Nun in the Synagogue
Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel
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The Nun in the Synagogue documents the religious and cultural phenomenon of Judeocentric Catholicism that arose in the wake of the Holocaust, fueled by survivors who converted to Catholicism and immigrated to Israel as well as by Catholics determined to address the anti-Judaism inherent in the Church. Through an ethnographic study of selected nuns and monks, Emma O’Donnell Polyakov explores how this Judeocentric Catholic phenomenon began and continues to take shape in Israel.
This book is a case study in Catholic perceptions of Jews, Judaism, and the state of Israel during a time of rapidly changing theological and cultural contexts. In it, Polyakov listens to and analyzes the stories of individuals living on the border between Christian and Jewish identity—including Jewish converts to Catholicism who continue to harbor a strong sense of Jewish identity and philosemitic Catholics who attend synagogue services every Shabbat. Polyakov traces the societal, theological, and personal influences that have given rise to this phenomenon and presents a balanced analysis that addresses the hermeneutical problems of interpreting Jews through Christian frameworks. Ultimately, she argues that, despite its problems, this movement signals a pluralistic evolution of Catholic understandings of Judaism and may prove to be a harbinger of future directions in Jewish-Christian relations.
Highly original and methodologically sophisticated, The Nun in the Synagogue is a captivating exploration of biographical narratives and reflections on faith, conversion, Holocaust trauma, Zionism, and religious identity that lays the groundwork for future research in the field.
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Part 1: The Jewish People Through a Christian Lens
1. Behind the Monastery Walls
2. A New Philosemitism
3. Christian Constructions of the Jew
4. Christian Responses to Israel
Part 2: A Judeocentric Catholicism
Portrait: Sr. Talia
5. The “Mystery of Israel”
Portrait: Sr. Marie Yeshua
6. Precedents and Predecessors
Portrait: Sr. Anne Catherine
7. A Mission Reversed: The Sisters of Sion
Portrait: Sr. Carmen
8. A Christian Aliyah?
Portrait: Fr. Olivier
Part 3: Religious Identity After the Holocaust
9. Navigating Jewish-Christian Identity
Portrait: Sr. Regine
10. Conversion, Belonging, and Holocaust Trauma
Portrait: Sr. Paula
11. Theology After the Holocaust
Portrait: Sr. Michaela
Part 4: Praying for the Jews
Portrait: Sr. Rebecca
12. Interreligious Dialogue and Monasticism
Portrait: Fr. Jacques
13. Between the Synagogue and the Church
Portrait: Sr. Gemma
14. The Problematics of Prayer for the Jewish People
Portrait: Sr. Maureena
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index