High Holy Days 5772 (2011) Rosh Hashanah
Rabbi David Rosen wrote for the Vatican’s conference on Christian-Jewish Relations, “In his visit to the Rome synagogue in 1986, Pope John Paul II referred to the Jewish people as “the beloved elder brothers of the Church”. He developed this idea with his own notable formulation of the essential message of Nostra Aetate. One of the occasions on which I was privileged to meet with John Paul II was in Assisi in January 1993 on the occasion of the gathering he had convened for prayer for peace in the Balkans. In receiving me and my colleague, he declared “I have said, you (the Jewish People) are the beloved elder brother of the Church of the original Covenant never broken and never to be broken”.
In light of this we wished to remind us all of the approaching high holy days of Rosh Hashanah beginning at sunset, September 28, and ending September 30th. As we Catholics pray with our brother and sister Jews across the world, may God help all of us make something new of the world we live in.
Rabbi Sharon Brous, one of my favorite rabbis who founded the IKAR Synagogue in LA, has some wonderful sermons delivered last year during Rosh Hashanah. The new ones won’t be available until early October. Here are links to them:
