Cantor Jonathan Grant of Temple Bat Yahm in Newport Beach will join 19 of his colleagues, all members of the American Conference of Cantors, in traveling to Rome, Italy for the very first time to perform a concert of Jewish music in an ensemble before Pope Benedict XVI and other Vatican leaders as part of the Second Conference on Catholic-Jewish Relations being held Nov. 14-18.
A documentary film on Catholic-Jewish relations titled “To God’s Ears” will be made during the conference, using the concert as it’s centerpiece. The concert format will include a narrative to educate the audience on the history of Jewish liturgy and music.
Cantor Grant and the other visiting cantors will participate in seminars with Vatican officials on sensitive subjects including the state of Israel and it’s relationship with the Vatican and the Catholic Church at large, intermarriage between couples of differing faiths, and the very politically charged subject of relations with the Moslem world.
