Catholics of Jewish descent shared their faith journeys and urged renewed dialogue and theological clarity to combat anti-Semitism at a Benedictine College panel.
was part of panel one incident of 22 april“Shoulder to Shoulder: Strengthening Jewish-Catholic Friendship in a Moment of Crisis,” sponsored by the College and the Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism.
Keynote speakers on the panel included Yordan Zelivansky, an active reserve sergeant in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Jewish convert to Catholicism; Gideon Lazar, an American Jew who converted to Catholicism; and Aviva Lund, a Catholic of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
The panel was moderated by Simon Rizkallah, founding member of the Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism, and Peter Wolfgang, president of the Family Institute of Connecticut Action.
Gen Z and Jewish-Catholic relations
Noting a rise in anti-Semitism among Catholics online, Lazar pointed to Gen Z’s reluctance to accept arguments rooted in “brotherhood” or religious equality between Catholics and Jews.
Lazar said Gen Z men are looking for answers related to religious and political differences, and when arguments fail to address these differences, “what they’re hearing is that you don’t have the answers to their questions.”
“Gen Z men in many ways look at a culture that has failed them, and they’re looking for answers and feel that because older generations have failed them, they don’t have those answers,” Lazar said.
“When Gen Z men don’t get those real answers,” he said, “they’re going to get them from random anti-Semites online who quote a bunch of random Church Fathers to make the Church Fathers and tradition look anti-Semitic.”
He further condemned the weaponization of the phrase “Christ is King”, saying, “One of the worst things is that this beautiful message, the reign of Christ, has been corrupted by people who are fundamentally antichrists.”
“How are we possibly supposed to tell our Jewish brothers and sisters that Jesus is their Messiah when, when we tell them this, they think it means you hate us?” He said. “It should be a message of love.”
Being a Jewish Catholic convert in Israel
Zelivanksy, who co-hosts “The Voice of Jacob” podcast with Lazar, shared that his experience of being a Jewish convert to Catholicism living in Israel has been “mostly surprisingly benign.”
“I feel like especially since October 7 (2023), there has been a change in Israelis’ perspective on how you become part of the nation of Israel,” Zelivansky said.
“I can’t say that life is very complicated for me as a Christian. Generally, people don’t really care,” he said, noting that his IDF gear and car are emblazoned with a Jerusalem cross.
“Most of the problems people talk about in Israel are concentrated in Jerusalem,” said Zelivanksi, who lives just outside Tel Aviv. “My friends who live in Jerusalem experience some of the spitting and cursing that you hear about, but I have never experienced it anywhere else.”
Zelivansky, who attended the conference virtually after his flight was delayed due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, also presented his views as a Catholic regarding the war.
He said, “Faith comes first. Faith informs morality. Morality informs politics.” “And serving in a certain country’s military certainly doesn’t mean agreeing with every single policy.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s my place to comment on politics,” he said. “I would say that we all have to inform ourselves about current events relevant to us and examine them in the light of faith, not examine faith in the light of politics, which is what happens a lot on the left and right these days.”
Jewish-Catholic identity
During his remarks, Lund said that embracing his Jewish roots as a raised Catholic among his extended Jewish family has been a mostly positive experience, adding: “From my experience, Jews are not evangelical. They just care about their people.”
“It’s been kind of an evolution for me, honestly,” he said. “The way I look at it now is basically our Jewish brothers are our brothers, they are our elder brothers and sisters, and therefore, we can enjoy them as fellow human beings.”
Lund said that his Jewish roots have influenced his Catholic faith, because “the more I meet Jewish brothers, the more I delve deeper into the mystery of Jesus, especially with evangelism.”
