Nostra Aetate and Catholic-Jewish Relations: Feat. Professor Karma Ben Johanan

January 8
1h 2m

Episode Description

In this episode, Avraham Burg sits down with Dr. Karma Ben Johanan, historian of Jewish-Christian relations and a faculty member at Hebrew University’s Department of Comparative Religion. Together, they discuss how Ben Johanan’s personal biography—growing up between Haifa’s secular and ultra-Orthodox worlds—shaped her interest in religion and Jewish-Christian relations. She explores the evolving post-Holocaust Catholic-Jewish dialogue, rooted in the 1965 Nostra Aetate declaration, noting both theological breakthroughs and enduring tensions, especially around issues of particularism, universalism, and the global relevance of this reconciliation. They also explore the challenges and transformations in Jewish-Christian relations, as well as the role of geography and local politics in how interfaith dialogue takes place.

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