One Rabbi's Perspective on "The Passion"

[elfwitch]

I got this as an email from the head Rabbi at my previous synagogue.

Friends:

I have been deluged by media requests for my comment about "The Passion of the Christ." I am baffled by the extent to which local media is offering free publicity to this for-profit endeavor, the greatest I've seen since Planet Hollywood opened its San Antonio location.

The interviews have been appropriate, with the exception of one question asked of me by Trey Ware, live on KTSA radio. Whenever possible, I have attempted to deflect attention away from the Jewish community, Temple Beth-El and myself, and toward Christian clergy who might share our concerns.

Perhaps friends and co-workers are asking you about the movie. I plan
to see the film myself, with Rev. Simons and Avram Mandell, this Friday, at noon. Thereafter, I'll have more to say.

In the meantime, here are a few thoughts:

1. I do not expect any violent anti-Semitic uprising in San Antonio,
and will be somewhat surprised if any violence is directed at American Jews as a result of this movie.

2. Here in San Antonio, I am confident that, if the movie is
anti-Semitic, my friends and colleagues in the Christian clergy will say so. We are blessed by magnificent interfaith relations here, which will not be destroyed by this film. I have spoken with Christian colleagues who are far more concerned about the tidal wave surrounding this film than I. Many mainline Christian leaders are frightened by the tactics taken by some Fundamentalists as the release of "The Passion of the Christ" has approached. Reaction to this movie is not a Jewish-Christian issue.

3. Jews are concerned, because of the long history of violent
anti-Semitism in Europe, from the Medieval period and well into the 20th Century, in the aftermath of Passion Plays that charged collective Jewish culpability for the Holocaust. Countless Jewish men, women and children lost their lives, their homes, their livelihoods, and their synagogues in pogroms resulting from anti-Semitic Passion Plays. The Roman Catholic Church, as well as numerous American Protestant Churches, have issued statements and
guidelines for Passion Plays, all of which prohibit the suggestion that all Jews of Jesus' time, or any Jews today, are to be blamed for the crucifixion.

Mel Gibson, as a Traditionalist Catholic," which rejects the authority of today's Catholic hierarchy, is not bound by the guidelines of the Roman Catholic Church or of any of the Protestant churches that have taken sensitive positions on the matter.

4. If the movie does, in fact, charge collective Jewish culpability for the Holocaust, it will not be "historical" in doing so, despite the suggestion that some have made along those lines. To say that "the Jews" called for Jesus' crucifixion is to ignore that Jesus himself was among "the Jews" of that period, as were his followers and countless people who were not involved in any way. To group our people together as though we were all the same, and therefore could be culpable as a whole people, is, in itself, anti-Semitic, which is why I was so shocked to hear such a suggestion from Trey Ware on KTSA radio. Moreover, scholars of the Christian Scriptures teach us that the four Gospels each tell the story somewhat differently, which is one of the many reasons why the Gospels can not be regarded as history books, any more than our own Hebrew Scriptures. To suggest that any book of the Bible is a history book is to degrade the Bible, to make it less than it truly is. The Hebrew Bible is the principal repository of religious truth as we know it, not a mere history book. Christians who view their faith as we view ours would say the same about the Christian Scriptures.

You will hear more from me, after I see the film Friday.

Shalom,
Rabbi Barry Block

[RFK MLK PW]

1. Random quotes:

"Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" is the most virulently anti-Semitic movie made since the German propaganda films of World War II."


"The movie is sanctimonious in a way that impedes dramatic flow and limits characterizations to the saintly and the droolingly vulgar."


"Is Gibson devout, or is he mad?"


"Jews are vilified, in ways both little and big, pretty much nonstop for two hours, seven minutes. Gibson cuts from the hook nose of one bad Jewish character to the hook nose of another in the ensuing scene. He misappropriates an important line from the Jewish celebration of Pesach ("Why is this night different from all other nights?") and slaps it onto a Christian context. Most unforgivable is that Pontius Pilate (Hristo Naumov Shopov), the Roman governor of Palestine who decreed that Jesus be crucified, is portrayed as a sensitive, kind-hearted soul who is sickened by the tortures the Jewish mobs heap upon his prisoner. Pilate agrees to the Crucifixion only against his better judgment."


The entire review is here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/moviereviews/story/167446p-146309c.html

[greekspeak]

2. NPR's Fresh Air

called Gibson a sado-masochist with a victim complex. The commentator pointed out that Gibson is often in situations in movies where graphic violence befalls him. In fact, for one movie (help me here someone who heard this too), Gibson changed the script to INCLUDE vicimization of himself. I do not trust this guy. I am frightened at what this movie will do. No Greek. Vulgate Latin. Questionable Aramaic. What are you up to, Mel?

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

3. wow, what a reasonable and rational perspective

Thanks for posting it!

[elfwitch]

4. my pleasure...

Rabbi Block gives great sermons.
http://www.beth-elsa.org/bblock.htm

This is a good one on prayers at school events:
http://www.beth-elsa.org/be_s1029.htm

[King Coal]

5. What was the question that was inappropriate?

[elfwitch]

6. He never said...

After living in San Antonio most of my life, I know from Trey Ware. He has been on KTSA since it was a Top 40 station.

I imagine, knowing him, it was pretty offensive.