He died Jan. 25 of cancer at his Monroe Township home, his wife, Myra, said Saturday.

Klenicki wrote or co-wrote numerous books and papers aimed at improving relations between Jews and Catholics, according to the Anti-Defamation League, the organization Klenicki served for more than 30 years.

Myra Cohen Klenicki said her husband was exposed to progressive Catholic thinkers such as Jacques Maritain as a youth, and those experiences shaped his later efforts.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1930 to Polish immigrants, Klenicki studied in Argentina and completed his rabbinical studies in the United States.

He delivered a paper on behalf of the Jewish community in 1968 at the first Latin American meeting of Jews and Catholics in Colombia during Pope Paul XI’s visit, according to the league.

Klenicki became director of the ADL’s department of interfaith affairs in 1984 and also was the organization’s co-liaison to the Vatican.

In 2007, he was made a Papal Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict XVI, making him only the second interfaith official to receive the honor, according to the league.

After his retirement in 2001, Klenicki taught at Cambridge University and at Belgium’s Leuven Catholic University.

The presentation included a panel discussion by three theologians: Dr. Andreas Nachama (Jewish), Monsignor Toepel, Knight of the Holy Grave ad Jerusalem (Catholic) and Pastor Johannes Hildebrandt (Protestant). The panel was moderated by Pastor Annemarie Werner.

The book is a collection of Rabbi Levinson’s six teachers. The first one, referring to Rabbi Jeschua from Nazareth, is a testimony of his particular ideas and thoughts. Actor Romanus Fuhrmann read selected exerts from the book and musical tribute to Rabbi Levinson by Leonhard and Thomas Schmuckert was performed.

The Argentine, Baruch Tenembaum, a pioneer in the communication among different creeds, teaches us that ignorance is the engine of hates and of present wars.

How can it be understood that religions professing love, charity and compassion, are excuses for present wars?

The use of the word ”excuse” seems perfect to me since it is men who make the wars and use religion as an excuse. Tyrants commit crimes using the excuse of ”order”. Nazis organized the Holocaust on behalf of a ”pure race”. The Turks massacred Armenians. The Colonials slaughtered the Indians. Iraqis destroyed the mosque belonging to a religious group that is Islamic. Stalin killed millions of people in an atheistic country. Crime, if it is crime, is committed whether you invoke religion or not. And love, if it is love, is simply offered and lived with or without religion. The main difference is that real religion proclaims love. If Humanity only respected the Ten Commandments, the Creation of the world would be completed…that is to say, perfection would be achieved.

Why is ignorance the great enemy of Humanity?

I’m not talking about ignorance just as a synonym of indifference or a lapse of concentration, but as a complete lack of knowledge regarding the other one. As long as we get to know someone we begin to let go of our fear to that person. This simple and basic principle is the main base of the interconfessional dialogue.

A principle that seems too complicated for million of believers.

Millions of people do not understand that it is not necessary to accept ones principles and understand them. We, as people, have the freedom to be whatever we want to be. Ignorance can only weaken that. There is an old Aramaic story that tells about two people in the desert coming from opposite directions. As they could not distinguish the other one that was coming closer through their shadows, they drew their swords ready to defend themselves. Upon meeting, they realized that they knew each other. They simply threw down their swords and hugged one another. This story tells us that without fear, people would be a lot more understanding of one another. Fear needs to be evanescent.

How could we change in religion to help our understanding?

First of all we should eliminate the word tolerance. It is a bad word. Those who tolerate, sin. You can tolerate a pain, or a great lack of comfort, but you cannot tolerate another human being. I am the same as any other person as long as I consider them equal.

Isn’t it naive to claim to have the answers of historical violence by means of the interreligious communication?

Communication tends to destroy ignorance, and to help others understand to look for common denominators in each other in order to help solve problems (poverty, environment, government, economy, etc). There is a philosophical concept through which we recognize each other. Whether the world was created in six or seven days or in millions of years, we should continue building it, and continue making it a decent place to live.

If beliefs are being discussed, how can an agreement be reached?

