Dear members and friends,

We ended 2019 with horrific events: in New York, Texas, Northern Nigeria and here in London. Violent attacks on faith communities, which are becoming more and more frequent. CCJ’s work to educate and bring communities together takes on a renewed urgency this year. During my last meeting of the year with CCJ Bournemouth we talked about each member bringing one new person to the next meeting. During one of our Limmud sessions Rob Thompson also talked about reaching out to those around the country who we don’t normally have conversations with and getting out of our bubble. When we don’t know one another it is easier to ‘other’, exclude and demonise.
 
CCJ now has a number of important networks around the UK to work against this trend: Our Rabbi/Clergy network managed by Esther Sills, which we hope will become even more active following our next Rabbi/Clergy conference in March 2020, our Yad Vashem Alumni network managed by Rob Thompson, including more than 250 Christian clergy from around the UK, our Campus Leadership network managed by Katharine Crew and our network of Christian and Jewish leaders that have travelled with CCJ to Israel Palestine. Lastly and most importantly are you our members in 30 branches around the UK. We hope to bring new faces to all these networks in the New Year.
 
Over the holiday period CCJ delivered the largest programme of activities to date at the Jewish Limmud Festival. We gave 9 presentations including four by Hana Bendcowsky who we brought over from Israel as our special guest to talk about Christians in the Holyland and Christian/Jewish relations in Israel. We also welcomed Richard Sudworth from Lambeth Palace and Tim Livesey, CEO of Embrace the Middle East to a panel on Christians in the Middle East.
 
In the first weeks of this month, Holocaust Memorial day events will be delivered by local CCJ’s as well as by alumni of the Yad Vashem Seminar for Christian clergy. Get in touch with us and let us know what you are doing so that we can share with others. This year on 27^th January we mark the 75^th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz Death Camp when CCJ will launch a special prayer for Christian communities. It is a time for deep reflection on the Shoah, those who perished at the hands of the Nazi regime and our commitment to remember and educate for future generations.

CCJ would also like to wish a Happy Christmas to Orthodox Christians celebrating Christmas this week. One of our Student Leaders has kindly written a blog on this which can be read below and on our website.
 
Last Sunday CCJ Vice Chair Maurice Ostro OBE was a guest on BBC radio with Justine Greene and talked about CCJ. You can listen to this in full by clicking here. If you don't have time to listen to the whole show, he talks about CCJ at around 1:10.

Wishing you all a successful and peaceful New Year,

Elizabeth Harris-Sawczenko,
Director

Pictured from left to right: Hannah Bendcowsky, Elizabeth Harris-Sawczenko, Tim Livesey, The Revd Dr Richard Sudworth

If you use social media, the best way to keep up to date with CCJ news is by liking us on facebook or following us on twitter.

 

A couple of weeks ago CCJ were in Birmingham partaking in the 2019 Limmud Festival. Limmud is a dynamic and vibrant cross-communal Jewish learning conference which hosts a wide variety of sessions and attracts thousands of participants each year. This year CCJ’s voice at Limmud was louder than ever, with our total number of sessions presented amounting to a record nine! From expert panels on Christian-Jewish relations today to a presentation on Christian chaplains at Belsen. From lectures on Christians in Israel/Palestine and the wider Middle East to a workshop on supporting refugee communities. Each of our sessions varied and were unique and nonetheless each equally thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by those attending!

Below is an extract from the blog written by Student Leader Constantinos Rosca on Christmas from the Orthodox Christian perspective.

The Christmas season for me as an Orthodox Christian is a new challenge every year. It is the challenge of whether I am prepared to be reborn, to experience my own renaissance together with the birth of Christ.

Christmas is the second important feast day for the Orthodox Christian world, after Pascha (Easter) which rests at the basis of our faith. Yet, Christmas is closely connected to Easter, as without the birth of the Son of God the death and the resurrection would not have happened. So, in essence Christmas is celebrated in the Orthodox Church as one of God’s plans for the salvation of humanity. It is the day of remembrance of the humble endeavour of God to reach out to his most beloved creation and reconcile His relationship with humans. The Word of God, and God himself for Orthodox Christians, becomes human, in order for humans to become ‘gods’ by grace. The ‘Word becomes Flesh’, and so following the word of God does not mean using the Bible as a book of algorithms, but instead inviting the establishment of a relationship. Thus, Christmas marks the beginning of a new relationship with God that will eventually lead to his ‘theosis’ (‘divinisation’)...

You can read Constantinos' blog in full by clicking here.

Pictured: Constantinos' 'Icon corner' in his student accommodation. 

Applications open for 2020 Yad Vashem Seminar
 

Applications are now open for CCJ’s annual seminar at the International School of Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. The seminar—which will take place Monday 12 to Thursday 22 October 2020—is open to ordained Christian clergy and lay church leaders. Now in its 14^th year, the seminar is a unique opportunity for church leaders to learn about the Holocaust, pre-war Jewish European life, and post-Holocaust theology from the world’s leading experts. In doing so, participants will become part of our active network of over 250 "alumni" across the UK, committed to passing on Holocaust learning in their churches and communities, championing Christian-Jewish relations, and challenging antisemitism.
 
For more information on the programme and how to apply, please contact Senior Programme Manager, Rob Thompson, at rob.thompson@ccj.org.uk
 

Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 (27 January) will mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Inspired by this year's theme Stand Together, our annual resource reflects on the complex roles of Christians during the Holocaust. It encourages churches in the UK to mark Holocaust Memorial Day in their services and in their communities and includes suggested prayers and commentaries on the readings set for the Sunday closest to Holocaust Memorial Day. There are notes on how to lead an all-age address, examples of survivor testimony, poetry, and images to encourage reflections. We are deeply grateful to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chief Rabbi, Presidents of CCJ, for their contributions to the resource. For the first time this year we have also included stories of Christians who have been recognised by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations for their work in saving the lives of Jews during the Holocaust. These stories can be shared with congregations to encourage the sort of solidarity between faiths which the theme of Stand Together powerfully invokes. 

The resource can be downloaded here.