(Haaretz).Israel's leading rabbis on Tuesday told Pope Benedict XVI that it was his duty to spread the message that the Jewish people belong in the Land of Israel.
"You represent a large nation of believers that knows what the Bible is, and it is your duty to pass on the message that the Jewish people deserve a renaissance, and a little respect - to live in this land," Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar told the pope.
The pope met with Amar and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger in Jerusalem on Tuesday, on the second day of his pilgrimage to Israel.
Benedict told the chief rabbis during the meeting that he is committed to reconciliation between Christian and Jews, The Pope visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem,He recited a prayer in Latin, before placing a note in the cracks of the wall.
He said he has delivered a prayer to God to help enact the command that one love their neighbor as they do themselves, "Send your peace upon this Holy Land, upon the Middle East, upon the entire human family," the prayer said, according to text provided by the Vatican
