Philo-Semitic, passionately;
Pro-Judaism, with reservations;
Pro-Israel, with conditions and criticisms;
Scapegoating, God-hating, Satanic Envy of Anti-Semitism
Philo-Semitic, Passionately
God passionately, intimately, everlastingly loves the Jews. We who love God follow suit. They are God's first and final love. We gentiles are add-ons. With all their infidelities He continues to love them. And so do we. God gave them...and us...the initial covenant, the scriptures, the patriarchs, Moses, prophets, kings, temple, John the Baptist, Joseph, Mary, Jesus, the apostles, Paul and the initial Church. Spiritually, all Christians are Semites.
Their legacy of fidelity (albeit imperfect) in suffering and affliction, through three millennia, is incomparable.
Despite sin and through the purgation of suffering, they have preserved their covenant and identity as God's people in study of the Word, prayer, virtue.
That ancient heritage is preserved mysteriously in their spiritual-moral-intellectual-emotional-aesthetic DNA. There is about the Jew...secular/observant, male/female, wealthy/poor...a distinct charism, a grace, an appeal, an interior depth, a graciousness, an insightfulness, a sense of humor, a radiance from heaven. Of all peoples, nations, ethnicities, they are exceptional, graced, and afflicted by persecution.
This grace is not removed even when they are unfaithful, no longer believe, do not observe the commandments. They are still specially loved. They still carry an indelible interior radiance. We Catholics might compare it to the indelible seal received in baptism, confirmation and orders. It is an endowment of the soul that cannot be erased. It continues to radiate even in strange manners.
As volunteer chaplains in our local hospital, my wife and I stop in each room to offer spiritual support. We are well received. But by far the most responsive and warm are Jews. This includes very secular ones and observant ones...both of which often decline for different reasons. But the surprise: after a courteous refusal, they unfailingly offer a most heartfelt appreciation for what we are doing. It is very touching. It comes from a depth, an intensity, a striking spiritual luminosity. They are a special people!
Pro-Judaism with Reservations
Catholicism was never Anti-Semitic; but for 2000 years was Anti-Judaic. From the initial family feud between the Jesus-believing and the Non-believing Jews as well as the Judaizing controversy (some Christian Jews wanted to require the entire Jewish law including kosher and circumcision on the gentile converts) Christianity carried an Anti-Judaic resentment. Without denying the initial covenant, focus was upon the rejection of Jesus by Jewish leadership. This is evident even in the Gospels. The rejection of Christ became the defining theological feature of Judaism after Christ. This, combined with their strangeness, led easily to scapegoating, hatred and pogroms. But the hatred on the part of the Church (contrast with populist Anti-Semitism which the Church often resisted) was never directed to Jewish blood. Rather, the Church intended the conversion of the Jew from a defective, Jesus-denying Judaism to salvation in Christ.
In the wake of the Holocaust and theological renewal leading to Vatican Council II the Church strongly changed to a Pro-Judaic perspective. There was surely contrition that a prior Anti-Judaism may have contributed, although not deliberately, to the history of persecution and genocide. But more essentially, scripture study revealed powerfully the Jewish roots of our own faith. And we were able to see in the ongoing Judaic community a fidelity to the initial divine covenant.
This theological shift, clearly announced in Vatican II, was (in my view) the most significant, drastic and necessary change of that Council (which is not considered a dogmatic so much as a pastoral council.)
While I passionately endorse this shift, I see a new, contrary imbalance in mainstream ecumenical Catholic theology since the Council. With the overdue, newfound appreciation of historic Rabbinic Judaism, there has been a repression of candid criticism from the Catholic perspective. Historic Judaism is descended from the Pharisee movement of the time of Jesus which was passionately devotional and ethical, not as attached to temple worship, but legalistic. It did, in critical mass with exceptions, reject Jesus and his message. That decision is carried down within the spiritual DNA of the Jew, along with the previously noted intimacy with God. And so, there is a split personality in the Jew as encountered today: on one extreme the fastidious observance of a complicated moral code, on the other hand the secular Jew drawn to alternatives like Marx, Freud, Hollywood/pornography, and militant Zionism. Along with this imbalance, we also see a pronounced movement (Buber, Heschel) within the Jewish community into Gospel perspectives, even short of full conversion.
