By Eric Murray, Youngstown Area Jewish Federation Executive Director of Senior Services

This year has been a spiritual journey, with many surprises and an element of things coming full circle. When I first arrived at the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation I discovered that Rabbi Joseph Schoenberger was holding a longstanding Jewish-Catholic dialogue with Father George Balasko. As a Catholic I wondered how that worked, how can two “significantly different” religious groups find so much common ground to build off of and share? It has since lingered in the back of my mind but I made great strides this year in realizing the beauty of Rabbi’s work. Several events this year have challenged me to gain a deeper understanding of my Catholic roots, my undeniable connection to Judaism, and what it means to me as a husband, father, churchgoer, and employee of the Federation.

Our youngest daughter was confirmed earlier this year, as my wife and I carefully planned final details of a summer trip to Italy, mostly to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. These events spawned many questions that I had never deeply considered such as the history and location of the Vatican, the Passover Seder, why I feel spiritually connected to the nearly 4,000 years of Jewish tradition, the role of Christianity in the spread of antisemitism, and the good work that has been over the last 60 years bringing Catholics and Jews closer together. 

A real turning point for me is when Pope Francis passed. I had the honor of attending the Pope’s memorial service at St. Columba Cathedral as member of the group representing the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation. The Pope’s passing allowed me to stumble upon the work of the early 1960s by Pope John Paul XXIII and Pope John VI to restore respectful and new found relationships between the Catholic Church and the Jewish Community. In my conversation with Board President Mark Huberman before the memorial mass, he spoke of a book, an “Encyclical Letter” written by Pope John XXIII outlining basic human rights, that had been given to his late father by a close Catholic friend. In addition, through my desire to learn more about Pope Francis I discovered a book that was written by Pope Francis and his close friend, Rabbi Abraham Skorka, “On Heaven and Earth.”

During the more detailed planning process when I looked at maps of the cities we were going to visit, I saw sections denoted as Jewish Ghetto which drove my overall interest in learning more, I was particularly drawn to see the Jewish ghetto in Venice, not knowing its history but knowing my work at the Federation had open my eyes. Located in the Cannaregio district, the Venice Ghetto is considered to be the oldest ghetto in Europe, dating back to 1516. At that time, approximately 700 Jews were forced into the ghetto, Ghetto Nuovo. There are Synagogues, kosher restaurants, signs, plaques, and other acknowledgments of the area’s history, including the barbed wire above “Monumento Vittime della Shoah” (the Monument of the Victims of the Holocaust). The Monument, seven history telling plaques of the Holocaust, was erected in 1980 to remember the 246 Jews who were deported by the Nazis. I didn’t feel like a tourist, I felt like I needed to see this place with my own eyes.

In a span of about six months I have witnessed, learned, and participated in a deepening relationship with my faith that would have never existed if not for my job at the Federation. When my wife and I dreamed about this trip, prior to our wedding, I would have never imagined a Jewish theme would be woven into my future relationships and faith life.