Pope Francis accepted Jewish book for interfaith dialogue
ACC ARTE SCRITTA PRESENTS JEWISH BOOK TO POPE FRANCIS AT THE VATICAN
International publisher - ACC Arte Scritta, in collaboration with Mexican businessman - Dan Tartakovski, have created their artistic edition of the 5 books of Moses called ‘The Torah Project’. They want to share the important messages of the Torah in the Jewish book to everyone around world and encourage them to engage in interfaith dialogue. At an exclusive presentation in the Vatican on February 23rd 2017 the Holy Father Pope Francis received the first copy at the Apostolic palace in the presence of renowned personalities i.e. Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Dr. Adolfo Roitman, Professor Otello Lottini; special guests; as well as the production team.
All the guests were seated, waiting in silence, anticipating the entrance of the Holy Father. Francis entered graciously with a long and joyful applause. The Holy Father’s good friend, Rabbi Abraham Skorka, stood between the guests and his friend to deliver his introductory speech in Spanish. Rabbi Skorka spoke eloquently to his brother as if they were the only 2 people in the room. He spoke about aspects of The Torah Project, and its role in interfaith dialogue. “Our commitment to the Jewish-Catholic dialogue allows us to continue to have a deep and sincere friendship which we call brotherhood.” said Rabbi Skorka. As the rabbi was speaking the Holy Father gazed at him with admiration and affection, taking in his friend’s words whilst maintaining his saintly position.
After Rabbi Skorka finished his speech a cheerful applause exploded in the room. Knowing that it was against Vatican protocol, Pope Francis walked right up to Rabbi Skorka, who had his arms open, to embrace his brother. The 2 righteous men held each other with immense affection and love.
The rabbi went back to his seat after the emotional moment and Pope Francis began to deliver his response. The Holy Father expressed his sincere gratitude for the Jewish book (in Italian) and how this publication is “the fruit of a ‘covenant’ between persons of different nationalities, ages and religious confessions, who joined in this common effort”.
A small group of Jewish and Christian children presented the Jewish book to the Holy Father. They held it in front of Pope Francis whilst he admired its decorative cover, the beautiful hebrew text, and the artworks. Dan Tartakovski recited, with conviction, ‘Shehecheyanu’ the Jewish prayer for gratitude, to bless this special and happy occasion. The presentation concluded with Pope Francis greeting all the guests who traveled from 10 countries including Italy, Spain, Argentina, USA, Israel and the UK.
ACC Arte Scritta hosted a celebration dinner took place at the terrace of the Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria Hotel for the papal audience. The 27 original signed artworks (and their lithographs) and a few copies of the Jewish book were displayed around the event. The evening started with thank you speeches from founders of The Torah Project - Ricardo de la Fuente, Maria Cecilia Braschi, and Dan Tartakovski. Then a product video was shown about the production of the Jewish book. At the end of the dinner the guests received the lithographs of the artwork and had the opportunity to have them signed by Baruj Salinas, Izzy Pludwinski and the other collaborators of the project.
Read more:
Pope Francis to Rabbis: Torah manifests God's paternal love - Vatican Radio
Pope presented with hand illustrated Torah - The Jewish Chronicle
First books of the Bible show God’s love for humanity, says Francis - Catholic Herald
World news-roundup: Pope to receive Chumash - Jewish News
Bible calls believers to live in harmony, pope says - Catholic Standard