John Coleman Bennett, dean of the faculty, Union Theological Seminary; Fr. Neil G. McCluskey, S.J., associate editor of America; Rabbi Morris Adler, Detroit; and the Rev. Laurence J. McGinley, S.J., president, Fordham University.
• 1959 - After Pope John XXIII convenes the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Vatican officials invite AJC to submit suggestions and findings based on scholarly studies in the area of Christian-Jewish relations. 1960-1969• 1960 - May. As part of AJC's ongoing condemnation of anti-Catholic protests against John F. Kennedy's campaign for president, the AJC Committee Reporter includes an article on "Bigotry and the Presidency," written by AJC Program Director David Danzig. The article is reprinted by two influential Catholic publications, Commonweal and Our Sunday Visitor. Later, John F. Kennedy, Jr., praises AJC's position: "During the 1960 election, when my father's Catholicism was a great issue in the campaign, the AJC was one of the first to come forward and support the right of his candidacy, and it made a great deal of difference in changing sentiments." • 1960 -AJC supports studies of Protestant texts undertaken by the Yale Divinity School; and Catholic texts by the St. Louis Divinity School. These studies help identify problems—and lay out steps to deal with them.
• 1961 -At its April Annual Meeting, the AJC notes that, with the election of America's first Catholic President, "The year 1960 will probably be recorded in future history books as one in which religious pluralism in America was sorely tried and emerged victorious." • 1961 - June 22. AJC submits the first of three memoranda to the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, headed by Cardinal Augustin Bea, dealing with the negative images of the Jew in Catholic schoolbooks. Building on earlier AJC work, these memoranda— including "The Image of the Jews in Catholic Teaching" (June 22, 1961) and "The Jews in Catholic Liturgy" (November 17, 1961)--help make this issue a priority for Catholic-Jewish relations. The third document, prepared at AJC's initiative by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, examines tensions between Catholics and Jews from a religious viewpoint (May 22, 1962). This final memorandum, prepared at the expressed invitation of Cardinal Bea, is a result of a series of meetings in Rome between the Cardinal and Ralph Friedman, chairman of the AJC Administrative Board, Zachariah Shuster, AJC European director, Dr. Max Horkheimer, AJC consultant in Germany, and Rabbi Heschel. During these meetings, Rabbi Heschel urges Cardinal Bea to use the Council on Christian Unity as the vehicle to help purge Catholic teaching of anti-Jewish ideas —and to stop efforts to proselytize Jews.
• 1965 – October 28. The Vatican issues the historic document Nostra Aetate: The Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to non-Christian Religions that transforms official Catholic teaching on Jews and Judaism. The AJC praises the Vatican for its pathbreaking initiative— despite regretting "some of the assertions in the declaration that might give rise to misunderstandings." The declaration ushers in a new era in relations between Christians and Jews. • 1966 -Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum is the only rabbi at Vatican Council II, in Rome, where AJC is also represented by Zachariah Shuster, director of AJC's European Office (pictured in photo, to right). • 1966 – AJC organizes an Institute on Jewish-Catholic relations for faculty and seminarians at Woodstock College, a Jesuit institution near Baltimore. AJC publishes a Guide to Interreligious Dialogue to orient laypersons on interreligious encounters.
• 1966 - April. The AJC Annual Meeting includes a special Friday evening service at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, conducted by Rabbi Norman Gerstenfeld. Following the service, which commemorates the sixtieth anniversary of AJC, Rabbi Gerstenfeld hosts a colloquium on "New Vistas in Jewish-Christian Relations." Participating in the colloquium with Rabbi Gerstenfeld are the Rev. Dr. Eugene Carson Black, secretary general-elect of the World Council of Churches, and Lawrence Cardinal Shehan, bishop of Baltimore.
• 1967- At the May Annual Meeting, Zachariah Shuster, director of AJC's European Office, reports that the Vatican Ecumenical Council Declaration is having an unprecedented positive influence not only on Church teaching, but also on governmental decisions. As an example, he cites the fact that Spain has introduced a law for consideration that "religious affiliation should be no barrier to any position or profession except that of chief of state," and that "non-Catholic religions, including Judaism, will have public acceptance." He also cites the example of Austrian Cardinal Koenig's work to supervise a study of religious literature and teaching materials for evidence of anti-Jewish prejudice as a result of direct AJC meetings with church leaders. • 1967 – AJC is a founding member of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), the organization set up as the umbrella group for the Jewish community in its dealings with other world religious bodies including the Vatican and World Council of Churches. • 1967-1969 - AJC convenes six conferences around the country dealing with the training of Catholic religious educators. A major conference of Jewish and Catholic theologians is held in the Midwest. • 1968 - May. At the Annual Meeting, AJC hosts a roundtable discussion on "New Dimensions in Jewish-Christian Relations: Conflicts and Priorities." The discussion notes that the "clear differences in the responses of most Jews and many Christians to the Arab- Israeli war" have made it clear that Jewish-Christian dialogue must deal with (a) the meaning of Jewish peoplehood, and (b) the relationship between Jewry and the land of Israel. AJC notes that it has sponsored a number of seminars and institutes on these issues and will continue to do so. • 1969 - September. Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum is appointed to the Board of Directors of the School of Divinity at St. Louis University, marking the first time a rabbi has been asked to serve in such a capacity for a Catholic institution. 1970-1979• 1971 - Using its high-level contacts in the Vatican to build support and understanding for Israel, the AJC submits a memorandum to the American cardinals on Jerusalem and the Holy Places, to help offset Arab pressure on the Vatican. AJC convenes a major Jewish-Catholic conference in Philadelphia.