The agreement is not about faith or theological beliefs. Each of us will continue sticking to his or her faith, and his or her source of inspiration. The agreement is based on respect, the knowledge and understanding of our rights that each one of us can be different from the other.

What aspects of Islam, Catholicism and Judaism (three great religions in conflict nowadays) prevent them from being closer?

The extreme of those who try to convince, who wish to impose upon themselves, who pretend to prophesize in the name of God, who proclaim they will kill in the name of religion, is ridiculous. None is the owner of life, even his own. That is why religions condemn suicide: to kill yourself means to kill the creation of God. We are The Creation of God.

Are religions not themselves the main problem?

Did God create man or was it the man who created God? To answer this question I say that religion is a human creation. If there is a responsibility, it is man’s responsibility. In the same way that if there is merit, it is also man’s merit.

WHO, WHAT

Graduated in the Superior Institute of Jewish Religious Studies, Baruch Tenembaum was the first director of the Israeli Argentine Cultural Institute. From the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, formed by tens of Nobel Prize Laureates, he promotes interconfessional communication, a recognized mission in the world. He was born in Santa Fe, and he emigrated to USA in 1976 when he was kidnapped by the dictatorship.

Translation: Graciela Forman
Edited by Adriana Karagozian

On 26 January 2006 took place the opening of the exhibition ”Ein Visum furs Leben” (Visas for Life), of the Israel Foreign Ministry at the Vaterunser Kirche in Berlin. The hosts were Pastor Annemarie Werner, leader of the congregation, and Baruch Tenembaum, founder of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. Ilan Mor, official of the Israeli Embassy in Germany delivered the opening speech.

Also on that day the Wallenberg Foundation presented the Angelo Roncalli Awards to three distinguished persons who, since decades, work in Germany for the interfaith dialogue and understanding. Without the efforts of this paramount figures Jewish-Christian dialogue would have been mucho more difficult after the Shoah.

Rabbi Professor Dr. Nathan Peter Levinson, guardian of Judaism and Jewish Life in Germany after WW II, builder of bridges and promoter of dialogue between Christians and Jews. Rabbi Levinson is the initiator of a Jewish high school in Heidelberg and for many years he was the President of the International Council for Christians and Jews (ICCJ) where he now holds the Honorary Presidency. He brought the headquarters of the Martin Buber House to Heidelberg from Great Britain.

Michael Mertes, responsible for the relations with Churches and other religious groups under the Helmut Kohl government. He worked intensely with the ICCJ, the Anti-Defamation League, the World Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Congress and the Leo Baeck Institute, among other organizations.

Protestant Pastor Johannes Hildebrandt, founded the study group ”Judaism and Christianity” in the former DDR (East Germany) that fostered intensive relations with the Jewish community. He prohibited the building of a street that was planned to run through a Jewish cemetery; started the financial support of the Protestant Church in East Germany and protested against the public hostile attitude towards the State of Israel.

Among the endorsements received it is worth mentioning the letters of Tom Lantos, US Congressman; Guillermo Oliveri, Argentine Secretary of Cult; and Raphael Eldad, Israeli Ambassador. Among the attendants there were Enrique Candiotti, Argentine Ambassador to Berlin and Dr. Uwe Klett, Mayor of Marzahn-Hellersdorf.

On the occasion it was presented the last book of Rabbi Levinson -a prolific author with more than two dozen books published- ”Widerstand und Eigensinn” (Resistence and Perseverance).

Since 26 September 2004 there is inside the Vaterunser Kirche a Memorial Mural that pays tribute to the victims of the Shoah and all the people killed as a consequence of the terrorist attacks perpetrated to Jewish institutions in Buenos Aires.

This Mural is a replica of the one inaugurated in the Buenos Aires’ Cathedral in 1997. The installation of both pieces followed an initiative of Baruch Tenembaum. The Berlin Mural is the second Shoah Memorial installed inside a Christian Church.

Following the latest Shoah denials it is imperative not only to remember the victims of the Holocaust but also to pay due homage to all the silent heroes who saved the lives of people -Jewish and non-Jewish- persecuted by the Nazi regime. The Mural is a symbol that stands for the values of solidarity and civic courage with the aim of building bridges between religions and people of good will.