This unbalance is noticeable in the esteemed Seton Hall Judaeo-Christian Studies program from which I have greatly benefited. For example, when the controversial Mel Gibson movie The Passion of Christ was released, that program held a conference on it. The Jewish concerns were forcefully, and properly voiced by all speakers. However, there was no expression of a positive Christian view of the film. Likewise, I have noted over the years that prominent Jewish leaders, who are energetically pro-legal-abortion, are honored in an overt repression of Catholic values.
The argument here is not a return to the past but that respectful dialogue with our Jewish partners will benefit from candor on the Catholic side of the conversation.
Pro-Israel with Conditions and Criticisms
Catholicism does not endorse the view, strong in American Evangelicalism, that the restoration of the state of Israel is playing a part in the return of Christ. The Church therefore has entertained a pragmatic balance, a sympathy for both Palestinians and Israelis. Of particular concern, of course, is the small but significant community of Arab Catholics, who are often mistreated by Jew and Muslim both. There is, of course, a history of violence from both sides. But this is not to assert a moral equivalence.
My own view of the Gaza conflict is that the state of Israel has really no choice but to destroy Hamas. As that group is dug into civilian populations this unavoidably entails a horrific degree of civilian deaths. That the civilian population overwhelmingly supports the Oct 7 atrocity and Hamas makes it all the more difficult to respect the standard combatant/civilian distinction.
On the other hand, the withholding of food and medicine is another matter. This is not intrinsic to the destruction of Hamas. This is a moral evil of immense gravity. I do not fault our two presidents for supporting the Israeli offensive but I do find them negligent in failing to force Israel to open the gates for food and medicine, even now as I write.
Roots of Anti-Semitism: Envy
They are God's special people. It is like Joseph and the other sons of Jacob who envied the beloved one. With some dissention, they agreed as a group first to kill him and then sell him into slavery. They were simply jealous. They were insecure, resentful. At the end of the day, of course, they love him passionately.
The Jews are simply more intelligent, heartfelt, deep, funny, intense. They are the chosen ones. So you have to love them and join them or hate them.
They are to the nations what Duke is to college basketball, Notre Dame to football, the Yankees to baseball, the Kenyans to marathons. They are always in the lead. You cannot be neutral or indifferent: you have to hate them or love them.
There are many reasons to hate them. Many are great lawyers, doctors, business men and have money. In the NY/NJ area they gather in areas and live their different ways, not real friendly to others, indifferent to other minorities, working the system well for their own schools and other benefits. In the Culture Wars they are inordinately represented in Marxism, psychoanalysis, entertainment, music, and culture/art in general. They are highly influential politically in relation to their numbers, including about support for Israel.
It is startling (especially for us boomers who came of age in the wake of WWII) to see the emergence of this hatred on both the left and right. On the left it comes with sympathy for the Palestinians and identification of the Jew with the oppressive, powerful, white Man. On the right is merges into MAGA xenophobia, paranoia and isolationist jingoism.
In both expressions, the underlying root cause is the same: envy flowing from deep insecurity, anxiety, and an overwhelming sense of weakness and oppression.
As an Irish-American, I cherish my heritage and my country. But I do not think the Irish are the greatest people and I certainly do not see the USA as the greatest nation ever. I am well aware of the flaws of both the Irish and the USA. My love is realistic and critical. I was always embarrassed by the fuss over the Irish on St. Patrick's Day and even more ashamed by "American First" MAGA jingoism.
Another root cause of hatred of the Jews, in my view, is the Envy of Satan himself. Of all the peoples, he sure despises the Jews the most. It is from the Jews that his final defeat came. It is like his hatred of women! Mary was destined from eternity to be Queen of Angels and Saints. A woman! A Jewish woman! So Lucifer specially despises women and Jews.
If you want to foil Satan and glorify God, start with veneration of this Jewish woman. And then give your reverence to all women and Jews! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!
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