• 1972 - The National Interreligious Task Force on Soviet Jewry, headed by a Catholic nun, Sister Ann Gillen, is set up with AJC cosponsorship in Chicago. The task force will raise awareness in the Christian community about oppressed religious minorities in the Soviet Union and promote interreligious activism on their behalf.
• 1974 - Rabbi A. James Rudin, associate director of interreligious affairs, coleads the first interreligious study mission to a combination of Arab states and Israel. • 1974 -At the May Annual Meeting, AJC honors the Catholic magazine Commonweal. In remarks delivered by Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, director of interreligious affairs, Commonweal's fifty-year history is praised, including the fact that it—along with AJC—was part of the first major dialogue between Christians and Jews in the United States. Known as the "Four C's," it was cosponsored by Commentary, Commonweal, and Christian Century. • 1975 - Commemoration ceremonies marking the ten-year anniversary of Nostra Aetate take place in American cities under AJC sponsorship. AJC welcomes the January 15 release by the Vatican Secretariat on Religious Relations with the Jews of its document entitled "Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Concilar Declaration Nostra Aetate." The guidelines call for a revision of textbooks, liturgy and preaching, and expand the Vatican condemnation of anti- Semitism as a heresy.
• 1976 - At the May Annual Meeting, Fr. Andrew Greeley gives a presentation on Jewish-Catholic relations entitled, "What Have You Done for Us Lately?" In an address that makes six observations about the relationship and then five specific "flashpoints," Fr. Greeley challenges the Jewish community to be as serious about anti- Catholic feelings as the Catholic community should be about anti-Jewish feelings. At the same meeting, the Rev. James Wall gives a presentation on Protestant-Evangelical-Jewish Relations, focusing on the "wall of separation" between church and state, a wall that, in his words, "is porous, but it is firm."
• 1977 -Rabbi A. James Rudin leads an interreligious delegation to the Belgrade Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), speaking out for human rights and religious liberty for Soviet Jews and other oppressed peoples. • 1978 - The Christian Century names Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum as one of the ten most respected and influential religious leaders in America. That same year, Sacred Heart University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, confers upon him an honorary doctorate (his tenth), characterizing him as "the human rights rabbi of America." • 1978 - Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum heads an interreligious delegation to Germany at the invitation of the West German government to consult with officials of the Oberammergau Passion Play on possible revisions of the Passion Play to remove anti-Semitic content.
1980-1989
• 1980 -Rabbi A. James Rudin leads an interreligious delegation to the Madrid Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (following the earlier trip to the 1977 Belgrade Conference), pressing for human rights and religious liberty.
• 1983 -Rabbi A. James Rudin, who has worked with the AJC since 1968, succeeds Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum as director of interreligious affairs. Rabbi Tanenbaum continues with the AJC as director of international relations through 1989. • 1984 – AJC publishes a landmark study on anti-Semitic content in Passion plays.. The study paves the way for major changes in the production and understanding of such events. It is a follow-up to the groundbreaking work, Oberammergau 1960 to 1970 - A Study in Religious Anti-Semitism, which ultimately led to changes in what is arguably the most famous current Passion play in the world. • 1985 - February. The AJC organizes events celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the promulgation of Nostra Aetate, including the visit of a leadership delegation to the Vatican for a private audience with Pope John Paul II. In his address to the Pope, AJC President Howard I. Friedman refers inter alia to AJC's "close cooperation with Catholic Relief Services…in seeking to relieve the suffering, hunger and deprivation of millions of fellow human beings in Ethiopia and in Africa generally."
• 1985 - June. The Vatican publishes the paper, "Notes on the Correct Way to Present Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic Church." An analysis by two AJC specialists, later published by the Catholic magazine Commonweal, finds that "progressive affirmations in one section are undercut by some regressive formulations in others sections." AJC invites a number of Catholic and Jewish theologians to review the document and to propose substantive and procedural changes to deal with problematic issues.
• 1985 - November. AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, in cooperation with the Journal of Ecumenical Studies and Temple University's Religion Department, sponsors a five-day consultation on Religious Liberty and Human Rights, in Haverford, Pennsylvania. The meeting included scholars from fourteen countries and five world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism). • 1985 - November. AJC cosponsors, along with the Ecumenical Office of the Archdiocese of New York and St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, NY, an Inter-Seminary Study Day on Jewish- Christian Relations. In the same month, AJC cosponsors a two-day conference for Jewish and Christian seminarians with the Lancaster (Pa.) Theological Seminary (United Church of Christ) and the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries. • 1985 - In Nairobi, Kenya, AJC conducts Women of Faith workshops, based on its Women of Faith program, initiated in 1979. The program has attracted women from Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Muslim, and Jewish faith groups. • 1986 – In partnership with the Interdenominational Theological Center, AJC cosponsors a seminarian conference for Jewish and Black Christian seminarians. The landmark conference is the first of its kind, encouraging dialogue between Black and Jewish seminary students. • 1986 - March. The AJC and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops announce a joint program to develop and introduce teaching materials about the Holocaust for all levels of the Catholic educational system.