Under the sign of interreligious dialogue, a new era was inaugurated by John Paul II according to the principles of the Second Vatican Council, an extraordinary landmark born from the inspiration of Pope John XXIII, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli.

The theological expression of the Council related to the non-Christian religions was the declaration ”Nostra Aetate” (Our Era), proclaimed on October 28th, 1965, in coincidence with the anniversary of John XXIII’s election as Pope in 1958.

The revolutionary document inaugurated a new era in the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people after centuries of prejudices and persecutions. The origins, however, come from the humanitarian actions of Monsignor Roncalli during the Holocaust.

Bishop Radini Tedeschi, member of the Italian nobility and one of the most progressive Prelates of Italy at that time, passed away in 1914. His secretary, Angelo Roncalli, decided to write the biography of his mentor and sent it to Pope Benedictus XV, personal friend of Bishop Tedeschi. Once the WWI ended, the chief of the church called Roncalli and designed him Director of the Office for Attention to the Foreign missions. Later, Pope Pio XI named him Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria in March 1925. After 10 years in Sofia, Roncalli was named Apostolic Delegate in Turkey. It was precisely in Istanbul, during WWII, where Roncalli lead one of the most memorable rescue missions remembered by history.

Ira Hirschman, delegate of the United States War Refugee Board, writes in his memoirs a conversation he had with Roncalli: ”He listened to me with attention while I described the desperate fight of the Jewish people of Hungary, the last Hebrew community of Europe threatened by the Final Solution. He pulled his chair up closer and quietly asked: ‘Do you think that the Jewish people would voluntarily undergo a baptism ceremony?’ I answered that, according to my impression, they would if that was enough to save them from the extermination camps. ‘I know what I am going to do’, he sentenced. He said he had reasons to believe that some of the certificates of baptism were already given by nuns to Hungarian Jews. The Nazis had recognized them as credentials and allowed the owners to flee the country”

This is how, from Istanbul, Roncalli coordinated with the apostolic nuncio in Budapest, Angelo Rotta, the massive distribution of baptismal certificates, with the understanding that, once the war ended, each person will be able to decide which religious condition he/she will maintain.

The Baptist Operation started with the blessing of the future ”Good Pope.”

According to the testimonies given in the Nüremberg trials, the initiative helped save 24,000 Jewish lives. However, Catholic sources confirm that 80,000 certificates were given.

Baruch Tenembaum
Raoul Wallenberg Foundation
Angelo Roncalli International Committee

Abigail Tenembaum, Vice President of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, presented the Luiz Martins de Souza Dantas Award to Sister Rose Thering in recognition for her work in improving the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, as well as fighting anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. Luna Kaufman, Board Chair of the Sister Rose Endowment, accepted the award on Sister Rose’s behalf.

Sister Rose has devoted her life to the promotion of Christian-Jewish relations and has been dedicated to the fighting of anti-Semitism. Among her important achievements, she banned the doctrine that blamed Jews for the death of Jesus. Her valuable work was influential to the creation of the Second Vatican Council and Nostra Aetate, document that will significantly turn 40 years on October 28, 2005.

Sister Rose is professor emeritus of secondary education at Seton Hall University in South Orange, where she helped establish the school’s graduate department of Jewish-Christian studies in the early 1970s. Thering was instrumental in creating the National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel in 1974 and helped design New Jersey’s state-mandated Holocaust education curriculum.

Winner of the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival’s Best Documentary Short Award and Nominee for the 2005 Best Documentary Academy Award, ”Sister Rose’s Passion” tells the story of this exceptional woman, who has spent her life fighting anti-Semitism and promoting Holocaust remembrance. Director Oren Jacoby and Sister Mary Boys were available for a Q&A session with the audience after the screening.

This is one of the many initiatives of The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, with branches in New York, Buenos Aires, Jerusalem and Caracas. The Foundation is a non-profit organization, whose goals are to promote peace among nations and people, as well as to develop educational projects based on concepts of solidarity, dialogue and understanding. We aim to promote this message and render homage to the actions and Heroes of the Holocaust, who like Raoul Wallenberg, risked their lives to save persecuted people during World War II. The Souza Dantas award is named after Brazilian diplomat Luiz Martins de Souza Dantas who saved hundreds in Europe during the Holocaust.

