An ambitious beginning

A little background is in order.  If I tell you the author is Jewish, you'll appreciate the first line of her introduction even more.

The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus ~ by Amy-Jill Levine, 2006, religion

When I was a child, my ambition was to be pope.  I remembeer watching the funeral of John XXIII and asking my mother, "Who was that man?"  I understood very little about him, but I did learn from the television coverage that he lived in Italy, had a very nice white suit and a great hat, and everyone seem to love him.  My mother responded, "That's Pope John XXIII."  She, like most Jewish parents, was familiar with then cardinal Roncalli's efforts to save Jews during World War II as well as with his convening of Vatican II, the gathering that finally condemned the teaching that all Jews, everywhere, were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus.  Thus she added, "He was good for the Jews."  I immediately decided I would be pope:  It meant lots of spaghetti, great accessories, and the job was good for the Jews.  "I want to be pope," I announced to my mother.  "You can't," she replied.  "You're not Italian."  Clearly, for a variety of reasons, I was in desperate need of instruction regarding the relationship between church and synagogue.

Amy-Jill Levine is now a professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee.  I rather doubt she'll ever become pope — or even wants to these days.

Read the summary of this book, posted Wednesday with my other Library Loot.

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