• 1988 -Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum retires as director of interreligious affairs, and is succeeded by Rabbi A. James Rudin.
1990-1999
• 1991 - Rabbi A. James Rudin is the only rabbi to participate in the dedication of the new chapel at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. Rabbi Rudin helps ensure that the stained glass windows—which end up portraying the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge—include no symbols that would preclude future Jewish worship in the chapel.
• 1993 - October. AJC cosponsors the first national conference on "Muslims and Jews in North America: Past, Present and Future" with the Institute for Islamic-Judaic Studies at the University of Denver. Participants represent American universities including Princeton, Howard, Syracuse, Colorado, and Syracuse, as well as from Tel Aviv University in Israel. "It is time for Muslims and Jews alike to speak out boldly and honestly to each other, to come to know and understand each other as people and not as spiritual abstractions," says Rabbi A. James Rudin, AJC interreligious director, at the conference. In 1994, AJC and the institute sponsor a second conference, "Women, Families, and Children in Islamic and Judaic Traditions."
• 1993 - December 30. The Holy See and the State of Israel sign a Fundamental Agreement that establishes full diplomatic relations between them, to include the exchange of ambassadors. Rabbi David Rosen, who would become the head of AJC's Interreligious Affairs Department in 2001, plays a significant role in the negotiations as a member of the Permanent Bilateral Commission of the State of Israel and the Holy See. A little more than four years later, on June 16, 1998, AJC and the University of San Diego sponsor the first serious symposium that focuses on "The Fundamental Agreement" that ushered in this most important further advance in the relationship of the Church and the Jewish people. • 1994 – April. Rabbi A. James Rudin is a special guest at the Vatican Concert in St. Peter's commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. At the concert, Pope John Paul II points to "many new manifestations of the anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racial hatred which were the seeds of the unspeakable crimes [of the Shoah]," and calls for the consolidation of "the good relations between our two communities so that with the help of Almighty God, we can work together to prevent the repetition of such heinous evil." • 1995 -February 6. The third AJC leadership meeting with Pope John Paul II takes place. The meeting notes the thirtieth anniversary of NostraAetate and both the Pope and AJC President Robert S. Rifkind speak of the "profound changes" in Catholic-Jewish relations as a result of the Council. Rifkind also raises AJC's concern about "those who distort the history of the Holocaust" and asks that the Holy See open its archives to Jewish and Catholic scholars working together to preserve the historical record. • 1995 -Atlanta's AJC Chapter organizes an interreligious reception for the Dalai Lama during his U.S. visit. (Photo, left to right: Arnold Sidman, the Dalai Lama, S. Stephen Selig III.)
• 1996 - The AJC welcomes the statements of the World Lutheran Federation and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, on the occasion of the four hundred fiftieth anniversary of the death of Martin Luther, disassociating the Lutheran Church today from Luther's anti- Jewish writings. The president of the Council of Protestant Churches in Germany, Klaus Engelhardt, in a Brotherhood Week statement in March 1996, warns against any attempts to explain or justify Luther's anti-Judaism on theological grounds. These statements are followed up with the November 16 "Guidelines for Lutheran-Jewish Relations," unanimously adopted by the Church Council of the ELCA, which emphasize specific programs and actions that Lutherans should take in opposing all forms of anti-Semitism. AJC publicly welcomes the new guidelines, noting that it has worked closely with the ELCA for several decades, and that the adoption of the guidelines is one result of that fruitful relationship. • 1996 -July 23. Rabbi A. James Rudin testifies before the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives, in opposition to the proposed Religious Freedom Amendment that would, among other things, support school prayer. "I believe I speak for millions of Americans," he declares, "when I say that we will vigorously oppose the Religious Freedom Amendment in the voting booth, in the church, synagogue, and mosque, in the streets, in the media, in the entire marketplace of ideas."
• 1997 - AJC establishes the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding. The institute encourages interreligious dialogue throughout the world through exchanges among seminaries, colleges, universities, and learned societies. • 1997 -May 8. The AJC Annual Meeting features a discussion on "The Impact of Zionism and Israel on Christian Attitudes Toward Jews and Judaism." The discussion is led by Sister Audrey Doetzel, director of Relation and Encounter, Sisters of Our Lady of Sion; and the Rev. Dr. Robert Everett, director of the Institute for Jewish - Christian Understanding at Muhlenberg College.
• 1998 -March. The Vatican issues a landmark document, "We Remember: Reflections on the Shoah." At the May 1998 AJC Annual Meeting, Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, explains that a major objective of the document is to promote "an awareness of past injustices by Christians to the Jewish people" among "Catholics in those countries that were far removed by geography and history from the scene of the Shoah [Holocaust], and encourage their participation in the present efforts of the Holy See to promote throughout the Church, a new spirit in Catholic-Jewish relations." Responding to the cardinal's remarks, Martin Kaplan, chair of the AJC Interreligious Affairs Commission, affirms that the AJC is "committed to working with Roman Catholic leaders to achieve mutual respect and understanding. Such a goal represents the highest and best teachings of both of our religions." • 1998 -October 19. AJC issues a statement mourning the death of Fr. Edward Flannery, author of the groundbreaking work on the religious basis of anti-Semitism, The Anguish of the Jews, and the first director of Catholic-Jewish Relations (1967-77) for what was then the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Rabbi A. James Rudin states, "The AJC has lost a beloved colleague and friend." • 1999 -April 12. The president of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), Rabbi David Rosen awards the Interfaith Gold Medallion to Rabbi A. James Rudin for his "outstanding contributions to interfaith understanding throughout the world." • 1999 - May 28. AJC commends the Polish government for removing the hundreds of crosses that had been erected just outside the Auschwitz death camp.
