Rabbis group write to pope, thanks for outstretched hand

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 15 - A group of rabbis and scholars of Jewish-Christian dialogue have written to the Pope thanking him for stretching out his hand to the Jewish religious world at a time of great suffering amid the Middle East crisis.
    "We are comforted by the fact that you have extended your hand to the Jews of the entire world, and in particular to those of Israel, at this time of great suffering," they write, emphasising "also your commitment to actively oppose anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism, which in recent times have taken on dimensions unknown to most of us during our lifetime." The letter, which Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano reports on its front page, is signed by Jehoshua Ahrens (Frankfurt/Berne), Yitz Greenberg (Jerusalem/New York) and David Meyer (Paris/Rome), as well as Karma Ben Johanan (Jerusalem) and Malka Zeiger Simkovich (Chicago). (ANSA).