Q. What does the Church teach about the Jews?
A. I have been blessed throughout my life with positive relationships with several Jewish people. Jewish neighbors, teachers, fellow students, and tour guides have enriched my life. I’ve even been mistaken for being Jewish myself! Unfortunately, my experience is not universal. Cultural and religious differences contributed to antisemitism and violence, with the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s being the most horrific example. With such a history, understanding each other is more important than ever!
The word “Jew” refers to two distinct, related, realities. First, it’s an ethnic group: those who, by biology, culture or adoption, are descended from Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob (Israel). There are people descended from these patriarchs who have no idea of their ancestry. But those who know such ancestry can claim ethnic Jewish identity.
Second, “Jew” refers to a member of the Jewish religion. Most members of the Jewish religion worship the same God that Catholics worship. Most of them believe in the same Old Testament, give or take a few books. The more observant members of this religion take the laws of Moses very seriously, circumcising their sons and avoiding, among many other things, pork and shellfish and working on Saturday. Members of the Jewish religion generally do not believe in the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Sacraments, the Church, or the New Testament.
So, what does the Church teach about Jews?
First, someone can be ethnically Jewish without belonging to the Jewish religion. A dramatic modern example of this is probably St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Born to a non-religious Jewish family in Germany and given the birth name Edith Stein, she converted to Catholicism because of the writings of St. Teresa of Avila (herself of Jewish descent!) and the powerful witness of Catholic friends. She would later describe her conversion as the most Jewish thing that she ever did! She became a Carmelite and died a martyr in the Nazi Holocaust.
Jews who become Christian don’t have to abandon their heritage. Rather, they can see their heritage as being “baptized” or “completed.” Some Jewish Christians (such as the members of the Association of Hebrew Catholics) celebrated Christianized versions of the major Jewish holidays (but not the animal sacrifices) with gusto!
Second, Christianity comes from Judaism. In the Old Testament times, God revealed himself in a special way to Abraham and to his descendants, the Israelite (Jewish) people. Almost all of the major Old Testament people were ethnically Jewish. They were bound by the law of Moses. They had no knowledge of the Trinity, or the Incarnation, or the sacraments, because God had not revealed those yet. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, all 12 Apostles, and most of the other major figures of the New Testament, were also ethnically Jewish.
Third (and this point is vital), Judaism is not enough on its own. Jesus Christ came, not to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. Most of the important events in the Old Testament point toward Him. Prophecies foretold Him. Circumcision foreshadows baptism. The animal sacrifices of the law of Moses were pale images of His Sacrifice on the Cross. There are plenty more connections! God doesn’t go back on His promises. The promises that He made to Abraham and his descendants are still valid, in some mysterious way. But in another way, they are fulfilled in Christ.
The salvation that Jesus wants to give us is open to people of all nations. Judaism was the true religion before Jesus came. But now that He has come, He has fulfilled it, and it would be a shame to reject Him, or the Sacraments, the New Testament, the Trinity, or the Church, because of Judaism. What a wonder to live under the New Law of grace, where circumcision is not required, bacon is edible, and, most importantly, a life of grace is possible!
Fourth, the Jews as a people are not to be blamed for the death of Jesus. We are all sinners. Jews (the Sanhedrin) and non-Jews (Pilate, the soldiers) cooperated in Jesus’s death, just as Jews (Jesus Himself, Mary, John) and non-Jews (Longinus the Centurion, Pilate’s wife) participated in the sacrifice in a holy manner.
Fifth, Catholics do not have to support the modern state of Israel. While the modern state of Israel may be filled with biological descendants of Abraham, it’s also largely filled with people who reject the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham in Jesus Christ. You can support them if you want (or not!), but do it for political reasons, not Catholic reasons.
And finally, there’s a lot that Catholics can learn from Jews. They’re a storied people, with a long history of art, literature, philosophy, theology, folkways, and suffering. They’re our older brothers in the faith. And Jesus Himself is one of them.
This question was answered by Father Evan Winter, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Minden and Holy Family in Heartwell.
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