commemoration 59th anniversary declaration Nostra Aetate
We tend to commemorate significant events only once they reach a temporal milestone, such as decade, a century, or a millennium, even though they might be just as relevant, or even more so, at any other point in time. That is why, while anticipating the commemoration of 60 years to the Nostra Aetate deceleration that will occur on October 2025, I feel compelled to share some thoughts about it's significant today, as we near its 59th anniversary.
My life experience taught me a rather basic but important lesson, which is that the only way to rid ourselves of biases and prejudices towards others is to make a genuine effort to know them. To meet him or her face to face, unfiltered, as an equal, in an open, honest and respectful atmosphere.
Doing so, I found, is a highly powerful and rewarding experience, one that can transform negative sentiments into positive ones, resentment into respect, aversion into attraction, animosity into reciprocity, hate into love.
One need not necessarily refer to complex philosophical or theological constructs, such as Nostra Aetate, in order to realize this basic truth. Observing toddlers in a kindergarten playing with each other provides the most compelling evidence. Little children do not prejudge one another, which is why they usually get along and play in harmony.
While we are born devoid of prejudices and biases, somewhere along the way that changes, and we begin looking at others through filters and lenses that we create or adopt. At times, those filters prove useful in sorting out friends from foes. Quite often, though, they lead to a distorted, negative perception of the other, accompanied by strong feelings of resentment, hatred and contempt.
Some of the world's most horrible genocidal ideologies and forms of hatred, were born out of such strong negative sentiments, founded on a prejudiced view of the other.
Unfortunately, as history teaches us, that hatred has all too often been directed towards the Jewish people, and today also towards the Jewish state, Israel.
We are living through such a time today, as we are witnessing a worrying surge in Antisemitism worldwide, and as the State of Israel is being attacked daily by regimes committed to it’s destruction.
We lived through such a period during the Holocaust, which was fueled by Nazi antisemitic genocidal ideology that sought the elimination of the entire Jewish people.
We lived this reality during the past 2000 years, as resentment and animosity towards the Jewish people led, time and time again, to repeated displays of violence and discrimination against them.
Breaking that cycle of violence and hate is essential for us to be able to live in a society that upholds values of respect for the other, human dignity and life. It is important not only for the Jewish people, but for humanity as a whole.
I often recall advice I once heard from former Israeli president, the late Shimon Peres, who said that there are only two qualities one needs to possess in order to experience true happiness and fulfillment in life: Love and curiosity.
Love and curiosity are not emotions that one can trigger and experience alone. They require engagement with others, based on mutual respect and appreciation.
To quote Christopher McCandless, as he was nearing the end of his life, alone: "Happiness is only real when shared". The same applies to love.
We sometimes require a guiding principle to be handed down to us by a figure of authority, to remind us of the need to approach one another with respect and with an open mind and heart, as children do.
By resetting the mindset which underscored nearly 2000 years of difficult discourse between Christians and Jews, and transforming it from one of contempt to one of respect, Nostra Aetate offered to be that guiding principle for the Catholic church.
Since currently over half of the world's Jewish population lives in Israel, the bilateral ties between Israel and the Holy See are essential for realizing the vision of Nostra Aetate, which promotes a renewed and improved relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people.
In this context it is essential for us to continue advancing along the renewed path of Jewish-Catholic dialogue that Nostra Aetate established, while also applying its principles of respect, engagement, and open communication to other contexts of human strife and conflict, both in the Middle East and beyond. This approach has always been, and remains, a cornerstone of Israel's vision for peace and understanding.
Ambassador of Israel to the Holy See
Yaron Sideman