2000-
• 2000 - May. Rabbi A. James Rudin retires after thirty-two years of service with the AJC, first as associate director for interreligious affairs, and then as director. Although retired, he continues as senior interreligious adviser, as author of a syndicated column for Religion News Service, and as adviser to the Catholic-Jewish Studies Center at Saint Leo University in Florida where he is subsequently appointed to the position of distinguished visiting professor.
"AJC is the preeminent organization within world Jewry in the field of interfaith relations," declares Rabbi Rosen. "I am therefore greatly honored and excited by the challenge and opportunities before me in this premier position of professional Jewish leadership in the arena of interreligious affairs." He adds, "Understanding and cooperation between religious communities and their leadership is more crucial than ever for the well-being of society. The Jewish community has an essential role to play as both contributor and beneficiary in this regard and I look forward to utilizing my experience and associations accordingly under the AJC banner." "Based in Israel, Rabbi Rosen will be traveling extensively to enhance ties among religious communities," says Harris. Rabbi Rosen will continue his decades-long career of interaction with the various Christian and Muslim communities, as well as with the Eastern religious communities.
• 2001 - June. Rabbi David Rosen, international director of interreligious affairs, presides in his role as president of the International Council of Christians and Jews, over the ICCJ's first international conference in Latin America, in Montevideo, Uruguay. Walter Cardinal Kasper, the newly appointed president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jewish People, gives the opening address in which he declares the idea of Christian proselytization of Jews to be "inappropriate and unacceptable." At the meeting, Rabbi Rosen presents Cardinal Jorge Mejia of the Vatican with a special award for his contribution to Christian- Jewish reconciliation. • 2001 - September. Rabbi David Rosen participates in the Barcelona assembly of world religious leaders, organized by the Roman Catholic community of Sant Egidio, charged by Pope John Paul II with continuing the spirit of his world interfaith initiative in Assisi in 1986.
• 2001 -December. Imam Feisal Abdel Rauf addresses the AJC National Interreligious Affairs Commission, on the topic of "Challenges Ahead for Jewish-Muslim Relations." • 2001 - AJC hosts a meeting of Christian- Jewish centers around the country, laying the groundwork for the formation of the Council of Centers on Jewish- Christian Relations (CCJCR). The Council will serve as an umbrella organization to help coordinate efforts of the twenty-twenty-five institutes in the United States devoted to Christian- Jewish relations. (Pictured below: Rabbi Rosen with participants in the meeting.) • 2001 – After the "Jewish Scholars Group" issues "Dabru Emet" ("Speak Truth") – a working document to promote Christian-Jewish dialogue, AJC becomes involved in a variety of ways. Rabbi A. James Rudin's critique of the document helps to strengthen both dialogue and debate. Later, in 2002, Rabbi David Rosen is one of the keynote speakers at the first conference in Israel to focus on the document. • 2001 – AJC releases the second in a series of reports on emerging religions in the United States. Religious Diversity in America: The Emergence of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, by Dr. Tom W. Smith, focusing on three of the major faiths outside of Christianity and Judaism that are part of America's increasingly diverse religious landscape.
