The main metaphor Rudy Rochman uses to describe Judaism is as a suitcase for a nation in exile. I agree with this assessment. There’s a few flash points I find offensive (as in slanderous and incorrect) in the video. There’s some anti-Christian drawing caricatures and offhand distortions about Poles that still betray an ethno-chauvinism and historical bias (which is ironic as Rudy takes great pains to create an impression of fairness in his Zionist advocacy.) But let’s leave that there and address the suitcase as it pertains to Hebrew Catholics.
In a free, pluralist society, while we retain our ethnic identities, we are free to pursue truth and accept ideologies that may in the past have been anathema to the tribes we were born into. Ethnic identity is important. Although it is in flux it is a primary secular bonding agent in human societies. Often, these identities are inescapable and unconcealable as they manifest beyond culture and imprint themselves on our very physical traits. History shows that as Jews, even when we convert or assimilate, our ethnic identity is still perceived. That perception by others need not be maliciously intended. The reality is that everyone sees themselves as part of an ethnicity. It would be unusual if a converted or assimilated Jew answered that he was suddenly another ethnicity.
As Hebrew Catholics we can use the suitcase metaphor of Judaism to retain our ethnic identity. If Judaism is not a religion, much of it, probably most, poses no conflict to Catholic praxis, no more and probably even less than another converted ethnicity.
As Rudy points out, Jews retain their Jewish identity regardless of their religion. This applies to Hebrew Catholics who identify as Jewish as well. By strengthening our familial bond with our ethnic brethren we become part of a broad pan-Jewish ethnic unity. I believe the unsaid impression by many of a Catholic Jew is that they are estranged from their people. However, a Hebrew Catholic rejects this separation. We embody the original ethos of early Jewish Apostolic Christianity. We can be a gateway for Torah to the nations. We can be the bridge of unity. Totally Catholic. Totally Jewish.
In this way, perhaps we can even mediate peace in ethnic conflict. Certainly I believe a lasting peace between Jews and Christians is possible through the body-bridge of the Hebrew Catholic. We can live up to being the gateway connective channel that existed between Jew and Gentile at the inception of Christianity.
