Category: Professionals – clergy and scholars
Focus: Joint exploration of difficult biblical texts
Moderators: Father Jamal Khader, Father David Neuhaus, Daniel Rossing
Further information: danielr@jcjcr.org

In the context of current social and political realities in the Holy Land, Palestinian Christians and Israeli Jews often read the same biblical texts in very different and sometimes conflicting ways. This group first met in December 2004 and brings together members of the Latin Patriarchate’s Commission on Relations with Judaism, a number of Palestinian clergy and scholars, and leading Jewish rabbis and educators from the Jerusalem area. Participants struggle with problematic texts that are susceptible to political manipulation and explore the possibility of developing an agreed hermeneutic of peace, justice and reconciliation. As one starting point, the group’s discussions have taken the Latin Patriarchate’s document “Reading the Bible Today in the Land of the Bible,” published in 1993.