by Rabbi Michael Cohen, Friends of the Arava Institute Director of Community Relations
On our way back from visiting our son and family in Israel, we stopped in Rome. I took the opportunity to reach out to the Vatican to discuss the Arava Institute and potential joint projects. My wife Alison, who has volunteered at the Institute over the years, and I met with Father Norbert Hoffman and Archbishop Flavio Pace from the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with Jews. The meetings were well received and opened interesting possibilities for future collaboration.
As a result, we were invited to the 60th anniversary celebrations of Nostra Aetate as part of the official Jewish delegation with Pope Leo XIV. The events included an evening gathering in Pope Paul VI Hall and the weekly audience with the Pope on the front steps of St. Peter’s, attended by around 35,000 people. Representatives from the world’s religions were seated together in groups.
At the evening event, I didn’t know anyone in the Jewish group, but I spotted a friendly face in the Muslim group—Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, a member of the Friends of the Arava Institute’s Advisory Council and longtime supporter of our work.
At the Papal audience the Pope’s message clearly resonated with the work of the Arava Institute. He said, “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, sixty years after Nostra Aetate, we can ask ourselves: what can we do together? The answer is simple: we can act together. More than ever, our world needs our unity, our friendship and our collaboration. Each one of our religions can contribute to alleviating human suffering and taking care of our common home, our planet Earth. Our respective traditions teach truth, compassion, reconciliation, justice and peace. We must reaffirm service to humanity, at all times.
That sentiment – the theological idea that we are all connected and responsible to work collectively for one another, echoes what we often say at the Arava Institute: “Nature knows no borders.” These powerful gatherings reminded us that we are not alone in our work.