Rabbi Di Segni, the chief rabbi of Rome, accuses the Vatican of wanting to impose the cross of Jesus on the Jews as well, in the place of Yom Kippur. He is denouncing the rupture of dialogue and bringing into question his presence in Assisi. The clarifications of Cardinal Koch. The thought of Ratzinger.
by Sandro Magister
(MICHAEL HOFFMAN'S AFTERWORD FOLLOWS THIS EXCERPT FROM MAGISTER'S REPORT)
ROME, August 5, 2011 – The controversy has gone mostly unnoticed, but has brought into grave doubt the presence of the Jews at the "Day of reflection, dialogue, and prayer for peace and justice in the world" convened by Benedict XVI for next October 27 in Assisi. The spark was an article by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the pontifical council for Christian unity, in L'Osservatore Romano on July 7, illustrating the meaning of the Day.
Di Segni had explained the meaning of this feast before, on the front page of L'Osservatore Romano on October 8, 2008. And he had emphasized back then that Yom Kippur manifests the "irreconcilable differences between the two worlds," the world of the Jews and that of the Christians, because "a Christian, on the basis of his faith, no longer needs Kippur, just as a Jew who has Kippur does not need the salvation from sin proposed by the Christian faith...Di Segni adds – the Christian "must not propose to the Jew his own beliefs and interpretations as indications of the 'decisive way', because this truly threatens to reintroduce the theology of substitution, and the Cross becomes an obstacle."
And he continues:
"One's own difference cannot be proposed to the other as the model to follow. This crosses a boundary in Jewish-Christian relations that can be blurred, but must remain unviolated. At the least it is not a way of dialogue that could be of interest to the Jews."
Beside the reply from Rabbi Di Segni, the July 29 issue of "L'Osservatore Romano" also published Cardinal Koch's counterreply:
"We absolutely maintain that the Jews should look at the cross as we Christians do, in order to set out on the road to Assisi together. [...] So the intention is not to replace the Jewish Yom Kippur with the cross of Christ, even if Christians see in the cross 'the permanent and universal Yom Kippur.' It is here that the fundamental and very delicate point of Jewish-Christian dialogue is touched upon, or the question of how to reconcile the conviction, binding for Christians as well, that God's covenant with the people of Israel has permanent validity with the Christian faith in universal redemption in Jesus Christ, in such a way that, on the one side, the Jews should not get the impression that their religion is seen by Christians as obsolete, and on the other that Christians should not renounce any aspect of their faith. Without a doubt, this fundamental question will continue to occupy Jewish-Christian dialogue for a long time to come."
Koch was called personally by Benedict XVI to head the pontifical council for Christian unity, and to deal with the dialogue with Judaism in particular. And he is one of the cardinals of the curia most in harmony with the pope's vision.
To understand this, it is enough to open the second volume of the book "Jesus of Nazareth" to the fourth chapter, where Benedict XVI analyzes the "priestly prayer" of Jesus on the eve of his passion, which occupies chapter 17 of the Gospel of John.
"This prayer," the pope writes, "is understandable only against the background of the liturgy of the Jewish feast of expiation, Yom Kippur. The ritual of the feast with its rich theological content is realized in the prayer of Jesus, realized in the literal sense: the rite is translated into the reality that it signifies. [...] The prayer of Jesus manifests him as the high priest of the great day of expiation. His cross and his being lifted up constitute the day of expiation of the world, on which the entire history of the world, against all human sin and destruction, finds its meaning. [...] The priestly prayer of Jesus [...] is so to speak the always accessible feast of the reconciliation of God with men."
It is no coincidence that the prophet Jonah, the prophet who is read on the Jewish feast of Kippur, appears at the center of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, between the creation of the world and the last judgment.
In a mysterious remark, Jesus attributed to himself the "sign of Jonah" (Luke 11:29-32). And indeed, he added: "There is something greater than Jonah here."
That sign of contradiction which Jesus was for the Jews of his time still remains between Christians and Jews, and is manifested in Yom Kippur.
The Jews will celebrate the feast of expiation on October 10, a few days before the Day in Assisi. (End quote from Sandro Magister; emphasis supplied).
Judaism’s Yom Kippur is Talmudic, not Biblical
by Michael Hoffman
In the report by Sandro Magister, we see the usual theological and Scriptural confusion sown by the modern Vatican, illustrative of the perils of the ecumenical mission itself.
The Yom Kippur of Talmudic-Pharisaic Judaism has no basis in the Bible. This is admitted by the Mishnah and by the Rambam (Rabbi Moses Maimonides). Yom Kippur as practiced by Judaism today is derived from the Talmud, not Scripture. It is a parody of rites prescribed in the Old Testament.
In this parody one discovers a rabbi-concocted ritual deceit known as Kol Nidrei (also spelled Nidre). It is because of the nature of the Kol Nidrei rite that the synagogue is jammed with Judaic persons during Yom Kippur: Kol Nidrei pledges the nullification of all contracts, vows and promises which will be made in the coming year.
The Talmudic law concerning the Kol Nidrei rite is as follows: “And he who desires that none of his vows made during the year shall be valid, let him stand at the beginning of the year and declare, ‘Every vow which I make in the future shall be null.”
Judaic persons who attend no other services go out of their way to be present on Yom Kippur eve just to participate in Kol Nidrei. The prayer is in medieval Aramaic and a translation is seldom supplied, since the prayer's content defies moral logic: Kol Nidrei is a blanket request that God hold Judaics guiltless for vows they make and do not honor.
