The second meeting of the chief rabbis of Israel and the
archbishop of Canterbury took place in Jerusalem on October 31, 2007
according to the provisions of the joint declaration signed by them on
September 5, 2006/ 12th Elul 5766.
The most Revd Dr Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury,
Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger of Israel met to
take further their friendly relationship and the mutual interests of the
people of their countries.
"We recall our meeting in Lambeth in September last year
and the historic nature of the declaration which we signed together. We
reaffirm all that we said in that declaration and have today taken forward
our relationship and our work towards greater understanding and mutual
respect between our communities.
"Since that meeting there have been further developments
in the holy land and in the wider region, some positive and some worrying.
We are very concerned about the well-being of the ever increasing numbers
of refugees from Iraq and about the plight of religious minorities, in
particular Christian communities in Iraq and elsewhere in the region; we
call for the release of hostages and in particular for the release of Ehud
Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Shalit. Continuing use of aggressive
language by President Ahmadinejad of Iran towards Israel is wholly
unacceptable to us. We also note, however, the renewed energy towards a
comprehensive peace in the region and the many initiatives, religious and
secular, being taken to overcome divisions and to seek reconciliation. In
particular in this respect, we commend the work of the many organisations
that seek to work together from different perspectives for the common
good.
"We discussed together some recent developments and
initiatives by religious leaders and scholars which aim to strengthen the
means by which religious communities can cooperate with each other in the
search for a world more attuned to the love of god for creation.
"In particular, we welcomed the recent meeting of
religious leaders held at the invitation of the St Egidio community when
the archbishop of Canterbury and Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger were able to
meet together with his holiness Pope Benedict and with the leaders of many
other religious traditions. We look forward to additional opportunities
that further the important work of universal religious solidarity.
"In this connection, we noted the recent letter from
Muslim scholars and religious leaders to the Christian churches. The
"Common Word", though addressed to Christian churches, also makes clear
its respect for Hebrew scripture in citing directly from the Book of
Deuteronomy and in acknowledging the inspiration that this provided for
their understanding of the Koranic teachings on the unity and love of god
and of neighbour. In promoting these values we commit ourselves and
encourage all religious leaders to ensure that no materials are
disseminated by our communities that work against this vision. We have
agreed that in responding to the "Common Word" it will be important to
consider carefully together how the perspectives of Christians and Jews
are properly held together.
"At the end of our meeting we give thanks to god for the
sacred gift of life and for stirring up in our hearts the desire to see
god’s will for good fully expressed in human lives. We restate our concern
for all hostages and for the many innocent victims of violence; we pray
for peace and for peacemakers; we reaffirm our commitment to each other
and our firm intent to continue this dialogue on the basis of mutual
respect under god."