International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ)

The ICCJ serves as the umbrella organization of currently 34 national Jewish-Christian dialogue organizations world-wide.

31/07/2023 | Na stronie od 31/07/2023

ICCJ Offices Martin Buber House Heppenheim

ICCJ Offices Martin Buber House Heppenheim

Source: ICCJ

ICCJ on Polish Council of Christians and Jews site

The ICCJ

  • General Secretary: Anette Adelmann, Germany
  • IAF Chair:Prof. Dr Reuven Firestone, USA
  • Chair "ICCJ Theology Committee": Rev. Dr Michael Trainor, Australia
  • DKR Liaison: Ilona Klemens, Generalsekretärin

ICCJ Honorary Presidents

  • The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Dr George Carey former Archbishop of Canterbury
  • Prof. Dr Philip A. Cunningham
  • Prof. Dr John T. Pawlikowski, OSM
  • Rabbi Prof. David Rosen

ICCJ Executive Board<<<

MISSION STATEMENT<<<

  • promotes understanding and cooperation between Christians and Jews based on respect for each other's identity and integrity;
  • addresses issues of human rights and human dignity deeply enshrined in the traditions of Judaism and Christianity;
  • counters all forms of prejudice, intolerance, discrimination, racism and the misuse of religion for national and political domination;
  • affirms that in honest dialogue each person remains loyal to his or her own essential faith commitment, recognizing in the other person his or her integrity and otherness;
  • coordinates worldwide activities through a programme of carefully structured conferences held regularly in different countries. The participants examine current issues across national and religious boundaries, enabling face-to-face exchanges of experience and expertise;
  • encourages research and education at all levels, including universities and theological seminaries, to promote interreligious understanding among students, teachers, religious leaders, and scholars;
  • performs outreach in regions that so far have little or no structured Jewish-Christian dialogue, such as Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Far East;
  • provides a platform for wide-ranging theological debate in order to add a religious choice to the contemporary search for anwsers to existential and ethical challenges.

THE MARTIN BUBER HOUSE<<<

Built in the 19th century and located at Heppenheim (Germany), it was the Buber-Family home from 1916 to 1938. Here Martin Buber wrote his famous „I and Thou“ and started his translation of the Hebrew Bible with Franz Rosenzweig.

Today the house is headquarters of the ICCJ and features a lecture series as well as visits to the house by guests, scholars and students from the region and all over the world.

Conferences>>>

MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS<<<

Presenting the Passion … without blaming “the Jews”

About This Video Series:

Offered in collaboration with the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations, the United States national member organization of the ICCJ.

Jesus’ Passion – arrested, sentenced to death, crucified – is retold through readings in Christian services during Holy Week. Tragically, over the centuries, these retellings have caused enmity between Christians and Jews and have even led to murderous violence. Such sinful consequences are contrary to the Good News of Christ.
In this series, members of the Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations, along with two Jewish advisors, explore four scenes in the Passion story. Based on decades of research, they consider how Jesus’ Passion can be presented in fresh ways that repudiate anti-Jewish biases and illuminate the gospel message. This task is a sacred obligation (see: A Sacred Obligation: Rethinking Christian Faith in Relationship to Judaism and the Jewish People)

Reflections on the "Presenting the Passion" Videos:
Here are some questions for further reflection (after you have watched the videos and considered the questions with which each concludes).

Please feel free to write your responses in your preferred language.

Judas and Betrayal (“Do you betray me with a kiss?”)

Ruth Langer and Jesper Svartvik

The Jewish Leaders and Conspiracy (“Looking for a way to arrest Jesus…and kill him”)

Katharina von Kellenbach and Peter A. Pettit

The Jewish Crowd, Pilate, and Guilt (“His blood be on us and our children”)

Victoria Barnett, Philip Cunningham, and Adam Gregerman

The Crucifixion and Accountability (“And they took him away and crucified him”)

Mary Boys, John Pawlikowski, Elena Procario-Foley

About the Christian Scholars Group:

The Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations is an ecumenical gathering of Christian scholars who are aware that they are studying sensitive issues of significant religious import. They acknowledge with sorrow and shame the church's tragic legacy of anti-Judaism, and seek to use their scholarship to reclaim or reconceive elements of Christian theology and practice that offer a more adequate representation of its relationship to Judaism and the Jewish people. The Christian Scholars Group began in 1969 and today is assisted by Jewish experts on these matters.

In 2002, the CSG issued the influential statement A Sacred Obligation: Rethinking Christian Faith in Relationship to Judaism and the Jewish People, which can be seen as a complement to the 2001 text from Jewish scholars Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity.

Under the editorship of Mary C. Boys, the CSG published in 2005 a volume of collected essays, Seeing Judaism Anew: Christianity's Sacred Obligation. The book offers a conceptual framework by which Christians can rethink their understanding of the church's relationship to Judaism and show how essential it is that Christians represent Judaism accurately, not only as a matter of justice for the Jewish people, but also for the integrity of Christian faith.

