So Rabbi Dr. Lamm, Chancellor of YU and CEO (yeah, I know...) of RIETS, spoke tonight before a packed beit midrash as to why the Cardinals' visit, as jarring as seeing them during morning seder was, was a Good Thing. His points:
* The Catholic Church under the last two Popes is not at all what it used to be in terms of anti-semitism -- in fact much the opposite.
* The Catholic Church, although still powerful, is currently under much pressure, especially in terms of fighting for religious life between cynical secularism such as what dominates the discourse in Europe today on one side and radical islam on the other. we as orthodox jews can relate both to those issues as well as the need for friends.
* one might think that the jewish nation should not seek out friends based on the verse "am levadad yishkon (the nation will dwell alone)," but that verse is descriptive, not normative. It would be like saying a woman giving birth should not take painkillers since Eve was cursed with labor pains after eating from the Tree of Knowledge.
* Jews have an obligation to reach out to the world (mamlekhet kohanim).
* all dialogue was about social matters, not comparative theology, in keeping with the dictates of the Rav in his article "Confrontation."
* The Cardinals were impressed both with the intense inquisitive and intellectual spirit of the beit midrash in and of itself, and of the ability of the students to not become cynical about a) the subject matter under discussion and b) religion in general. This was a massive Qiddush Hashem.
* sources like Meiri and R. AY Kook have a more favorable view of modern-day Christians.
Rabbi Charlop, RIETS dean, invoked the line "koslei beit hamidrash yokhichu" (if you get the reference, great, if not, it'd take too long to explain -- maybe later.)
What struck me also was the yeshivish looking kid who jotted down his reactions as the speech went on. For example, as R. Lamm noted that according to some opinions Christianity is not idolatry for non-Jews, he noted the opinions that say it is. Can't win them all, but I thought R. Lamm pulled it off with a great deal of class.
Also note Chakira's notes, crossposted to protocols.
Posted by Avraham at January 21, 2004 11:02 PMhttp://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol12/v12n082.shtml#03
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 14:35:48 -0600 (CST)
From: "Gil Student"
Subject: Cardinals in the Beis Medrash
In a private e-mail discussion regarding YU's decision to allow a group of Cardinals into its main beis medrash to circulate among the students and talk with them, I pointed to a teshuvah from R' Tzvi Pesach Frank allowing a priest wearing a cross to enter a shul. The main issue involved the cross worn by a priest and whether this symbol of a different religion is appropriate for a synagogue.
Another participant actually looked up the teshuvah (which I had not seen in years) and reported, correctly, that RTP Frank was dealing with an uninvited priest. But he explicitly prohibits inviting a priest - or anyone wearing a cross - into a synagogue. If they would respect the synagogue and remove their crosses, this issue would presumably not arise.
Shu"t Har Tzvi, Orach Chaim vol. 1 no. 85