The first meeting of the Anglican Jewish Commission of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel took place at the seat of the Chief Rabbis in Jerusalem on Sunday 1 and Monday 2 July 2007, ACNS has reported.
The Commission was originally established under the provisions of the joint declaration of the Archbishop and the Chief Rabbis at Lambeth Palace on 6 September 2006.
The discussions at the first meeting took place within the framework of the joint declaration made on that occasion which stated: “Our relationship is unique, not only historically and culturally, but also scripturally and for both religions is rooted in the one overarching covenant of God with Abraham to which God remains faithful through all time.
"This will be a dialogue of mutual respect in which we seek only to understand each other better and to strengthen our own communities and their affection and respect for each other."
The leaders of the delegations, Chief Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen of Haifa and the Rt Rev Michael Jackson, Bishop of Clogher warmly welcomed the first meeting of the Commission as a most important further step in international Christian-Jewish relations and in the contribution of religious communities to the peaceful life of the world.
Chief Rabbi Cohen said: “This dialogue is of the greatest importance both for our bilateral relationship and for promoting our shared values to the benefit of humanity at large.”
In response, Bishop Jackson emphasised the significance of the personal relationships which were being built up through the work of the Commission.
The focus of the Commission’s deliberation was the sanctity of human life.
Papers were presented and considered in depth on the basis of a mutual understanding of Scripture and of a common understanding of human life as a gift from God to be valued from conception to the natural ending of life.
According to the Anglican Communion News Service, the Commission affirmed that, “between the beginnings of life and its ending, human life is to be nurtured and enabled to flourish and all violence against other human beings is to be deplored as a defacing of the image of God in humanity."
In his presentation, Chief Rabbi Cohen highlighted the life-giving attributes of God as the source of all vitality that demands that everything possible be done to affirm the inalienable sanctity of human life. He defined the idea of divine sanction for suicide and homicide as a “religious” sacrifice as blasphemous.
