The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel by Emma O'Donnell Polyakov (review)

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Reviewed by:

• The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel by Emma O’Donnell Polyakov
• Zev Garber

Emma O’Donnell Polyakov, The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2020. Pp. 230. $84.95, cloth; $29.95, paper.

At first glance, this volume by Merrimack College professor Polyakov appears to be a straightforward historical and ethnographic account of philosemitism as exhibited by a dedicated cadre of nuns, priests, and monks living in the State of Israel. The group are primarily Jewish survivors of the Shoah who have converted to Catholicism and gentile Catholics who are dedicated to [End Page 611] confront centuries-old anti-Jewish beliefs, practices, and theology inherent in the church and practiced in Christendom. However, what she calls “Judeocentric Catholicism” mirrors neither “Messianic Judaism” nor “Jewish Catholicism.” The former exhibits bilateral ecclesiology, Jewish and non-Jewish; the latter insists on the acceptance of a global Ekklesia defined by the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church that sees theological significance in the emergence of a Jewish corporate entity that contributes to the reconciliation between Yeshua and his people.

Jewish Catholicism sees a limitation in Messianic Judaism that insists that Jewish believers remain and live Jewishly in accordance with tenets of Torah teaching and selected rabbinic tradition. Jewish Catholicism vigorously presents that Jesus is the messianic fulfillment of Torah faithfulness, which does not “gentilize” Jewish believers but enforces their distinctive discipleship as Jews. Thus, in the quest for good and justice in these downtrodden times, seek the message of the Torah echoed in the message of Jesus: “Love your God with all your heart, soul, mind and your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:34–40; Mk. 12:28–34; Lk. 10:25–28). Polyakov’s chapters introduce, define, and understand Judeocentric Catholicism in strictly Jewish terms, and the narrative is retrofitted with primary, secondary, and archival sources. Further, the author’s ability to posit the concern and thought of clerical Catholics living imitateo Judaeorum in contemporary historical focus is laudable.

These chapters are a case study of Catholic clergy living on the border between Catholicism and Judaism, whose perceptions of Jews, Judaism, and the State of Israel are greatly influenced by living as a Christian minority in a vibrant Jewish commonwealth. Polyakov listens to and analyzes the stories of individuals choosing to live a Catholic life and tradition within Judaism’s centrifugal teaching of tikkun `olam (repairing the world). That includes sensing the presence of God in the world ’asher bara` (Creation); sensing the divine presence in the words, events, and encounters in the Tanakh; and sensing the Holy Presence in doing the mitzvoth (obligatory and voluntary commandments or sacred acts). Theology draws from biblical, rabbinic, and mystical tradition that proclaims the message that the earth is full of God’s glory and that every place conceivably is a gateway to Heaven’s door. Judaism’s Creation-Bible-Deeds interplay parallels the inalienable importance of the Torah (Teaching) to Israel, transmitted by written and oral tradition.

This well-balanced, highly informative work provides a roadmap to the extensive research necessary in charting the ups-and-downs of preserving a new vision of Jews and Judaism after the Shoah (1939–45) and the establishment of [End Page 612] the Third Jewish Commonwealth (1948). It contains a wide span of areas related to this new process in Catholic-Jewish relations, including words, phrases, personalities, events, scriptural understanding, and theology. Erudite and reader-friendly chapters are mostly accompanied by notes and a short bibliography at the end of the book. By focusing on a variety of Judeocentric Catholic approaches and interpretations, Polyakov has provided an accessible approach to understanding the dynamics of a selective religio-Catholic view of Jews and Judaism, which differs considerably from the pre-Vatican II dogma worldview. Choosing to dwell in the Land of Zion, Judeocentric Catholics pray for the Chosen People’s safety, well-being, and longevity. Unlike Christian Zionism, which prays and publicly participates in the ingathering of exilic Jewish communities to the Land of Israel for ultimate conversion to and redemption by Yesh`ua HaMashiach, Judeocentric Catholics are deeply private, sincere, and nonpolitical in their religious...