Jewish Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue After Nostra Aetate

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the Jewish perspectives on interfaith dialogue after Nostra Aetate. Its starting point is that even though Nostra Aetate is a document of the Catholic Church, it has had a significant impact on Jewish attitudes to interfaith dialogue. The chapter begins by reviewing the advances made in dialogue by the Jewish community, especially with the rise of the reform and liberal expressions of Judaism in the early to mid-1800s. It then discusses two different positions on interfaith dialogue as represented by the works of Rabbi Soloveitchik and Rabbi Heschel, followed by an examination of the significance of Dabru Emet. The chapter concludes by advocating that interfaith dialogue be conferred the status of a “sacred activity.”

An extended version of this chapter was previously published as Fred Morgan, “Jewish Perspectives on Jewish-Christian Dialogue over Five Decades,” European Judaism 48, no. 2 (Autumn 2015): 3–22. The present chapter is reprinted by permission of the publisher.