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Commission On
Interreligious Affairs
of Reform Judaism
"Passion"
Movie Sparks Painful Debate
by Jeff Aran President of Cong B'nai Israel in Sacramento,
CA
Mel
Gibson's new film, The Passion of the Christ, with
its graphic violence, has upset a great many people
over its disparaging view of the Jewish people. Across
the country, Jewish groups have called for a boycott
of everything Gibson for fear the film maliciously
fans the flames of anti-Semitism. While Gibson denies
he's anti-Semitic (in the vein of, "some of my
best friends are Jews"), he hasn't publicly denied
his views, which he claims to be "historically
accurate."
Nor
has he helped matters any by hosting an early special
screening for 4500 evangelicals. Early publicity on
the film claimed it was endorsed by the Pope (subsequently
denied by the Vatican). The Lutheran Church published
an almost apologetic resolution affirming its support
for the Jewish people and urging Gibson to tone down
the negative view it paints. A Sacramento Bee article
in January unfortunately headlined the controversy.
Our own local Rabbinic Council is developing a responsa
to the film.
Mel
Gibson refutes accusations that his film is anti-Semitic,
saying, "Neither I nor my film are anti-Semitic….Nor
do I hate anybody - certainly not Jews….They
are my friends and associates, both in my work and
social life. "
Of
course, one man's "historical accuracy"
is another's revisionist nightmare.
[You can read up on the latest at http://rj.org/interreligious/pub/passions.shtml]
WHAT
BOTHERS ME MOST
But what bothers me most is how to deal with the effects
of this film on my children and their non-Jewish friends
who might see it and take the wrong message. While
I can deal with adult misconceptions, I can't change
the world for my teenagers and other children, who
must deal with the evangelical Christian clubs and
proselytizing that occurs daily at school campuses.
Ignoring 50 years of new Christian scholarship on
the subject, I'm sure they'll all be going to the
film and on occasion will confront our children with
"the facts" as they believe them to be.
[For a n assessment comparing Gibson's view and the
actual biblical texts, go to: http://rj.org/interreligious/pub/cook.pdf]
I
can only hope to give my children the tools to recognize
the pitch and be prepared with their own set of facts.
That means spending time on what most of us would
just as soon ignore completely. Painful though it
may be, it means developing a response, even if canned,
you and your child can use if asked, "did the
Jews kill Jesus?" Or, better yet, time should
be spent educating our children and ourselves on understanding
how to recognize the dialogue
"We
must point out that these portrayals are not true
to the spirit of the Gospels as a whole," writes
Rabbi Larry Bach, "nor are they in keeping with
Gibson's goal of making a film that reflects the 'true'
version of the events. Our response should represent
the very best of our own tradition by being a learning
response. Do we understand the way in which the Gospels
came into being in the decades after Jesus' death?
Do we know something about the agenda of each of their
authors? Can we describe the dynamics of first-century
Jewish life that led to the birth of Christianity."
There shouldn't be any real surprises in this film,
other than the gratuitous violence, and no matter
how well acted, we already know how it ends before
the show even begins.
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