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Commission
On Interreligious Affairs
of Reform Judaism
Dealing
with "The Passion": a Guide for Small Community
Jews
By
Rabbi Stephen Forstein, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek,
Michigan
Introduction
On
February 25 Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of
the Christ" was released for general viewing.
The film deals with the violent death of the central
figure of Christianity and portrays some Jews who
lived more than 2000 years ago in an extremely unfavorable
light. I am convinced that the movie will be a major
cultural event in America and around the world and
that Christian responses to it will impact Jews, Jewish
families and Jewish communities. We should be prepared.
I
haven't seen the film yet, but I know 99% of what's
in it. A committee of scholars received a script some
eleven months ago. Liberal Christian scholars and
clergy who have been present at prerelease showings
have reported on what they saw. Some Jews have seen
prerelease showings of the film. Gibson has released
trailers and has shown parts of the film in television
interviews. Some reviews have already come out.
Why Should We Be Concerned?
Many
Jews may not understand why a movie about the death
of Jesus is potentially so significant. There are
several reasons. The death of Jesus is central to
the Christian faith, which believes that Jesus died
to atone for the sins of all. According to Christian
doctrine this atonement was accomplished through his
passion. Here passion is used in the sense of suffering.
If there were no stories of Jesus' suffering and death
there would be no Christianity. The Christian story
does not begin or end with the passion, but the passion
is central to it.
For
hundreds of years Christian groups have staged dramatizations
of the passion, known as Passion Plays. Often these
plays were very anti-Semitic and were an ingredient
in incitement of the populace against Jews. The plays
reached relatively large audiences because they were
staged out of doors in summer weather nearly daily.
Gibson's film, however, will reach a much larger audience
than any stage presentation in history. The large
movie screen allows more violence to be shown in a
more immediate manner than can a theater stage. Gibson
has proclaimed that he is not an anti-Semite and that
the film is not anti-Semitic, but the potential for
an anti-Semitic response to the movie is high and
will be difficult to control once the film is released.
Written
Sources Gibson Used in Making the Film
Most of the source material for the film is taken
from the four gospels of Christian scripture, Mark,
Matthew, Luke and John. Each of them tells a version
of the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection.
In particular the Gospels of Matthew and John contain
passages that are quite hostile to the Jews of Jesus'
time. The Roman Catholic church and other churches
have specifically warned against interpreting these
passages as applying to Jews today. But the Gospels
are in the public domain. Many who read them may not
be associated with one of the churches that have advocated
this moderate teaching. Many may ignore this teaching
completely.
Current scholarly opinion is that the Gospels were
written at various times after the year 66, in which
a Jewish revolt against Rome broke out. Most scholars
believe that one of the aims of the earliest extant
gospel (Mark) was to distance the early Christian
church from the Jewish revolt. The Gospels portray
Jesus as being in conflict with the Jewish establishment
of the time, not with the Romans. Hence "the
Jews" are portrayed as seeking Jesus' death and
the Roman authority is portrayed as "seeing no
fault in him." In contrast to this scholarly
opinion, Gibson and many conservative Christians believe
that eyewitnesses to the events wrote the Gospels.
Gibson acknowledges that he has also included material
from the writings of Sister Ann Catherine Emmerich,
a 19th century Catholic visionary. Sister Ann Catherine
was strongly anti-Semitic, as were some of her visions.
Gibson has denied reading any parts of her writings
that could be considered anti-Semitic (see his interview
with Diane Sawyer, February 16, 2004).
One Movie; Two Sets of Responses
If
you go to see the movie, please be aware that Christians
and Jews will probably respond differently to what
is portrayed on screen. It is as if two films are
being shown in the theater at the same time: one seen
by Christians, one seen by Jews. Professor Michael
J. Cook of Hebrew Union College writes:
Jewish
viewers will be preoccupied with how the Jews of Jesus'
time are grotesquely and falsely portrayed, and will
be worried how non-Jews will react, process, and possibly
transform these horrific visions into anti-Semitic
attitudes and even behaviors in the modern day - in
America and, even more so, in Europe and the Middle
East.
Christian
viewers, however, will instead be preoccupied with
the extraordinary love Jesus showed through the excruciating
pain he willingly and graciously underwent for the
redemption of this otherwise helpless and hopeless
world.
We
should not insult our neighbors or their faith. Arguing
with persons or groups over the historicity or meaning
of the gospels is insulting to those who base their
faith on them. We should tell our neighbors that the
Passion is not our story and the lesson Christians
learn from it is not our faith. (Some Christians will
be astonished by those assertions.) In that way we
can affirm our faith and identity as Jews.
On
a professional level, we should respond in concert
with our natural allies: the many Christians in the
mainstream Protestant denominations and in the Catholic
Church who are struggling to create vibrant, liberal
expressions of their faith. With them we should point
out the parts of Gibson's film that are not faithful
to the Gospels. We can help disseminate the views
of scholars and liberal clergy and the viewpoint of
documents related to the reforms of Vatican II, which
absolved Jews of later generations from blame for
the death of Jesus.
