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Eric J. By Greenberg
When I was a newspaper reporter covering religion, there were two experts in the Jewish community I could count on for accurate information, valuable analysis, and a sense of humor: Rabbi Leon Klenicki and Rabbi A. James Rudin.
Leon was the director of interfaith affairs for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Jim was director of interfaith relations for the American Jewish Committee.
Despite their different titles, they were the nation’s only full-time interfaith experts working for the two top Jewish defense agencies.
Both pioneered the development and implementation of new educational programs, while working tirelessly to deepen positive dialogue between Christian and Jewish clergy, community leaders, and lay people, leading to the adoption of the historic document Nostra Aetata at the Second Vatican Council in 1965, outlawing anti-Semitism. resulted. rejecting the charge of deicide against the Jewish people and calling for a new positive dialogue and understanding between the two closely related religions.
After Leon’s retirement, I became the ADL’s Director of Outreach and Interfaith Affairs, and I was blessed by both rabbis as mentors and friends. I liken it to getting a Ph.D. in physics directly from Albert Einstein. Apparently, the Vatican also recognized the greatness of these two New York-based rabbis.
In 2007, Pope Benedict awarded Rabbi Klenicki a papal knighthood – the prestigious Order of St. Gregory. I had the honor of being among a small group of Catholic and Jewish leaders at the ceremony held at the Vatican’s mission to the United Nations in New York. Leon became only the second American rabbi in history to receive this knighthood, which was established in 1831 and is given to both Catholics and non-Catholics in recognition of their outstanding contributions to society.
On November 20, Pope Francis will award the Order of St. Gregory to Rabbi Rudin.
This will mark the first time in his papacy that Pope Francis has approved this honor for a rabbi, this time at Saint Leo University in Tampa, Florida at 1:00 p.m. live at saintleo.edu/papal- chivalry.
In addition to expertise in Catholic-Jewish relations, humor was a key component of both rabbis’ personalities. This quality served them well in tense situations.
I had the privilege of being with Rabbi Klenicki during his personal meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. Leon’s parents were from the same area in Poland as my grandparents. I remember the twinkle in his eye when he told me to watch the papa’s reaction when he started speaking in Polish. Pope John Paul responded with a smile on his face. It turns out that Leon and Pope John Paul II both wrote their theses on the same religious figure, St. John of the Cross.
When Leon passed away in 2009, his legacy lives on.
He would be thrilled to have his good friend Jim Rudin join him in what Rabbi David Rosen, Israel’s only papal knight, calls “the most exclusive club of Jewish papal knights.” (The club also does not have five rabbis).
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan also welcomed Rudin’s knighthood.
“For decades, Rabbi Jim Rudin has been a friend of mine, of my predecessors as archbishop of New York, and of Catholics everywhere,” he said. “As one of the leading figures in Catholic-Jewish relations, Rabbi Rudin helped deepen our understanding of how our two faiths can and should work together.”
I had the good fortune to accompany Rabbi Rudin on several major national and international Catholic-Jewish missions. In 2000, we saw Pope John Paul II standing at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Judaism and where Jesus walked.
In 2010, we traveled to Germany to discuss the removal of anti-Semitic elements from the world’s oldest Passion Play, produced by the Bavarian village of Oberammergau.
My favorite event was in April 2008 when Pope Benedict came to Washington, D.C. to hold an interfaith gathering at the Pope John Paul II Center. The hall was filled with leaders of several faiths, including Muslim, Protestant, evangelical and other faiths. During a break in the proceedings, Vatican officials decided to extend a special greeting to the Pope’s Jewish delegation, as the biblical Passover begins in a few days.
I was asked by the Vatican representative who should receive the pope’s greetings on behalf of the Jewish community. I quickly went through the delegation. There was no question. This Jim Rudin was warmly welcomed by the Pope.
Now, 24 years later, another pope is recognizing Rabbi Rudin – this time with a knighthood.
Rabbi Eric J. Greenberg is a former award-winning reporter on religion, director of interfaith affairs for the Anti-Defamation League, and currently director of United Nations Relations and Strategic Partnerships at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
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