The Views of Rabbi Moses Feinstein, Rabbi Abraham Joshua ...

outside the Roman Catholic Church‖ 58 exists, extending the conception of the church to
―the whole people of G-d.‖ 59
It affirmed the perpetual covenant between G-d and the
people of Israel, translating Romans 9:4-5 ―in the present tense (‗They are Israelites and
to them belong the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the
promises…‘).‖ 60
Furthermore, Nostra Aetate ―explicitly condemned anti-Semitism and
implicitly recognized the role of Catholic doctrine in promoting it.‖ 61
American bishops
played an important role in advocating for the approval of these documents, as they
could personally attest to the benefits of democratic government and religious liberty in
the United States. Leaders of the Catholic Church in the United States were motivated,
in part, to advocate on behalf of doctrinal modification out of sympathy for the Jews in
the aftermath of the ―Nazi atrocities‖ 62 committed against them during the Holocaust.
Nostra Aetate, No. 4, officially approved by the Second Vatican Council on
October 28, 1965, ―coinciding with the same date in 1958 when Roncalli was elected
Supreme Pontiff,‖ 63 constitutes the first ―declaration on the Jews and Judaism‖ 64 issued
by a Council in Church history. It ultimately ―passed by a vote of 2,221 to 88 of the
assembled bishops.‖ 65
There were ―three different generations‖ 66 of individuals who
developed Nostra Aetate in its different stages, bringing their own particular views and
experiences to bear on the formulation of the document. The first generation consisted
58 Queen, Prothero, & Shattuck 697
59 Queen, Prothero, & Shattuck 697
60 Flannery x
61 Queen, Prothero, & Shattuck 697
62 Feldman & Berenbaum
63 Goldstein 10
64 Fisher,
http://www.adl.org/main_Interfaith/nostra_aetate.htmMulti_page_sections=sHeading_2
65 Goldstein 10
66 Lamdan & Melloni 18
11