We
should affirm that Mr. Gibson has a right to make
any movie he wants. This is a free society. Freedom
of expression is essential to it. In a responsible
manner we have the right to criticize the movie he
has made. If we do not like the movie we do not have
to support Mr. Gibson by paying money to see it, either
in a commercial theater or at home on DVD.
We
should not come across to the general public as whiners.
Repeated complaints about the choices Gibson made
in making the film will be counterproductive. We should
help educate non-Jews about the history of connection
between Passion plays and past anti-Semitic campaigns.
Please be conscientious in reporting any such incidents
to congregational and community leadership and to
the police. If anti-Semitic incidents do arise we
should enlist our Christian friends in responding
to them and working against any repetition.
In
dealing with newspapers we should always insist on
having their questions beforehand and put our responses
in writing. We should send our responses by email
so that we have a record of what we actually wrote.
Usually the broadcast media will not be interested
having us read a prepared statement. Unless your community
has a spokesperson who is experienced in "on
air" responses and who is knowledgeable on the
issues surrounding "The Passion" I would
advise against allowing ourselves to be placed in
that situation. It is too much out of our control.
I would especially avoid being part of a broadcast
panel that includes Christian clergy.
Responding to Our Neighbors
It
should not come as a surprise if we receive invitations
from our Christian neighbors to watch the film. Many
conservative and fundamentalist groups already see
the film as a great tool for evangelism (recruiting
non-Christians to the Christian faith.) Others will
be curious as to our reaction to the film. We do not
have to accept their invitation. And, we do not have
to give a reason for declining. To be sure, we have
our reasons. The film's story is not our story, despite
Christian assertions that it is everyone's story.
The film is excessively violent. The film ignores
decades of scholarship on the gospels and Catholic
and some Protestant guidelines on Passion productions.
Lay Christians and lay Jews are unlikely to be aware
of these developments. In addition, most Christians
know the gospels far better than Jews do, placing
Jews at a disadvantage. Therefore I do not think we
should dwell on our reasons if we decline invitations
to see the film.
We
probably will be asked for our opinion on the film.
If we wish we can duck the question. If we haven't
seen it, we can say that we have no opinion, since
we haven't seen it. If we wish to respond we can point
out how aware we are of the past damage to our communities
that have had part of their origin in Passion productions.
With that in the forefront of our minds it is unlikely
that we will have an opinion of the film that many
Christians will see as balanced. In other words, we
will base our opinions of the film on a different
history and a different experience than Christians
do. This may be difficult for some Christians to understand.
If
we have seen the film we can certainly express an
opinion. I hope that all expressed opinions are balanced
and judicious, even if our private opinions are more
extreme. Above all we should be guided by the principles
outlined above: we should not insult our neighbor's
faith; we should affirm Gibson's artistic freedom;
we should strive not to come across as whiners.
What Can Our Communities Do That is Positive?
First,
we should avoid hysterics. The release of this film
does not mean that a wave of anti-Semitic incidents
will break out locally and across the country. We
should remember that the vast majority of our neighbors
see us as decent, contributing members of our communities.
We have friends and we have allies.
You
might want to visit the web
page maintained by the Commission on Interreligious
Affairs of Reform Judaism. This page has links to
other resources and is updated often. We can support
the work of the Commission and other national and
regional agencies whose task it is to promote healthy
inter-group relations.
We
might use the opportunity to transform this event
into a teaching and learning opportunity. The majority
of Americans are professing Christians, yet most Jews
know little about Christianity and its origins. The
release of this film points up that this may be a
deficiency. It might be advantageous for us to learn
more so that we can relate to Christians on a religious
level. It might also be useful to learn something
about the internal politics of American Christianity
today.
This
may also be an opportunity to deepen associations
with Christian congregations and clergy. Christians
and Jews seldom talk with each other on a deep level
about what they believe and why they do what they
do. Some liberal churches would welcome the opportunity
to do joint programs with us, programs that go beyond
"show and tell." In particular we might
consider participating in Rabbi Yoffie's "Open
Doors, Open Minds: Synagogues and Churches Studying
Together" initiative. Information about this
program can be found at at the bottom of the page.
Conclusion
"The
Passion of the Christ" will surely be a powerful
and violent rendering of an intense Christian story
at the heart of the Christian faith. Its violence
is excessive. It is full of distortions of Jewish
and Roman figures. It is ignorant of fifty years of
Christian scholarship and of Vatican II's guidelines
limiting Jewish responsibility for Jesus' death. It
is oblivious to the historical cause-and-effect interrelationship
of Passion productions and European anti-Semitism.
I wish Gibson had not made in the way that he did.
But
he's done what he's done. Millions of people here
and around the world will see it. That's unfortunate.
But it's not cause for panic. We should retain our
calm and follow positive principles in reacting to
the work and to Christian community responses to it.
We can use the occasion of the release of this film
as an opportunity for learning and for deepening alliances.
All of this will lead us to intensify our self-understanding
as persons, as Jews and as Jewish communities. That's
all to the good.
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