Jacob's Younger Brother: Christian-Jewish Relations after Vatican II

by Karma Ben-Johanan

Overview

A Seminary Co-op Notable Book

“An astute and evenhanded study of how both faiths view themselves and each other.”
—Publishers Weekly

“An illuminating and important new book…An intellectual, cultural, and political challenge…[F]or anyone for whom the Jewish-Christian story is an important element in defining his or her identity.”
—Israel Jacob Yuval, Haaretz

“An extraordinarily sophisticated, insightful and provocative examination of how Roman Catholics and Orthodox Jews addressed the prospect of reconciliation in the second half of the twentieth century.”
—Glenn C. Altschuler, Jerusalem Post

“A volume from which both Jewish and Catholic scholars may learn…This is an excellent book.”
—Eugene J. Fisher, Catholic News Service

A new chapter in Jewish-Christian relations opened in the second half of the twentieth century when the Second Vatican Council exonerated Jews from the accusation of deicide and declared that the Jewish people had never been rejected by God. In a few carefully phrased statements, two millennia of deep hostility were swept into the trash heap of history.

But old animosities die hard. While Catholic and Jewish leaders publicly promoted interfaith dialogue, doubts remained behind closed doors. Drawing on extensive research in contemporary rabbinical literature, Karma Ben-Johanan shows that Jewish leaders welcomed the Catholic condemnation of antisemitism but were less enthusiastic about the Church’s sudden urge to claim their friendship. Catholic theologians hoped Vatican II would turn the page on an embarrassing history, while Orthodox rabbis, in contrast, believed they were finally free to say what they thought of Christianity.

Jacob’s Younger Brother pulls back the veil of interfaith dialogue to reveal how Orthodox rabbis and Catholic leaders spoke about each other when outsiders were not in the room. There Ben-Johanan finds Jews reluctant to accept the latest whims of a Church that had unilaterally dictated the terms of Jewish-Christian relations for centuries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674295582
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	05/01/2024
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	1,075,982
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Karma Ben-Johanan is a historian of late twentieth-century religion and Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She won the 2023 Dan David Prize for her work on inter-religious tensions and dialogue after the Holocaust.

Table of Contents

Note on Translation and Transliteration ix

Introduction 1

Part I Judaism in Catholic Theology

1 Historical and Theological Transitions 11

2 After Vatican II 38

3 John Paul II and Christian-Jewish Reconciliation 82

4 Joseph Ratzinger and the Jews 108

Part II Christianity in Orthodox Jewish Thought

5 Christianity in the Jewish Tradition 145

6 Christianity in Contemporary Halakhic Literature 162

7 Christianity in Religious Zionist Thought 194

8 The Orthodox World and Christian-Jewish Dialogue 229

Epilogue 273

Notes 291

Acknowledgments 347

Index 349

Editorial Reviews

A sobering book…Ben-Johanan tells a full story of the evolution of an uneasy relationship between these siblings, Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism…The message of this book is important to everyone involved in interfaith work, because the language of interfaith work is too often a gesture without teeth.

Christian Century - Jon M. Sweeney

Karma Ben-Johanan is the first scholar to ask how Catholics and Jews found a language to speak to each other after the Holocaust. As a theologian and a historian, she knows well the difficulty they faced: building bridges to one another while carefully guarding the boundaries of their own traditions. In this fascinating and sobering book, she uncovers why—despite the best of intentions—church and synagogue continue to perplex one another.

John Connelly

For anyone interested in studying Christian-Jewish relations, from beginner to advanced student, this volume is a must-read.

Association of Jewish Libraries - Mindy C. Reiser

An illuminating and important new book…An intellectual, cultural, and political challenge…[F]or anyone for whom the Jewish-Christian story is an important element in defining his or her identity.

Haaretz - Israel Jacob Yuval

Hard-hitting and groundbreaking, Jacob’s Younger Brother will have a long‐lasting impact on Jewish-Catholic relations.

Gavin D’Costa

This is a groundbreaking book and a must-read for all interested in contemporary Jewish-Christian dialogue. The Jewish Orthodox perspective is thoughtfully explained and brilliantly integrated, for the first time, alongside its Catholic counterpart.

Christoph Markschies

This incisive book is a critical overview of modern developments in Christian–Jewish relations…Provides an intellectually stimulating and sometimes disturbing read.

Current Dialogue - David Maayan

An extraordinarily sophisticated, insightful and provocative examination of how Roman Catholics and Orthodox Jews addressed the prospect of reconciliation in the second half of the twentieth century.

Jerusalem Post - Glenn C. Altschuler

A new and bold contribution to an often stereotyped and petrified discourse. Indispensable for anybody engaged in the Jewish-Christian dialogue.

Peter Schäfer

A volume from which both Jewish and Catholic scholars may learn…This is an excellent book.

Thoughtful…Ben-Johanan offers a concise overview of the evolution of Catholic teachings on Jews over the centuries.

Times of Israel

Ben-Johanan’s remarkable new book…explores the story of Nostra Aetate and its influence on Jewish-Christian relations.

Jewish Review of Books - Malka Z. Simkovich

A refreshingly honest and deeply thought-provoking book on the mutual perception of Jews and Christians in the late twentieth century. Ben-Johanan provides new interpretations of John Paul II and Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s writings. She also guides her readers through the ongoing heated debates among Orthodox Jewish thinkers confronted with a newly friendly Christian community. Jacob’s Younger Brother is required reading for anyone interested in Jewish-Christian relations today.

Etienne Vetö

An excellent book.

Detroit Catholic - Eugene J. Fisher

02/14/2022

Ben-Johanan, a professor of religion at Humboldt University of Berlin, debuts with a scholarly survey of “the paradoxes, asymmetries, and discrepancies of the Christian-Jewish relationship” since the Second Vatican Council in 1965. Contending that the Holocaust and the establishment of the state of Israel forced a reckoning over Christianity’s failure “to save Europe from the abyss of cruelty” and brought into question whether Jews must “play by the rules formulated by those who had only yesterday been their murderers,” Ben-Johanan focuses on the “internal discourses” of Roman Catholics and Orthodox Jews. He notes that Vatican II repudiated the belief that Jews were collectively responsible for Jesus’s crucifixion, but left unresolved the question of whether “Jews need the church to be saved,” and documents the differing approaches Pope John Paul II and his successor, Benedict XVI, took to the Christian-Jewish relationship. Elsewhere, Ben-Johanan discusses the revitalization of “ancient anti-Christian polemics” by modern-day followers of Rabbi Avraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935) and describes debates within Modern Orthodox circles over the implications of interfaith dialogue. Though Ben-Johanan incisively analyzes the sticking points to rapprochement, readers without a deep background in Christian and Jewish theology may find themselves at sea. Still, this is an astute and evenhanded study of how both faiths view themselves and each other. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

An illuminating and important new book ... An intellectual, cultural and political challenge ... [F]or anyone for whom the Jewish-Christian story is an important element in defining his or her identity.

Haaretz Israel Jacob Yuval