About the Participating Members of the Christian Scholars Group

  • Victoria Barnett Director, Program on Ethics, Religion, & the Holocaust (Retired) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Mary C. Boys Skinner & McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology Union Theological Seminary, New York NY
  • Philip A. Cunningham Professor of Theology; Director of Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia PA
  • Adam Gregerman Associate Professor of Jewish Studies; Associate Director of Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia PA
  • Katharina von Kellenbach Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, St. Mary’s College of Maryland Evangelische Akademie, Berlin
  • Ruth Langer Professor of Jewish Studies; Interim Director, Center for Christian-Jewish Learning Boston College, Chestnut Hill MA
  • John Pawlikowski Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics; Former Director, Catholic-Jewish Studies Program Catholic Theological Union, Chicago IL
  • Peter A. Pettit Director Emeritus, Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding, Muhlenberg College Teaching Pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport IA
  • Elena Procario-Foley Driscoll Professor of Jewish-Catholic Studies Iona College, New Rochelle NY
  • Jesper Svartvik Corcoran Visiting Professor, Center for Christian-Jewish Learning Boston College, Chestnut Hill MA

CREDITS:

Opening title photo credit (other title sequence photo credits included below):

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, “Death of Jesus on the Cross,” Die Bibel in Bildern [Picture Bible]. Leipzig: Georg Wigands, 1860. Hathi Digital Trust Library online version of a copy in the Getty Library. Web. 30 June 2016.

Used with Permission of The Victorian Web: https://victorianweb.org/art/illustration/german/schnorr/97.html

Embedded photo credits:

Video 1:Judas
Judas receiving the 30 pieces of silver. Köln, Dom, Kinderfenster, nach dem Ausbau 1995, N XIX, 6 b, B 2 Z 4 Detail: Judas empfängt die 30 Silberlinge. © Hohe Domkirche Köln, Dombauhütte; Foto: Glarestauierungswerkstatt

16th century fresco, Saint Sébastien Church, in Planpinet. Clarée valley, Hautes alpes département, France. By Berrucomons - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22922676 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Iscariot#/media/File:6852_les_deniers_de_judas.JPG

1306, fresco by Giotto, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giotto_-_Scrovegni--28--Judas_Receiving_Payment_for_his_Betrayal.jpg

Krakow figurine. By די לע ץבוק - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93999699

Map of Kingdoms of Biblical Times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah#/media/File:Kingdoms_of_Israel_and_Judah_map_830.svg

Shylock, by John Hamilton Mortimer (MET, 2002.330.2), 15 March 1776.. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shylock_(Twelve_Characters_from_Shakespeare)_MET_DP828470.jpg

Video 2: Conspiracy:
Christus voor het Sanhedrin en de oudsten, Christoffel van Sichem (II), naar Hieronymus Wierix, naar Bernardino Passeri, 1629; houtsnede geplakt op albumblad; verso met tekst in boekdruk, h 111mm × b 73mm Meer objectgegevens

James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). Conspiracy of the Jews (Conspiration des juifs), 1886-1894. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, Image: 9 7/16 x 7 5/16 in. (24 x 18.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.215 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 00.159.215_PS2.jpg)

James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). The Chief Priests Take Counsel Together (Les princes des prêtres se consultent), 1886-1894. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, Image: 7 1/8 x 10 5/16 in. (18.1 x 26.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.196 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 00.159.196_PS2.jpg)

James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). The Morning Judgment (Le jugement du matin), 1886-1894. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, Image: 8 5/16 x 7 3/16 in. (21.1 x 18.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.254 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 00.159.254_PS2.jpg)

“The Protocols” with Preface and Explanatory Notes Chicago: The Patriotic Publishing Co., 1934. Ludwig Rosenberger Library of Judaica, University of Chicago. https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/collex/exhibits/red-press/protocols-elders-zion/

"Seppla" [Josef Plank], Churchill as an octopus, between 1935 and 1943; Drawing. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (213); LC-USZ62-54514; https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/churchill/interactive/_html/wc0213.html Rothschild poster. https://www.calledoutbelievers.org/about-us/

Video 3: Crowd
Antonio Ciseri. Ecce Homo (1871). Museo Cantonale d’Arte, Lugano, Switzerland (Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecce_homo_by_Antonio_Ciseri_(1).jpg)

Page from the anti-Semitic German children's book, Der Giftpilz (Der Stürmer Publishers, 1935). Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

French print of an illustrated poem about the Wandering Jew (ca. 1650). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Gift of the Katz Family

Ginori (Italy) porcelain figure of the Wandering Jew (after 1821). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Gift of the Katz Family.

Poster of the Wandering Jew Board Game (ca. 1852-58). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Gift of the Katz Family.

Video 4: Crucifixion
Philipp Rupprecht, Mortal Enemy of Christianity [Smiertelny wrog Chrzescijanstwa] (1943) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Katz Family https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn545098

Polish poster advertising the antisemitic propaganda pamphlet, Śmiertelny wróg Chrześcijaństwa [Mortal Enemy of Christianity], written by Zbigniew Kowalewski in 1943. The image is based on an illustration by Philipp Rupprecht, which was published in the antisemitic German newspaper, Der Stürmer, in 1937. The poster has an image of a crucifix, in front of a background of buildings that appear to be on fire with a large image of a Jewish man looming over the scene. The man has a large nose and ears, hooded eyes, and fleshy lips; all stereotypical physical features commonly attributed to Jewish men. The crucifix is a reference to the deicide myth, which falsely blames and condemns Jews for the death of Jesus Christ, and for rejecting his teachings. The pamphlet’s cover is illustrated with the same image as the poster. The pamphlet details the alleged relationship between Jews and Christianity, and falsely claims that Jews spread ideas of world revolution. Both themes are displayed in the image; the crucifixion represents the adversarial relationship between Jews and Christianity, and the burning buildings represent revolution. Jewish conspiracies of world domination and revolution are longstanding antisemitic canards used by the Nazis and other groups to justify Jewish persecution. The pamphlet was part of a series of Nazi propaganda literature produced in German occupied Poland during World War II. This poster is one of more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic visual materials.

Meister HW, Der Kalvarienberg (1842) http://kulturpool.bmb.gv.at/plugins/kulturpool/showitem.action?itemId=4295441049&kupoContext=defau lt

Editing and production: Peter A. Pettit