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Judaism

Does Judaism see other faiths as valid?

An Israeli Orthodox institute is calling for interfaith relations to be put on a new footing

May 23, 2025 08:59
Vatican GettyImages-1251789603
Reaching out: Rome's Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni (left) with Christian and Muslim leaders at the Vatican in 2006 (Photo: Getty Images)
4 min read

This year marks the 60th anniversary of probably the most significant interfaith declaration post-War. The Second Vatican Council issued Nostra Aetate, forged in the aftermath of the Shoah, which absolved Jews collectively of the charge of killing Jesus and put Catholic-Jewish relations on a new footing. It paved the way for further advances including recognition that the Covenant between God and the Jewish people remained valid.

Traditional Judaism has never reciprocated such initiatives, in terms of official statements. It has generally been thought enough to point to the rabbinic principle, that the righteous of all nations have a share in the World to Come, to demonstrate that Judaism does not believe it has the only key to the gates of heaven.

But a new book, translated from the Hebrew, argues the case for re-evaluating our attitude to people of other faiths. It is the product of the Ohr Torah Interfaith Centre, one of the network of modern Orthodox Israeli institutions founded by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. On the historic anniversary of Nostra Aetate it envisages a new accord between Jews and Muslims.

The centre’s executive director Rabbi Yakov Nagen, one of the contributors to the book, believes that with the restoration of Jewish sovereignty in Israel, a new chapter in Jewish history and the prophetic mission of spreading awareness of God should be considered afresh.