• 2002 - January. Rabbi David Rosen, helps organize and participates in the historic Alexandria summit, bringing together the religious leaders of the three Abrahamic faith communities in the Holy Land for the first time. The summit, initiated and facilitated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. George Carey, is hosted by the highest authority in the Muslim world, Sheikh Sayyed Mohammed El Tantawi, the Grand Imam of the Al Azhar Muslim University in Cairo. The summit participants sign an historic document known as the First Alexandria Declaration of the Religious Leaders of the Holy Land, condemning violence in the name of religion as a desecration of religion itself, and pledging to work together for peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land. • 2002 - AJC commissions a study on Muslim Anti-Semitism: A Clear and Present Danger by Robert S. Wistrich, Neuberger Professor of Modern European and Jewish History at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In the same way that early AJC studies of anti-Semitic references to Jews in Catholic literature helped lead to changes that reduced prejudice and fostered positive Catholic-Jewish relations, the hope is that studies such as this one will help promote changes in anti-Semitic rhetoric on the part of Islamic leaders-and bring about increased cooperation and respect. • 2002 - June 8-17. AJC sponsors a Project Interchange trip to Israel for Hindu and Sikh members of the Indian and Pakistani communities in the United States-laying the groundwork for new initiatives to enhance religious understanding between these religious groups and the Jewish community. • 2003 - July. Under the auspices of the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding, the AJC organizes a highly successful series of appearances arranged by AJC Chapters across the U.S. in cooperation with Christian and Muslim organizations at which a rabbi, imam and priest - all Israelis - present their views on peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land. The program, entitled "Abrahamic Voices of Peace from the Holy Land", is scheduled to become an annual event. • 2003 - September. AJC appoints Dr. David Elcott as U.S. Director of Interreligious Affairs, working with the Head of the Department of Interreligious Affairs Rabbi David Rosen and taking direct responsibility for interreligious programming in the U.S. Dr. Elcott served for 16 years as vice president of CLAL, the National Center for Learning and Leadership, the leading educational and training institution in the American Jewish community and prior to taking up his position with the AJC, he was head of DME Consulting, advising a wide range of non-profit organization and major corporations on re-tooling their missions and vision in responding to the new conditions of twenty-first century life. Dr. Elcott holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University in Political Psychology and Middle East Studies; he is an expert in Jewish and Islamic studies; and is the author of A Sacred Journey: The Jewish Quest for a Perfect world. • 2003 - December. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel invites Rabbi David Rosen to be part of its official delegation in its official interreligious dialog with the Holy See. • 2003 - December. The AJC helps launch the Elijah Academy of World Religions holding its first Governing Board Meeting of world religious leaders in Seville at the Center of the Foundation of the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean of the Government of Andalusia and the Kingdom of Morocco. • 2004 - January. Rabbi David Rosen represents the AJC at the Papal concert for Jewish-Christian-Muslim Reconciliation held in the Vatican. • 2004 - January/February. The AJC publishes and disseminates a "Resource Manual" on "The Passion" in advance of the release of Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ". In an official statement AJC Executive Director David Harris states inter alia "The events of recent months surrounding the anticipated release of the Gibson film have only served to strengthen the resolve of those Jews and Christians committed to a brighter future for interreligious harmony and collaboration."
• 2004 - February. Harold Tanner, AJC President, leads an AJC delegation at a private audience with Pope John Paul II at which he pays tribute to the Pope's historic contribution to Christian |
• 1945 -AJC announces the appointment of Rabbi A. J. Rosenbaum as AJC director of interfaith activities "to improve and make more effective the AJC's activities in the field of interfaith cooperation between Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish groups." Among his interfaith accomplishments, Rosenbaum is former chairman of the weekly radio broadcast of the Binghamton Round Table, sponsored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
• 1948 -March and April. AJC presents two nationwide Passover radio programs. The first, "The Forgotten Letter," is the story of the first Passover celebration in America, held in New Amsterdam in 1655. The second presents Rabbi Arthur Rosenbaum, AJC director of interfaith activities, and Cantor Arthur Putterman and the choir of the New York Park Avenue Synagogue, in a program including an explanation of Passover symbols and the singing of traditional Seder songs. (Photo on right: Rabbi Rosenbaum at microphone, and Cantor Putterman to left, in front of choir, recording the April 22 AJC Passover program for CBS network radio.)
• 1951 -Rabbi Morris Kertzer joins AJC as director of the Interreligious Division. A former Jewish chaplain with the American armed forces that liberated Rome, he helped conduct the first service held at Rome's synagogue in the days after Allied liberation in 1944. (Photo: Rabbi Kertzer leads a Seder for the AJC Films and Television production, "Tell Thy Sons," for CBS-TV.)
• 1951 - November. AJC produces the first-ever TV broadcast of a complete Jewish worship service. Rabbi Morris Kertzer conducts the service, broadcast by WPIX from Temple Israel in New York City, which includes a sermon by Rabbi Dr. William Rosenblum, and chanting by Cantor Harold Orbach, cantor of Temple Israel in New Rochelle. The service is broadcast on November 11, as a special Armistice Day program. AJC will coordinate two additional broadcasts in the series: a November 18 confirmation service, and a November 25 interfaith Thanksgiving service. (Photo on right: Rabbi Kertzer in army uniform, with Rabbi Rosenblum.)
• 1959 - April. At the Annual Meeting, the AJC American Civil Liberties Medallion is presented to Father John LaFarge, S.J. A past editor (1944-48) of the Catholic weekly magazine America and a continuing contributor, in recognition of his role as one of America's leading Catholic voices in the fight for interreligious and interracial justice. (Photo: Fr. LaFarge accepts the medallion from Judge Joseph Proskauer, honorary AJC president.)
• 1961 -Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, a distinguished leader in interreligious and social justice issues, joins AJC as director of interreligious affairs. (Photo to right.)
• 1963 - March. AJC arranges a meeting in New York City at the AJC Institute of Human Relations between Cardinal Bea and Orthodox, Conservative and Reform rabbis in the United States. Pope Paul VI lends his endorsement to the meeting, and the Cardinal affirms the need for "interreligious communication and cooperation." (Photo: with Cardinal Bea, left to right: Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel; Fr. Stephen Schmidt, S.J.; Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum.)
• 1963 - May. Six AJC representatives visit the Vatican for a meeting with the Pope. One of them, Mrs. Leonard Sperry, had recently endowed the Sperry Center for Intergroup Cooperation at Pro Deo University in Rome. During a meeting with the Pope, the Pontiff reaffirms his interest in improving Jewish-Christian relations, specifically in terms of repudiating teachings about Jewish guilt for the death of Jesus. (Pictured: Zachariah Shuster and Pope Paul VI.)
