{"id":609,"date":"2013-02-11T09:25:30","date_gmt":"2013-02-11T14:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truthsyoucanuse\/?p=609"},"modified":"2013-02-11T09:25:30","modified_gmt":"2013-02-11T14:25:30","slug":"a-rabbis-thoughts-on-the-popes-resignation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/2013\/02\/a-rabbis-thoughts-on-the-popes-resignation.html","title":{"rendered":"A Rabbi’s Thoughts on the Pope’s Resignation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pope<\/a><\/p>\n

Pope Benedict’s resignation is sending shockwaves through Catholic communities worldwide. It also brings sadness and loss to the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

Despite early concerns with the Pope’s childhood participation in the Hitler youth, he has been an extraordinary leader, reaching out to the Jewish community and addressing shared concerns with intelligence and moral passion.<\/p>\n

The Pope and the Jewish People<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. During his visit to Auschwitz, the most notorious Nazi death camp in Poland, Pope Benedict said of the Nazis, “By destroying Israel, they ultimately wanted to tear up the tap root of the Christian faith and to replace it with a faith of their own invention.”<\/span><\/p>\n

2. He was the first Pope to\u00a0visit an American synagogue, meeting with on the eve of Passover with Rabbi Arthur Schneir, a Holocaust survivor and Orthodox rabbi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. When controversy arose after a decision to allow greater use of a traditional Latin Mass that suggested proselytizing Jews, the Pope met with Jewish leaders and\u00a0reaffirmed the Church’s understanding of Jews’ unique relationship with God that has holiness without conversion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leader for People of All Faiths<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a global spiritual leader, the Pope also addressed critical issues confronting people of all faiths. His central task was confronting an increasingly\u00a0cruel world driven by globalization, economic uncertainty and militant atheism.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an address given in Rome before a meeting with the Pope, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks described this world eloquently.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Today, in a Europe more secular than it has been since the last days of pre-Christian Rome, the culprits\u00a0<\/span>are<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. an aggressive scientific atheism tone deaf to the music of faith;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. a reductive materialism blind to the power of the human spirit;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. global corporations uncontrollable by and sometimes more powerful than national governments;<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. forms of finance so complex as to surpass the understanding of bodies charged with their regulation;<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. a consumer-driven economy that is shriveling the imaginative horizons of our children;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. a fraying of all the social bonds, from family to community, that once brought comfort and a redemption of solitude, to be replaced by virtual networks mediated by smartphone, whose result is to leave us \u201calone together.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    These remain concerns for all of us. The task of every faith leader is to make a home for God here on\u00a0<\/span>earth.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

    In meeting this task and overcoming its challenges, the Pope’s voice of intellect and conviction will be greatly missed. May God continue to bless him with life and strength.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    To receive Rabbi Moffic\u2019s weekly digest of Jewish wisdom, click\u00a0here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Pope Benedict’s resignation is sending shockwaves through Catholic communities worldwide. It also brings sadness and loss to the Jewish community. Despite early concerns with the Pope’s childhood participation in the Hitler youth, he has been an extraordinary leader, reaching out to the Jewish community and addressing shared concerns with intelligence and moral passion. The Pope…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA Rabbi's Thoughts on the Pope's Resignation - Truths You Can Use<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/2013\/02\/a-rabbis-thoughts-on-the-popes-resignation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Rabbi's Thoughts on the Pope's Resignation - Truths You Can Use\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pope Benedict’s resignation is sending shockwaves through Catholic communities worldwide. It also brings sadness and loss to the Jewish community. Despite early concerns with the Pope’s childhood participation in the Hitler youth, he has been an extraordinary leader, reaching out to the Jewish community and addressing shared concerns with intelligence and moral passion. The Pope…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/2013\/02\/a-rabbis-thoughts-on-the-popes-resignation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Truths You Can Use\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RabbiEvan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-11T14:25:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truthsyoucanuse\/files\/2013\/02\/rabbi-300x203.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Evan Moffic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@chicagorabbi\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Rabbi's Thoughts on the Pope's Resignation - Truths You Can Use","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truthsyoucanuse\/2013\/02\/a-rabbis-thoughts-on-the-popes-resignation.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Rabbi's Thoughts on the Pope's Resignation - Truths You Can Use","og_description":"Pope Benedict’s resignation is sending shockwaves through Catholic communities worldwide. 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His book, What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Jewishness of Jesus was a 2015 best-seller. His upcoming book of devotions\u2014Shalom for the Heart\u2014takes short biblical passages and show they way they can help us make better choices and live with fewer regrets. With Rabbi Moffic, you will find an open, accessible guide to life\u2019s deepest truths. A husband and father, he graduated from Stanford University in 2000, and was ordained a rabbi in 2006. He leads a congregation in suburban Chicago. 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