Abraham Skorka (born July 5, 1950, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

) is an Argentine

biophysicist Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

and book author. Abraham Skorka is rector emeritus of the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano in Buenos Aires, the rabbi of the Jewish community Benei Tikva, professor of biblical and

rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

at the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano and honorary professor of Hebrew Law at the Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires.

Career

Abraham Skorka held with the

Archbishop of Buenos Aires The Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (''Archidioecesis Bonaerensis'') is one of thirteen Latin Metropolitan archdioceses of the Catholic Church in Argentina, South America. The Archbishopric of Buenos Aires is the Primatial see (protocollary first-r ...

Jorge Mario Bergoglio Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

, later

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, a series of inter-religious talks on topics such as

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguish ...

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

, and

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

. The dialogues alternately took place at the seat of the bishop and at the Jewish Community Benei Tikva. They were published in a book titled ''Sobre el Cielo y la Tierra'' (On Heaven and Earth). In 1973 he graduated from the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano with ordination as a rabbi. In 1979 he was awarded his doctorate in Chemistry at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...

. Skorka has published scientific papers in the field of biophysics and numerous articles in the field of Biblical and

Talmudic The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

research. He received a doctorate '' honoris causa'' from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In 2010 the

Universidad Católica Argentina Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

awarded him a doctorate '' honoris causa'', the first time in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

that a Catholic university gave this title to a rabbi. In May 2017, Skorka published an approbation in regards to the Orthodox Rabbinic Statement on Christianity entitled '' To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven: Toward a Partnership between Jews and Christians'' which was published two years beforehand by the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

-based

Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation The Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation or CJCUC is an educational institution at which Christians who tour Israel can study the Hebrew Bible with Orthodox rabbis and learn about the Hebraic roots of Christianity. The ce ...

(CJCUC). In 2018-2019, he serves as Visiting University Professor at the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Works

Books * ''Miles de años por semana : vision actual de la lectura de la Torah''. 1997 * co-author and editor: ''Introducción al Derecho Hebreo''. 2001, * ''Hacia un mañana sin fe''? 2007, Ediciones Asamblea Rabinica Latinoameriana, *

, Abraham Skorka: ''Sobre el Cielo y la Tierra''. Editorial Sudamericana, Buenos Aires 2010, . Translated into English as On Heaven and Earth. * He wrote the foreword to the 2020 book, ''Jesus Wasn't Killed by the Jews'', Orbis Books. Cassette * "''

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Tora ...

' Laws of Giving to the Poor''", Rabbi Abraham Skorka,

Rabbinical Assembly The Rabbinical Assembly (RA) is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, a ...

, 2000 Articles published in La Nacion (selection)
De la muerte de Dios a la muerte de lo humano

Diálogo profundo en un mundo inconexo

De Fuenteovejuna a Pasteur 633

De la cena pascual a la eucaristía

A cuarenta años de Nostra Aetate

Libertad e idolatría en el relato de la Pascua

La visión de la Biblia sobre la paz

A la sombra del golem

Sacrificios que no acercan a Dios

El diálogo interreligioso

References

External links

Excerpts from the book ''Sobre el Cielo y la Tierra'' of Skorka and Bergoglio in Spanish: ''Aportes del diálogo interreligioso'' on Lanacion.com.ar
Videos *. (en), (The speech begins at 10.41) *, (es) *, (es) Pictures
Entrega al Rab. Abraham Skorka del Doctorado Honoris Causa.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skorka, Abraham People from Buenos Aires 1950 births Argentine Jews Argentine Conservative rabbis Biophysicists Argentine physicists Living people Argentine chemists Jewish scientists Jewish Argentine writers University of Buenos Aires alumni Hebraists Pope Francis Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni Christian and Jewish interfaith dialogue Rectors of universities in Argentina