Dear Editor,

”During the course of his long papacy, John Paul II turned out to be the worthy heir to another well remembered pontiff, John XXIII, as the driving force of revolutionary changes within the Church in its relation with the Jews.”

”Many are the different initiatives of Peter’s successor that allowed him to establish the conditions for the construction of a harmonic atmosphere to foster the reconciliation between Catholics and Jews. Among them we must mention the visit he paid to the Synagogue of Rome, his pilgrimage to the Holy Land and, especially, his asking for forgiveness on March 12th. 2002, in a declaration which, among other concepts, states: ”We are deeply sorry for the behavior of those who, along the course of history, had made your sons suffer and, on asking for your forgiveness, we commit ourselves to exercising fraternal and authentic relations with the Jewish people”.

”That spirit of understanding and respect for differences has been one of the most outstanding virtues of John Paul II during his twenty six years at the service of the Catholic Church.”

Father Horacio Moreno
Natalio Wengrower
José I. García Hamilton
Baruch Tenembaum
International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

Translation: Nora Bellettieri

During the course of his long papacy, John Paul II turned out to be the worthy heir to pontiff John XXIII, as the driving force of revolutionary changes within the Church in its relation with the Jews. Many are the different initiatives of Peter’s successor that allowed him to establish the conditions for the construction of a harmonic atmosphere to foster the reconciliation between Catholics and Jews. The visit he paid to the Synagogue of Rome, his pilgrimage to the Holy Land and his asking for forgiveness on March 12th. 2002, in a declaration which states: ”We are deeply sorry for the behavior of those who, along the course of history, had made your sons suffer and, on asking for your forgiveness, we commit ourselves to exercising fraternal and authentic relations with the Jewish people”. That spirit of understanding and respect for differences has been one of the most outstanding virtues of John Paul II during his twenty six years at the service of the Catholic Church.

Father Horacio Moreno
Natalio Wengrower
José I. García Hamilton
Baruch Tenembaum
International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

A letter sent by Father Horacio Moreno, a Catholic priest who is the president of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, was read during the mass.

Buenos Aires, February 18th, 2005

Providence has blessed me with this extraordinary opportunity on which my friend, Bishop Carlos M. Franzini, will deliver to the Church of Las Palmeras the painting ”Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth”.

Baruch Tenembaum is the prodigal son of this town. He has also been my friend, my mentor and brother for the last 40 years. Here it is where he was born and brought up, where he worked, studied and dreamt, and from where he made our blessed Virgin known all over the world.

Let me add that our dear friend Baruch always underlines firmly -and I can assure that this is so- his doubtless Jewish identity, backed by an intellect full of knowledge of his People.

Based on the belief that we all must love and respect each other, Baruch personally endeavored to make his dream come true, the dream of having a painting set up in the most important church of Nazareth, where our Lord spent his early years, and which is amazingly depicted in the canvas which our beloved Bishop Carlos M. Franzini is delivering today to the People of Las Palmeras.

With the aim of fulfilling his dream Baruch traveled to the Holy Land together with Raúl Soldi, with whom he stayed during the 30 days’ work needed to create this wonderful piece of art.

The circle is being closed today, with a son of the Jewish colonization -perhaps the only one who headed seminars and cultural institutions, and was honored with international decorations- who returns to his home town with a message that, in his own words, reflects the Jewish woman most widely known along our History, the blessed Virgin Mary.

Brothers and sisters of Las Palmeras: On this occasion I will not omit mentioning that Baruch himself personally undertook the task of rebuilding and reopening the local Synagogue.

Spirit has therefore overcome matter. Las Palmeras is receiving today the blessings of Heaven and it is in the midst of this atmosphere that I send my embrace to Father Jorge Buchitari, to Bishop Carlos Franzini, to the Jewish men and the Jewish women, to the Christians, and even to those who lack faith.

May God bless these lands.

Father Horacio Moreno
President
The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation