The president of the German Bishops Conference, cardinal Reinhard Marx, sent a message of wishes for peace and blessing to the president of the German Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, and to all Jewish citizens for the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah. “A wish for peace is particularly relevant with all the hatred and violence we have witnessed in the last few months”, Marx wrote. “I believe the Islamic terrorist attacks in France and Germany, as well as the resurgence of xenophobia and nationalism, are attempts at reducing freedom of religion, not least a surviving anti-Semitic bias”. These latest developments have hit above all Jews and Christians because of their common values, the cardinal claims in his message. As important as the role of education, which does not only mean learning, is teaching to respect other people, the cardinal adds. So, the plan to open two new Jewish schools in Dusseldorf and Munich is welcome: “They are significant for all our society, because they are places in which faith and reason and connected and promote young people’s discernment”, cardinal Marx pointed out. “They are – I am sure – an effective antidote to hatred and violence”.