Scottish Jewish Organisation Praises Improved Relations With Church of Scotland

Tuesday February 20 2018

The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC) has welcomed its increased contact with the Church of Scotland, which it says have improved relations between the two groups.

The Church has made concerted efforts to reach out to the Jewish community in Scotland in recent years, after relations were strained following the publication of the controversial ‘The Inheritance of Abraham?’ report to the General Assembly in 2013.

In a statement issued last week, SCoJeC said that ‘concentrated dialogue’ that had been proposed by the Church to help repair relations was well under way, including discussions on the significance of Jerusalem in Judaism, the meaning and importance of the reformation for the Church, the Balfour Declaration and the Kairos Palestine document.

SCoJeC Chair Micheline Brannan said: "It is a privilege to spend time with senior figures in the Church of Scotland, and we welcome the atmosphere of unfailing courtesy and consideration in which the dialogue is taking place. So far we have been exploring one another's key principles and beliefs in order to understand better the starting point for each faith. We are looking forward to deepening and widening our dialogue, and with it the respect in which we hold each other. We will never agree about everything but we hope to find a cure for hurt feelings and conflict in the past and develop some ground rules for moving forward in harmony."

The SCoJeC statement also and that a unique kosher lunch for members of the Jewish Community had been held at the official residence of the Moderator of the General Assembly in Edinburgh; and that SCoJeC director Ephraim Borowski was present when the Moderator, the Rt Rev Derek Browning, preached at the rededication of St Andrew's Church in Tiberias during his recent visit to the Holy Land.

SCoJeC also praised the Moderator’s strong statement following the publication of a report detailing an increase in antisemitic hate incidents across the UK last year.

SCoJeC statement

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