The Chief Rabbi of Strasbourg, Renee Guttman, has announced that he will publish "a
declaration by the French Rabbinate" denouncing the abrogation of Christianity and
any criticism of its actions throughout the years. The declaration calls upon Jews to
learn "ethics" from Christianity and Islam.
The French Rabbinate has said that this is a private initiative on the part of Rabbi
Guttman and Rabbi Charles Twito, former president of the Consistoire Viewpoint
Committee at a time when that body was far removed from any trace of Torah outlook.
Chief Rabbi of Paris, HaRav David Mashash, said: "Their declaration in no way
expresses the position of contemporary French Jewry." Others added: "It is a mere
prank, arousing antisemitism and harming the Jewish community."
Rabbis Guttman and Twito revived a document drafted thirty years ago by a Jewish
philosopher who was close to Christianity and a professor of Biblical criticism.
Rabbi Meir Jayis, Chief Rabbi of Paris at the time, along with HaRav Yaakov Kaplan,
who was serving as Chief Rabbi of France, declared the document posul and
refused to publish it.
When the abovementioned declaration was presented at a meeting of Consistoire rabbis
in 1968, it was opposed by a majority of rabbis, and the declaration was invalidated.
However, Rabbi Charles Twito kept a copy.
Last week, Rabbi Guttman presented it to the La Monde newspaper as a scoop. He
accused the Rabbinate of invalidating the document, adding that Rabbi Twito told him
to publish this "historic declaration" in response to a request for forgiveness
issued by the French church. Now Rabbi Guttman wants to exploit his status as the
Chief Rabbi of Strasbourg, the capital of Alsace, which was once one of Europe's
Jewish centers in the Middle Ages and the seat of Parliament.
In the Middle Ages, the Jews were forced to participate in debates with Christian
priests, resulting in persecution and expulsion. Today, the church has lost its
status and has no recourse to force. The French have abandoned the church as part of
their social secularization process.
But the pressures on the Jews are expressed in other ways. The media doesn't stop
harping on what it calls "the Jewish question." It incessantly devotes special
supplements to the Jews: preservation of their identity, their relationships with
Israel and their return to religion, claiming that these trends conflict with their
lives as Frenchmen in France.
Two weeks ago, a large photograph in L'Express displayed a Jew wrapped in
tefillin reciting shacharis in a synagogue. The picture was apparently
meant to stress the Jew's so-called "peculiarity." The magazine itself spoke about
the influence of Palestinian violence on the security and lives of French Jewry.
