The third meeting of the Chief Rabbis of Israel and the Archbishop of Canterbury was held on 9th September 2008/9th Elul 5768, fulfilling the provisions of the Joint Declaration signed by them on 5th September 2006/12th Elul 5766.
The Most Revd Dr Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger of Israel met in Lambeth Palace. The Chief Rabbis were supported by Mr Oded Wiener, Director General of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, whilst the Archbishop was supported by the Rt Revd Michael Jackson, Bishop of Clogher and Co-Chair of the Anglican Jewish Commission, and the Rt Revd Suheil Dawani, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem.
“We feel keenly the absence of Rabbi David Rosen who was not able to be present because of a family bereavement and express our condolences and prayers for him, his wife and their family. We also wish to acknowledge, with gratitude, the work of Canon Guy Wilkinson who has supported our meetings and those of our Anglican Jewish Commission since their inception.
“We are encouraged by the further steps we have taken, under God, to build up the trust and mutual understanding that have characterised our encounter. We have heard from members of our Anglican Jewish Commission of the special relationship that has developed in their meetings and received with gratitude the report of their work on the holiness of person, place and time. The Commission’s meeting in Canterbury this year during the Lambeth Conference gave it a special character. We were delighted to hear of the warm appreciation shown by the bishops of the Anglican Communion and their spouses for the address on the theme of “Covenant” by Sir Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth ”“ an historic address as the first by a Chief Rabbi to the decennial Lambeth Conference.
Maybe he’ll do better with the rabbis than he did with the bishops of his own Communion! I wonder if he’ll share the wonders of INDABA with them!
Looking for the reference to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s political agend of divesting Church of England investments in certain companies that sell products to the Israeli government. Guess they forgot all about that so it must not have been important.
Chris, as many of them believe the Creed as the bishops, I don’t see why it should be any different. They aren’t threatening any real estate holdings; it ought to be downright cordial!
Although this work has been going on quietly, these contacts and others have been terribly important; in building bridges domestically and internationally and for their potential knock-on effects for peace in the Middle East. I think this is one area where we can be rightly proud of Dr Williams and that his efforts will stand as his legacy, the real value of which may only become apparent in hindsight.
don’t most reasserters think that rabbis are going to hell? After all they don’t know Jesus.