THE INFLUENCE OF JULES ISAAC ON ROMAN CATHOLIC TEACHING ABOUT JEWS AND JUDAISM By Norman C. Tobias A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael's College, and the Historical Department of the Toronto School of Theology In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Theology awarded by the University of St. Michael's College Toronto 2008 © Norman C. 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While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. •*• Canada Abstract The Influence of Jules Isaac on Roman Catholic Teaching about Jews and Judaism Master of Arts in Theology 2008 Norman C. Tobias Historical Department University of St. Michael's College, Toronto School of Theology How ironic that the primary catalyst in connection with the reorientation of the Catholic Church's attitudes toward Jews and Judaism should have been a Jew. Having lost his wife, daughter and son-in-law in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, septuagenarian French Jewish historian Jules Isaac emerged from the Second World War to wage a single-handed campaign, in words and in deeds, for the rectification of Roman Catholic teachings about Jews and Judaism, contemptuous teachings, argued Isaac, that over­ reached the bounds of scriptural and historical accuracy, contemptuous teachings, contended Isaac, that had sustained and nourished other varieties of anti-semitism for nearly two millennia. We now know that it did not occur to John XXIII to add to the agenda of Vatican II the relationship between the Church and the Jews until one week after the close of the pre-preparatory phase of Vatican II when John XXIII met one-on- one with Jules Isaac. i IN MEMORY OF DORIS KANNER HARAV PINCHAS JOSEPH (HALEVI) KANNER AND HENRI ALEXIS (HALEVI) KANNER WHO ON NEW YEAR-S EVE 1942 TOOK FLIGHT FROM VICHY ACROSS THE PYRENEES AND THEREBY AVOIDED THE FATE OF SIX MILLION OF THEIR BRETHREN V'T ii Acknowledgements Thanks be to Dr. Gregory Baum, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael's College, and principal actor in the reorientation of the Church's attitude toward Jews and Judaism, whom I had the great privilege of coming to know when researching and writing this work, for his invaluable comments on a first draft; to Fr Thomas Stransky, who also features in this study, for the numerous wonderful hours he gave me on the rooftop of Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem in October 2007 and again in July 2008; to Sr Anne Anderson, Dean, Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael's College and Interim President of the University of St. Michael's College, for her encouragement and support during my six-year journey; to Dr. David Novak, J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Professor of Jewish Studies, Department and Centre for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto, for supervising this study; to Dr. Terence Donaldson, Advanced Degree Director, Toronto School of Theology, from whose lips I first heard the name, Jules Isaac, for his ongoing counsel and support; to Dr. Phyllis Airhart, Professor (Historical Department) and Interim Principal of Emmanuel College, for succumbing to my petition that she serve on my review committee; to Dr. John McLaughlin, Advanced Degree Director, Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael's College, during the gestation period, for his guidance; to Dr. Michael Attridge, Professor (Theological Department), University of St. Michael's College, for direction to relevant resources; to Sr Maureena Fritz, for her assistance in making possible my encounter with Fr Thomas F. Stransky; to Dr. Alberto Melloni, Professor, University of Modena, and Director, John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies, Bologna, for his assistance and support in connection with this project; to Dr. Pablo Argarate, Professor, Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael's College, for seeing to translations from German to English; to Ron Davis, who edited a second draft of this paper; to my son, Joseph, who as a Harvard sophomore, used his Widener Library privileges to procure for me resources that were unavailable in Canada; to my daughter, Claire, Joseph's twin and a McGill University undergraduate, because each shares in the credits of the other; and finally to my wife, Ava Rachel, a descendant of saints, for whom this study is more than academic. Sans doute est-ce un signe des temps qu 'un text conciliaire, appele a avoir un grand retentissement dans le monde entier et.j'espere, d'heureuses consequences dans la vie de I'Eglise, ait ete inscrit par un pape au programme d'un concile oecumenique, ait ete etudie, discute, adopte par plus de deux mille eveques, a la demande d'un laic, et d'un laic qui n 'etait pas chretien. Mgr Charles de Provencheres Archeveque d'Aix, Aries et Embrun January, 1965 1 Jean-L6on Cohen, "Jules Isaac: L'unite" d'une vie," Sens 12 (December 1996): as quoted at 460. iv -CONTENTS- CHAPTER ONE: Prologue 1 CHAPTER TWO: La Verite du Combat Livre 18 CHAPTER THREE: Epilogue 82 1 -CHAPTER ONE- PROLOGUE It was February 1946. Eighteen months had elapsed since the liberation of Paris. Twelve months had passed since the liberation of Auschwitz. And it had been only nine months since the military act of surrender had been signed on behalf of the Nazi armed forces in Reims and in Berlin. The scale-of the crime that had been perpetrated upon European Jewry by the Nazis was only beginning to emerge. The first-ever international conference of Christians and Jews organized with the specific purpose of discussing (as the report of the conference would put it) "...their mutual responsibilities and the possibilities of joint action in relation to human welfare and order on the basis of their common convictions and with proper regard for differences of faith and practice"2 had yet to take place. This conference would be held at Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford from July 30,1946 to August 6,1946 under the joint auspices of the National Conference of Christians and Jews of the United States, by that time almost 20 years old,3 and the more recently-established British Council of Christians and Jews. The outcome would be the formal establishment of an International Congress of Christians and Jews, headquartered in Geneva and under the direction of Dr. Pierre Visseur. Christian and Jewish members of such joint bodies as were then known to exist or to be in the process of formation, attending in their personal rather than their officially representative capacities, were to congregate in Oxford, one hundred and fifty in total. "Of all the various group tensions," 2 William W. Simpson, Freedom, Justice and Responsibility: A Retrospective Prospect (Oxford: Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies, 1987), 3. 3 Christian M. Rutishauser, "The 1947 Seelisberg Conference: The Foundation of the Jewish-Christian Dialogue," Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations 2, no. 2 (2007): 36. 2 stated one of the conference commission reports, "that known as anti-Semitism concerns the whole world and calls for special treatment. Recent history shows that an attack on Jewry is an attack on the fundamental principles of Judaism and Christianity on which our ordered human society depends. Accordingly it is advisable to deal with anti- Semitism as a special case requiring special treatment, though suggestions for dealing with anti-Semitism may be applicable to other types of group tensions."4 Thus was born the need for a separate emergency conference to address anti-semitism as well as the establishment of an international council of Christians and Jews. In February 1946, Jules Isaac was in 69th year, formally retired and not in good health. He had just emerged from the most traumatic years of his existence or, in any event, the most traumatic since the loss at age 14 of both parents within six days of each other. He had come into this world in Rennes on November 18, 1877 of French-Jewish parentage, the youngest of three children.5 But his parents were not Breton.