The American Jewish Committee is to be applauded for their decision to denounce remarks made by Greek Melkite Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros, who had the gall to suggest that the Jewish people do not have a special relationship to the land of Israel because such a relationship was nullified by the existence of Jesus. I would like to say I am shocked by this kind of ignorance and subtle Anti-Semitism, but I’m not – as much as the Catholic Church would like to officially claim that it no longer harbors Anti-Semitic sentiments within its thought and theology, I was born more than a decade after the Vatican changed its policies and I have heard practicing Catholics espouse the kinds of ideas which are supposedly no longer sanctioned by the church when it comes to Jews and Judaism. In my mind, this is yet another example of such thought and I would argue that the idea that Christianity somehow nullified or superseded Judaism and the relationship between the Jewish people, God and the Land of Israel, is Anti-Semitic and profoundly ignorant.

From what I have seen, the AJC response has been appropriate and measured, but this incident should not be ignored by the rest of the Jewish community. We should make it abundantly clear to Christians everywhere that in no way do we accept the idea that Jesus nullified anything having to do with Judaism or our special relationship with the land of Israel. I am hopeful that the Pope will condemn this ignorant, hateful statement by Bishop Bustros and use this incident as  a teachable moment to set an example for the rest of the church.

-Daniel E. Levenson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

The New Vilna Review