An appeal by a New York rabbi for greater cooperation and understanding between conservative Protestant groups and American Jewry was greeted today by a standing ovation from 200 members of the faculty and student body of the Fuller Theological Seminary of Pasadena. The seminary is one of the major theological institutions of conservative Protestantism in the United States.
Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, director of the Interreligious Affairs Department of the American Jewish Committee, told the Protestant audience that during the election period, when “loose charges and counter charges” were being made about the “role and relationship of conservative Protestants to extremism and anti-Semitism, ” it was “all the more essential that Jews and others come to have a first-hand understanding of what conservative Protestants really stand for and who they are.”
He said that there was as much prejudice against conservative Protestants as there was against Jews, Catholics and Negroes. He also said he welcomed the opportunity “to forge meaningful friendships between the two great religions. “
Rabbi Tanenbaum returned last Thursday from Rome, where he spent two weeks at the Vatican observing developments in connection with the debate over a draft declaration by the Ecumenical Council on Catholic-Jewish relationships.
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