• 1964 -At the AJC annual dinner, Francis Cardinal Spellman, archbishop of NewYork, calls for stronger ties and understanding between the Jewish and Christian communities. Repudiating the ancient charge of deicide, the archbishop states, " It is simply absurd to maintain that there is some kind of continuing guilt which is transferred to any group and which rests upon them as a curse which they must suffer. ...Anti-Semitism can never find a basis in the Catholic religion." (Photo: Cardinal Spellman with AJC leaders, including Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum on the far right.)
• 1965 – Cardinal Bea visits the United States, and AJC's President Morris Abram greets and meets with him at Kennedy Airport, where the Cardinal stops en route to Philadelphia. (Pictured at airport meeting, left to right: Dr. John Coventry Smith, executive secretary, Commission on Ecumenical Missions, United Presbyterian Church, and vice president, National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.; AJC President Morris Abram, shaking hands with Cardinal Bea; Fr. Walter Abbott, S.J., associate editor, America magazine (rear); Cardinal Bea; Fr. Paul Maillieux, S.J., director, Center for Eastern Studies, Fordham University; Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, AJC director of interreligious affairs.)
• 1965 - April. Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum appears on the Today Show with Hugh Downs explaining the festival of Passover (photo to right).
• 1965 - May 20. AJC presents the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the American Liberties Medallion for his "exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty." In a powerful speech including much praise for the AJC, he ends with these stirring words of hope: "With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair, the stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to speed the day when, in the words of the Prophet Isaiah, 'Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the rugged shall be made level and the rough places a plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.' This is our hope. Certainly we have a long, long way to go before this problem is solved in our nation. But we can gain consolation from the fact that we have made some strides. We are not what we ought to be as a nation, but we have made some significant steps forward. So I close by quoting the words of an old Negro preacher who did not quite have his grammar right but who uttered the words of great symbolic profundity, in the form of a prayer: 'Lord, we ain't what we want to be; we ain't what we ought to be; we ain't what we gonna be, but, thank God, we ain't what we was.'" (Photo, left to right: Sol Linowitz, chair, AJC National Council; Dr. King; Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey)
• 1966 -Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, AJC's director of interreligious affairs, cochairs the first International Colloquium on Judaism and Christianity, held at Harvard Divinity School.
• 1966 -November 14. AJC presents a special award to the Catholic bishops of the United States, in "heartfelt appreciation" for the work of U.S. Catholic leadership that led to the passage of the Vatican Council's declaration. The work of five cardinals is specifically noted: Cardinal Spellman (New York), Cardinal Ritter (St Louis), Cardinal Shehan (Baltimore), Cardinal Cushing (Boston), and Cardinal McIntyre (Los Angeles). In appreciation for the award, a framed certificate is presented to the AJC on behalf of "The Catholic Bishops of the United States," beginning with the words: "On the occasion of this tribute from Jewish leaders of the United States, the Catholic Bishops of this country warmly reaffirm the Declaration of the Fathers of Vatican Council II that Christians and Jews are all children of God, all sharing His providence, His manifestations of goodness, His saving design.... It is our prayer that this occasion may inspire further confidence that men of all faiths can aid one another in attaining peace and live as brothers." (Photo, left to right: Charles Silver, president, Beth Israel Medical Center, NY; Cardinal Shehan; Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum.)
• 1971 - At the May Annual Meeting, the American Liberties Medallion is presented to the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.,president of the University of Notre Dame and chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. (Pictured: Morris Abram, honorary AJC president, presenting the medallion to Fr.Hesburgh.)
• 1973 - In late November of 1973, some seventy-five people come together at a retreat center outside Dayton, Ohio, for the first National Workshop on Christian -Jewish relations (NWJCR). With the help of the AJC and other organizations, this meeting becomes the largest gathering of individuals committed to Christian-Jewish relations anywhere in the world. The sixteenth NWJCR was held in Oct 1999, in Houston, Texas. (Pictured to right: the NWCJR logo.)
• 1975 - December 8-10. AJC and the Institute of Holy Land Studies cosponsor the first national conference of Jewish and Evangelical scholars and religious leaders, which results in the 1978 volume, Evangelicals and Jews in Conversation on Scripture, Theology, and History.
• 1977 - October. AJC presents the Isaiah Interreligious Award to the Rev. Billy Graham, who takes the opportunity to reaffirm his less well-known 1973 statement that he does not believe in any special "mission to the Jews." This award will later be presented to Dr. Martin Marty (1985), John Cardinal O'Connor (1990), Professor Thomas E. Bird (1996), and Edward Cardinal Cassidy (2001). (Photo: The Rev. Billy Graham accepts the award from Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum.)
• 1979 - July. Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum participates in an interreligious conference at Camp David, the presidential retreat, convened by President Jimmy Carter. (Photo to right.)
• 1980 - Rabbi A. James Rudin, associate director of interreligious affairs, and his wife, Marcia, publish, Prison or Paradise; The New Religious Cults. The book is a groundbreaking study of the history, recruiting methods, and culture of religious cults in the United States.
• 1981 - March. Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, director of interreligious activities, receives the Bronze Medallion of the Chapel of Four Chaplains for his interfaith work. (Photo: Rabbi Tanenbaum receives the medallion from Lucien Katzenberg, Chapel of Four Chaplains trustee.)