The reader will note that the Talmud declares that the Kol Nidrei action nullifying vows is to be taken at the beginning of the year and with regard to promises made in the future. This distinction is critical since it contradicts what the media claim about Yom Kippur -- that it is a humble, penitential rite consisting of begging forgiveness for promises broken in the past, rather than what it is, a nullification made in advance for oaths yet to be made. This “advance stipulation” is called bitul tenai and is the basis for a Judaic being absolved in advance of breaking future promises, or to use the rabbinic lawyer’s jargon: “declaration of intent for the anticipatory invalidation of future vows.”
The Vatican is aware of this, but Pope Benedict and his cardinals conspire in the pretense that Judaism’s Yom Kippur is of Biblical Israel. It is one thing to promote a lie out of ignorance; and quite a higher magnitude of transgression to promote it knowing that it is a lie.
In addition to Kol Nidrei, another notable factor that distinguishes the Talmudic Yom Kippur practiced by 21st century Judaism from the Yom Kippur of the Bible is the rabbinic-voodoo kaparot rite, which involves swinging a chicken over one’s head and transferring one’s sins to the chicken.
Observe as Pope Benedict XVI implicates Our Lord in these pagan Judaic abominations: “...the liturgy of the Jewish feast of expiation, Yom Kippur. The ritual of the feast with its rich theological content is realized in the prayer of Jesus...”
If the pope is referring to a feast derived from the Old Testament he should say so and clearly distinguish it from the contemporary rite which is a blasphemous parody. He fails to make the distinction, as does Cardinal Koch, who adds the outrageous statement: “the intention is not to replace the Jewish Yom Kippur with the cross of Christ...”
Why not? Is it not an act of hate to withhold the liberation represented by the Cross and abandon Judaics to the malignant and empty ceremonies of Kol Nidrei and Kaparot, which comprise the Talmudic Yom Kippur? Is the Vatican a partner with the rabbis in sending Judaic souls to hell?
The cardinal also states: “...the Jews should not get the impression that their religion is seen by Christians as obsolete...”
If the religion of the ancient Pharisees institutionalized as Orthodox Judaism is not obsolete, then why did Jesus bother to incarnate on earth? Did He do so exclusively for the benefit of the gentiles and not the Jews? Impossible! Cf. Matthew 15:24.
Jesus entrusted the Keys of His Kingdom to St. Peter, which Peter used to open the Kingdom to the Jews, then the Samaritans, and lastly, to the Gentiles (Matthew 16:19; Acts 2:5 & 41; 8:14-17; 10:35). Christianity is the Old Testament religion made new in Christ Jesus. Orthodox Judaism is the recrudescence of the Pharisaic system of the first century, supplemented by innumerable Mishnaic, Talmudic and subsequent rabbinic traditions of men. It is not only obsolete, it constitutes a false system that substitutes for the worship of Yahweh, the worship of the Judaic man, as personified by the rabbi.
Cardinal Koch says, "God's covenant with the people of Israel has permanent validity..."
This is an allusion to racial Israel. The cardinal's claim can only be made by misinterpreting a few lines in Romans 11 and ignoring the declaration of Jesus Christ in John 8:39-40 and of St. John the Baptist in Matthew 3: 9-10, as well as the whole testimony of the early church.
Moreover, if a Judaic is going to stake his hope of eternal salvation on his racial status, with encouragement from the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, he had better be certain that he is indeed a direct descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. How exactly this is genetically determined is a mystery. We find a warning about the claim to being a Jew in the Biblical definition of who it is that constitutes the Synagogue of Satan: "those who say they are Jews and are not" (Rev. 3:9).
The modern Vatican theology of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, "God's covenant with the people of Israel has permanent validity..." gives a false sense of spiritual security to those who are, or who imagine they are, Israelites descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. No man, whether Jew or gentile, has any hope of salvation without belief in Jesus Christ. If there is any type of salvation whatsoever in being a Jew who is genetically descended of Abraham, then Jesus Christ's evangelism to the Jews was an act of futility and superfluity (Matthew 5:20).
Rabbi Di Segni is not mealy-mouthed like the pope and his cardinals. He candidly states: “the Christian must not propose to the Jew his own beliefs and interpretations as indications of the 'decisive way,' because this truly threatens to reintroduce the theology of substitution...”
The Vatican doesn’t issue any “must nots” to the rabbi, but the rabbi issues them to the Church. He is telling the Roman Catholic hierarchy that if they want his prestigious presence at the October 27 Assisi jamboree, they had better not preach the Gospel to the Judaic people. Specifically, they must not preach Christ as the “decisive way,” or revive the ancient Christian replacement theology (“theology of substitution”) which holds that Jews are no longer in covenant with God through racial status, but only through saving faith in Jesus Christ. We are indebted to the rabbi for demonstrating the betrayal of the Gospel upon which modern papal ecumenicism is based.
Michael Hoffman is at work on the second edition of his book, Judaism Discovered. Donations in support of its publication are gratefully accepted.
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For further research
Revisionist History Newsletter no. 47: "The New Catholic 'Shoah' Theology: Alibi for the Revolutionary Overthrow of the Gospel of Jesus Christ," by Michael Hoffman
"Spiritual Israel or Carnal Israel" - 83 minute discussion with Michael Hoffman on audio CD
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Michael Hoffman is the founder of The Hoffman Center for the Study of Anti-Goyimism.
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