On June, 23 2003, we had a dream and in it we had asked, “L-rd, what are we to call ourselves?” He answered, “the Ruth Project.”At the time when this dream came to us, neither of us had any intentions of forming any group within the Holy Roman Catholic Church because we felt our present associations at the time were sufficient and quite time consuming enough. Also, at the time this dream seemed out of place, but our experience tells us that time usually explains all, and this was certainly true here. A day after this dream we came upon a website written by a self-proclaimed “nobody” named Hannah Newman, and her site is called The RAINBOW SWASTIKA, a look into the New Age agenda. Her presentation was so powerful that it affected our perception about the need for such a movement in the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
The New Age really isn’t “new” at all, but rather it originated thousands of years ago in Babylon, yet in early twentieth century this theology resurfaced among a movement that would in time be associated with the Nazis and their horrific consequences. Hannah Newman isn’t the first person to write about the Nazi religion, nor the only source we have seen, however she is the only one that we encountered who has tracked the growth and development of this cult in our modern age and shown its true anti-Semitic agenda, and how they have modified this to “overcome” Hitler’s “mistake” so as to distance themselves from him without removing that root.
Another situation of recent time was Mel Gibson’s film controversy where, if you remember, Icon Films threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League and the bishops' conference for warning this film could cause anti-Semitism. There was also the bishop’s committee that condemned their actions and distanced themselves from this group. Yet, lost in all these arguments for and against the film, there was the discussion of why didn’t this cause the large explosion of anti-Semitism. Had things really changed or was something missing? We suspect now the latter.
There has been much discussion about the “trigger” of anti-Semitism. Yet “The Passion”, though not a “trigger” historically, has been a “symptom” of that “trigger’s presence and growing influence” in the past. So we know now we were acting like many doctors, treating the symptoms rather than the disease. Perhaps it’s not the best treatment around but can those who condemned us do so when they missed the anti-Judaic symptoms entirely? Mel Gibson’s film reportedly had some of these, though in later rewrites many were removed once they were discovered because we do not believe neither Mel Gibson or Icon Productions set out to make an anti-Semitic film, rather one that spoke of their strong faith. Yet some anti-Judaic symbols persisted, not the least of which medieval depictions of Jewish Orthodoxy dress because some are deeply embedded in culture and therefore hard to root out. Thus, we cannot and should not be so harsh on Mel Gibson, his film production committee or anyone else judging him and the film for all of them were honestly trying to present what they perceived.
Those who aspire to the New Age theology are really enemies of all of us and have no true love of the Passion, the American Bishops or the Jewish-Catholic Interreligious community. Yet they can and do use others to further their aims and it seems they can do this because we basically we speak a different language, and we suspect it is partly due to a difference in cultural perspectives. This became extremely clear at the last Jewish-Catholic Dialogue we attended where a Conservative Jewish man stood up and asked Eugene J. Fisher, Ph.D. why the Church didn’t do anything about Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion. Dr. Fisher answered him with a list of the many things our Church had done, including presenting a 150 page document to Church leaders to teach how to properly view The Passion in the right context of our faith. This includes reminding Catholics that we cannot hold Jews responsible when it was all our sins that put Him on the cross, and His Blood healed all. The proof of this act’s effectiveness can be gauged by the fact that there were few reported acts of anti-Semitism; and some of those were quickly suppressed, as in the case of the pastor in Colorado.
So why didn’t the Anti-Defamation League and some Jews didn’t understand the actions of the Church when those directives and teachings were given out by Rome and the American bishops? The answer we believe was that they did not understand that the problem isn’t in Scripture or even in the Passion, but rather due to a misunderstanding some have about these matters. And these misunderstandings can be overcome with the proper teaching and preaching. Though to be fair, there were other actions that could have been different as well. For example, considering Mel Gibson seems to be part of the RadTrads (Radical Traditionalists), it may have been more effective to have leadership in Rome write a response to Gibson’s group. Although, American religious leaders did respond, Mel Gibson’s group seemed to have poorly handled the situation. As we understand it, the American religious leaders wrote their concerns in a private letter, and Gibson’s group made the letter public as well as threatening a lawsuit.
From all of this, it became evident to us that we each hold different perspectives and expectations on what we would like to see presented from each group without understanding the thought process. The Jewish community wanted the Catholics to respond as quickly and openly as other groups did to the film. The Catholic community wanted the Jews to understand the efforts made by the Church. However, the effort to communicate with each other is obviously necessary, but this is beyond just the leaderships of both religious groups. This communication has to extend to the lowest of each group in order to breed understanding, trust and a real relationship where we truly know one another.
This idea came to us in the dream above; it was called “The Ruth Project”. Its purpose is to echo the words of Ruth in her simple love to Naomi when she stated, “…for where you go I will go and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your G-d my G-d”. Though the parameters can be defined several ways, we envision it as follows:
Wherever you go we will go: To shop where they buy kosher foods and even purchase kosher to tell the world these foods are not evil (some nations have recently outlawed them). Perhaps to make purchases for them or even deliver their foods as well as escort them to their destinations if it becomes too dangerous for them to go alone.We suspect by doing these things we may not only be able to draw future aspirations for the dialogue, but also to visibly and loudly declare in unison “Never Again!” And if by our efforts we fail to reach the world with the Gospel of Peace fully manifested in Nosta Aetate and greater anti-Semitism came down us as well, then we would not fear because we also echo Ruth’s final message from the heart:Wherever you live, we will live: This drew us to ask the question that if we live too remote, how can we hear the glass shattering so we can join them in the streets or respond to the boots upon the stairs? Therefore we believe Catholics must explore ways in which we can be connected to the Jewish people around them (we have some ideas in our “Old Wine” section). In this manner we will be there if or when the glass falls again. Further, we may need to explore the deep and important relationship the land of Israel plays in the Jewish mindset so we can explain this clearly and concisely to those who may not respect this.
Your people will be my people: Our Church still teaches she is Israel, yet we firmly believe that this is not because she feels she has replaced the Jewish people, but rather because the Holy Spirit led her to claim this as it seems declare we are their younger brother exiled over three thousand years ago to be brought back with the grafted in through her ministry in Jesus the Christ. As brothers we should be there for each other, even if we can’t always see eye to eye in every circumstance.
Your G-d will be my G-d: In our catechism, we Catholics call Him by the exact same Name- the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and perhaps those accepting this proposal might use this Name in their daily lives so as to draw attention to our common link to the Jews. It is also possible to use the One true G-d who is Creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen, which may open the door for Muslims in the future. Further, those in this movement with knowledge of the Jewish doctrine of the Oneness of HaShem and the Catholic Trinity could work to find the commonality here in these two doctoral truths (for we suspect the problem is language, not truths). Also we study our Catholic teaching in light of the Sacred Scriptures to show that we Catholics really do abide Torah we accept a different Midrash and that Goyim are and never were required to abide the whole Law.
“Wherever you die, we shall die, and there shall we be buried; May the L-rd G-d do so and more so if ought but death part me and thee.”For our Savior said:
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear Him Who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna (Yiddish for Purgatory).” Matt.10.28Our Church has already done so much in this path she took 39 years ago, however most of this has happened high above us and we at the bottom have done far less. We want to do more, and we hope others might feel the same. Unfortunately we do not know how to go forward with this idea of The Ruth Project and we need help and guidance on its viability for gaining juridical approval by the Holy See from other fellow Catholics who may have a like mind in this or who simple wish to support us. We also suspect such an idea might be needed to be aired before the Jewish people and their input is also very much welcomed.
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