**Promoted From TAM Wire, Posted by Shifra**
Sweet 🙂
Pope Francis on Monday wished the Jewish people a happy new year ahead of Rosh Hashanah celebrations and called for interfaith dialogue between the world’s religious communities and leaders.
At a meeting with World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder in the Vatican, the pontiff said he opposed fundamentalism in any faith. He also wished for a sweet and peaceful year 5774, which Jews around the world would welcome Wednesday night according to the Hebrew calendar.
In a press release by the WJC, the organization said Pope Francis “expressed concern about the bans on kosher slaughter in Poland,” and condemned attacks against religious minorities such as the Coptic Church in Egypt.
Referring to the conflict in Syria, “the pope called the killing of human beings unacceptable and said world leaders must do everything to avoid war,” according to the WJC.
Pope Francis also reiterated a statement made last June, saying “a Christian cannot be an anti-Semite,” and adding that “to be a good Christian it is necessary to understand Jewish history and traditions.”
The statement said Pope Francis used the traditional Hebrew greeting of “Shanah Tovah.”
Lauder presented the Catholic leader with a Kiddush cup used for the blessing of wine on Jewish holidays, along with a honey cake — a traditional Rosh Hashanah desert.
Note from Tammy: Yep, I love this guy.
We Christians celebrate with our “older brothers”.Come to a Catholic Mass sometime and see for yourself the Jewish traditions we have assimilated.
The obligatory question: any good honey cake recipes?
Speaking of addresses: Hugh Hewitt mentioned in a recent column that Julie Andrews gave a well received graduation speech at the U. of Colorado this last May. There are some youtube videos of speech, but here is link to short HuffPo article on her address. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/10/cu-boulder-graduation-julie-andrews-commencement-speech_n_3255068.html
“…Andrews shared a personal anecdote about a botched throat operation that caused her to lose her singing voice. At the time, she was writing a children’s book with her daughter. “I was bemoaning my fate and she said, ‘Mom, you’ve simply found a new way of using your voice,'” Andrews recalled. “Suddenly, the weight of sadness fell from my shoulders and I embraced this new learning experience wholeheartedly.” Since then, Andrews and her daughter have together written 30 children’s books….”