Book Review: Ben-Johanan, Karma: Jacob’s Younger Brother: Christian-Jewish Relations after Vatican II

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Date

2023

Abstract

As time passes, the dramatic shift in Catholic teaching about the Jews stands out as one of the principal accomplishments of the Second Vatican Council. This is particularly the case in light of the tragic persistence of anti-Semitism and the ways in which Nostra Aetate has been quietly (in comparison to liturgical reform) central to attempts to roll back the Council. Karma Ben-Johanan’s book—published in an earlier Hebrew version by Tel Aviv University Press under the title A Pottage of Lentils: Mutual Perceptions of Christians and Jews in the Age of Reconciliation—construes the postwar, post-Shoah period in which the Council met as a time of epochal shifts for both Christians and Jews. In presenting both sides of what she calls “the ambivalence that has characterized the Christian–Jewish relationship throughout history,” B-J. presents a perspective that will challenge Christian theologians in particular to see and acknowledge aspects of this dialogue that might otherwise go unnoticed or underdeveloped.

Comments

Review of : Jacob’s Younger Brother: Christian-Jewish Relations after Vatican II. By Ben-Johanan Karma

ISBN: 9780674258266

DOI

10.1177/00405639231154971g

Link to Full Text


Share

COinS