The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel - Emma O’Donnell Polyakov

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel by Emma O'Donnell Polyakov Elena Procario-Foley The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel. By Emma O'Donnell Polyakov. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2020. 242 pages. $30.00 (paper). In a public lecture at Iona College, a Catholic religious brother named Jack said, "when I am in Jerusalem, I am Jack, just Jack. Not a brother, not a former college president, I'm just Jack and some of the best times are simply going to my favorite café and we are all there—Muslim, Jewish, Christian—and maybe we can find each other over a cup of coffee; maybe we can contribute to peace." He then proceeded to lead a Jewish-Catholic text study at an American Catholic college for members of the local community. He employed the Jewish method of havruta. He was so excited to bring Jews and Catholics together over texts from the Torah. The text study may not have occurred in the same ways one might have expected in a synagogue or yeshiva, but Jack intended for Jews and Christians to learn from each other that night, and he especially wanted Christians to understand the text in its original Jewish context. Both Jewish and Catholic participants found the time together enlightening and constructive. Jack had studied Judaism for years; perhaps his commitment to living in Israel and to understanding the rich spirituality and history of Judaism contributed to the trust [End Page 406] the Jewish participants offered him during that evening havruta session. I experienced the gift of knowing Jack, who died well before Emma O'Donnell Polyakov began her research for The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel. I think Polyakov would agree that he belongs among the people she has identified as Judeocentric Catholics. I could not help but think of him as I read Polyakov's fascinating and cutting-edge study, and I was grateful for the opportunity to reflect anew on his life and contributions to Jewish-Catholic dialogue by placing him in the context of this "new phenomenon" of Judeocentric Catholicism. This new category of Christian practice, identified by Polyakov, is "characterized by the study of Jewish texts and traditions, by the contemplation of the theological relationships between Christianity and Judaism, and by practices of praying for the ongoing thriving of the Jewish people" (5). Despite the title of the book, Polyakov interviewed 80 women and men in vowed religious life living in Israel (ix). Not just cloistered nuns, the participants were monks, priests, and religious brothers and sisters in a variety of apostolic orders. She notes that of these mostly Catholic Christians, 25 exhibited the characteristics listed above that would identify them as Judeocentric Catholics (208, note 1). Additionally, her subjects were all from Europe or North America and had made a long-term commitment to living in Israel; they "engage deeply and intentionally with Judaism," and some maintain a Christocentric theology while others are pluralist (6). Her book is an ethnographic study based on these 25 interviews, but it is also "a book about people and about relationships" (8). The reader discovers, in the intensely personal reflections of the men and women Polyakov interviews, a "meditation on faith and identity" drawn from the "experiences of many who continually walk, in some form or another, along the border between Judaism and Christianity" (16). The Nun in the Synagogue is a remarkable work asking hard questions based on the lives of people who have chosen to step outside the mainstream of their religious tradition and the tradition [End Page 407] of their families. Polyakov has identified Judeocentric Catholicism as "a new religious and cultural phenomenon that has arisen from post-Holocaust reflection on the part of Christians and is characterized by developments of 'praying for the Jews'" (4–5). Even while recognizing the many efforts Christian denominations have made after the Shoah to eschew anti-Jewish theology, Polyakov wants to explore whether the new efforts to pray for the Jews can ever be free of supersessionist theology and conversionary intent. Polyakov is a very talented writer, adeptly, consistently, and seamlessly weaving insights...