January 12, 2023 | Toulouse, France | Richard A. Elofer | BIA-ANN
It is with joy that the Adventist Church of Toulon received in its premises the last meeting of the association of the Judeo-Christian Friendship of Toulon for the year 2022.
Indeed, on Wednesday, December 21, the group met at the Adventist Church with a distinguished guest since it was Avner Soudry, academic and president of the Jewish-Christian friendship of Nice.
Mr. Soudry is a noted author, in particular thanks to his book “The Orchard of Interpretations: A Kabbalistic Reading of the Songs of Songs” being a member of the Jewish community of Nice and a Franco-Israeli who has a very good command of Biblical Hebrew. .
Mr. Soudry gave a lecture entitled “A mystical reading of the Song of Songs. Through this conference, Mr. Soudry made an overview of the different interpretations of the biblical book of Songs of Songs, both Jewish and Christian, and even an incursion into a Muslim reading of this collection.
The heart of this conference focused on the mystical reading advocated by Orthodox Jewish circles. The Jewish and Christian interpretations are comparable since they see in this book a love relationship between God and his people, but for the Orthodox Jewish (chassidic) world this relationship goes much further, because it would be a description of the expectation (the romantic relationship never comes to an end in the book) of an encounter between the male emanation of God on the one hand and the female emanation of God on the other hand which would ultimately result in the redemption of mankind (which some call Messianic). It is for this final redemption that Orthodox Jews pray every day.
However, this conference and meeting of Jewish-Christian friendship coincided with the Jewish holiday of Chanukah during which the Jewish people remember the purification and the inauguration of the temple of Jerusalem after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes. This celebration which lasts 8 days is marked by the lighting of lights which recall the protection and the miracle that God has accomplished for his people, in fact we start with a candle on the first day and each day an additional candle is added.
Mr. Avner Soudry made us the pleasure of attending the lighting of the 4 candles of this fourth day of the festival. It was a particularly appreciated meeting where Adventists, Catholics, Jews, Pentecostals and Protestants were able to meet.
Richard A. Elofer, served as director of the Judeo-Adventist Friendship Department at the General Conference, world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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