• 1982 - The Atlanta Chapter of the AJC helps establish the Atlanta Black/Jewish Coalition (ABJC) to build support for the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. After the act is passed, the ABJC continues its work with the purpose of strengthening relationships between the Black and Jewish communities. Although not specifically formed for interreligious affairs, the ABJC becomes a powerful force in improving Jewish-Black Christian relations through activities including special observances in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Photo, left to right: Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, Coretta Scott King, and Rosalynn Carter, Atlanta 1982.)
• 1985 -April 16. Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum meets with President Ronald Reagan during a conference on religious liberty. (Pictured are President Reagan, Elliott Abrams, and Rabbi Tanenbaum.)
• 1985 -Jack Skirball creates The Skirball Institute on American Values as an agency of the AJC. Rabbi Alfred Wolf is chosen to head the institute because of his pioneering accomplishments in bringing together religious leaders of all faiths and developing innovative programs to promote American values. (Photo: Skirball Institute logo.)
• 1986 —April 13. Pope John Paul II makes his historic visit to the synagogue in Rome. Rabbi A. James Rudin commends the action and the words of the Pope, who speaks of the Jewish people's "irrevocable covenant with God" and describes the Jews as the "beloved elder brother" of the Church.
• 1989 – Second AJC delegation to the Vatican for a private audience with Pope John Paul II. At the meeting the Pope declares, "We must be united in combating all forms of racial, ethnic or religious discrimination and hatred, including anti-Semitism." (Pictured with Pope John Paul II: Rabbi A. James Rudin, and Shalom Comay, to right)
• 1990 -At the May Annual Meeting, AJC presents the Isaiah Interreligious Award to John Cardinal O'Connor. (Photo: Rabbi A. James Rudin with Cardinal O'Connor.)
• 1992 - Project Interchange, founded in 1982 by an interfaith group, merges with AJC. This merger strengthens AJC's existing program of non-Jewish missions to Israel. (Pictured to right: A 1997 PI trip for Black Christian clergy includes an opportunity for participants to plant trees outside of Jerusalem.)
• 1992 - AJC joins with other religious groups to support efforts for Bosnian relief. (Pictured, left to right: the Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, Archbishop Iakovos, Rabbi A. James Rudin, Bernard Cardinal Law.)
• 1993 - August. Rabbi A. James Rudin is the official Jewish observer at the Catholic World Youth Conference, held in Denver Colorado. (Photo: Pope John Paul II greeting Rabbi Rudin.)
• 1993 - The Catholic Jewish Educational Enrichment Program (C/JEEP) is launched by the AJC. Funded nationally by a grant from Steven Spielberg's Righteous Persons Foundation, the program increases mutual understanding between Catholic and Jewish high school students and educators, and fights stereotyping, anti-Semitism, and bigotry among the programs participants. (Pictured to right: Students at Chicago's Resurrection High School, in front of the sukkah they built as part of the C/JEEP program.)
• 1995 -Cardinal Bernardin heads a Project Interchange interreligious mission to Israel cosponsored by AJC and the Chicago Federation. (AJC Honorary President Maynard Wishner is at right foreground of the photo.)
• 1995 - May. As part of its Annual Meeting, AJC hosts a memorial service at Arlington National Ceremony for Americans of all faiths who died during World War II, on the fiftieth anniversary of V.E. Day. (Photo: Rabbi A. James Rudin, conducting the ceremony, alongside AJC members who are WWII veterans.)
• 1997 -January 7. Rabbi A. James Rudin receives the Figure of Reconciliation Award from the Polish Council of Christians and Jews, at a ceremony at the Golden Hall of Warsaw University, acknowledging a unique series of innovative and pioneering joint programs held by the AJC with the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Poland. (Photo: Rabbi Rudin with Bishop Gadecki, chair, Polish Bishops Commission on Jewish Relations.)
• 1998 - January 27. Building on the successful experience of cosponsoring a conference on Jewish-Catholic perspectives on bio-ethics, Saint Leo University (Florida) establishes the Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies, in partnership with the AJC. The center's goal is to promote understanding of Catholic and Jewish traditions by offering scholarships, conferences, educational resources, lectures, publications and other related activities. (Pictured at right, from the Fifth Annual Conference of the CCJS: Rabbi A. James Rudin, Sister Mary Boys, and Father Michael Cooper.)
• 1998 –March. Rabbi A. James Rudin leads a Catholic-Jewish leadership trip to Rome and Israel, including a meeting with President Ezer Weizman, at his Jerusalem residence. (Pictured, left to right: Bishop John Nevins of Venice, Florida; Rabbi Mordecai Waxman; Msgr. Robert Stern ,Executive Director, Catholic Near-East Welfare Association; Cardinal Keeler of Baltimore; President Ezer Weizman; Rabbi Joel Zaiman of Baltimore; Rabbi A. James Rudin.)
• 1999 - June 7. AJC leaders meet with John Cardinal O'Connor, to make a $100,000 contribution to Catholic Relief Services. Cardinal O'Connor states that "no organization I know in this city, in this country, in this world, has done more to improve Christian-Jewish relations than the American Jewish Committee." (Pictured, left to right: David Harris, Cardinal O'Connor, Shula Bahat, Rabbi A. James Rudin.)
• 1999 - December. Rabbi A. James Rudin, director of interreligious affairs, speaks at the Catholic Academy in Berlin as part of an interreligious visit to Germany. (Photo: Rabbi Rudin and Eugene Dubow, director of the AJC Berlin Office, light Hanukkah candles during the dedication of the Adler Library at the AJC Berlin Office.)
• 2000 - March 13. AJC welcomes the formal call for forgiveness issued on March 12 in Rome by Pope John Paul II as a "milestone in Catholic- Jewish relations." "We are hopeful that the Pope's words will be quickly translated into concrete programs," said Rabbi A. James Rudin, AJC's interreligious affairs director. He added, "This is especially important in the vital areas of teaching, preaching, liturgy and all other forms of Church life." He hailed the Pope's statement as part of "the Roman Catholic Church's efforts to eradicate anti-Semitism from its midst and to confront the errors of the past."
• 2000 - March. Pope John Paul II makes his historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land— the first official papal visit to the modern State of Israel. In honor of the visit, AJC and the Chicago Israeli Consulate sponsor a poster contest for fourteen high schools, under the auspices of AJC's Catholic/Jewish Educational Enrichment Program (C/JEEP). The first-prize winner, sophomore Joevanny Duran of St. Rita of Cascia High School (Chicago), receives a trip to Israel during the Pope's visit and the opportunity to present his winning poster for display at the Vatican. In addition, the dramatic impact of Pope John Paul II on Catholic-Jewish relations is the focus of the third annual conference of The Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies, a collaboration of the American Jewish Committee and Saint Leo University, one month before the trip. (Photo, upper: Pope John Paul II lays a wreath at Yad Vashem, in memory of the victims of the Shoah; lower: Cardinal Keeler and Rabbi A. James Rudin with C/JEEP poster winner Joevanny Duran.)
• 2001 - February. To promote Jewish-Muslim understanding, The Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding publishes Children of Abraham, a two-volume set, one an Introduction to Judaism for Muslims and the other an Introduction to Islam for Jews. (Pictured: AJC President Harold Tanner presents copies of Children of Abraham to Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel Hatib.)
• 2001 – March. David Harris, AJC executive director, announces the appointment of Rabbi David Rosen, former chief rabbi of Ireland, to head the AJC's worldwide pioneering initiatives and programming in interreligious affairs. Describing Rabbi Rosen as "a true leader in the interreligious affairs world, exemplifying the kind of visionary leadership that is essential to enhancing religion as a tool for bettering the human condition and for achieving the international peace and harmony we so much desire," Harris adds that "Rabbi Rosen will advance AJC's distinguished efforts in the interreligious world, furthering the initiatives of Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum and Rabbi A. James Rudin, that have made the American Jewish Committee the leader in interreligious relations for half a century."
• 2001 - May. The Annual Meeting honors Edward Cardinal Cassidy, the outgoing president of the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jewish People. The meeting also includes an address by Sheikh Mohammed Hisham Kabbani, head of the Supreme Muslim Council in the USA. (Sheikh Kabbani pictured to right.)
• 2001 – October. AJC presents a check for $10,000 to Archbishop Demetrios, to help rebuild St. Nicholas Greek Catholic Church, the only house of worship destroyed when the World Trade Center collapsed after the terrorist attack. He responds with words of thanks for this gesture—and praise for the ongoing work of AJC: "I thank the Almighty God for you and your support towards the reconstruction of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in New York City ....It is a strong demonstration of your calling as an organization that fosters the bonds of civil society through actions of mutual respect and understanding. In the darkness of the destruction of sacred space and hallowed ground by the horrific events of September 11, 2001, your actions sing of the mercies of the Lord." (Photo, left to right: David Harris, AJC executive director; Martin Kaplan, Chair, Interreligious Affairs Commission; Archbishop Demetrios.)
• 2001 -December. Imam Feisal Abdel Rauf addresses the AJC National Interreligious Affairs Commission, on the topic of "Challenges Ahead for Jewish-Muslim Relations."
• 2003 - June 25. Felice D.Gaer, director of the American Jewish Committee's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, is elected chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. The commission, an independent federal agency, monitors religious freedom in other countries and advises the President, the secretary of state, and Congress on how best to promote it
• 2004 - February. The President of the World Council of Hellenes Abroad, Mr. Andrew Athens, publicly acknowledges the special role of the AJC in resolving the matter of the recognition of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Ireneios I, by the State of Israel. (Picture: From left - Rabbi David Rosen, Patriarch Ireneios I, Mr. Andrew Athens, Ambassador of Greece to Israel Mr Panayotis Zografos meet in Jerusalem in honor of the recognition of the Patriarch.)
-Jewish reconciliation and his leadership in the struggle against anti-Semitism and bigotry. John Paul II reaffirms his commitment in these regards and reiterates his condemnation of violence in the name of religion as the desecration of religion. The visit receives widespread media coverage. (Picture: Harold Tanner and Rabbi David Rosen present the Pope with an Israeli sculpture of an olive tree the leaves of which turn into doves, giving expression to the hopes for peace of the Jewish people, rooted once again in their historic homeland.) |
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