The Passion Released by The Passion

Ari Goldman in his book The Search for God at Harvard recalls his professor’s words of admonition, “If you know only one religion, you don’t know any.”
 
Most days we can get by knowing very little about even our own faith. Yet every once in a while something happens that causes us to question our complacency. We are confronted with illness, an end-of-life decision, or a question posed by a non-Jewish neighbor that compels us to search our faith for answers. The release of Mel Gibson’s new movie The Passion of Christ has awakened within many in our community a desire to know more about the history of Jewish/Christian relations.

While I went to rabbinical school to learn about Judaism, being a rabbi in the South has required that I learn about the faith of my neighbors. Weekly, our congregants confront me with questions about our faith and Christianity. In recent days those queries have multiplied: What is The Passion? Where can I read about the death of Jesus? What role did ancient Jews have in his death? What does the Church say about the responsibility of modern day individuals in the death of Jesus? What is an appropriate Jewish response to this film?

The Passion is the story of the arrest, tribunal, death and resurrection of Jesus. For the past eight hundred and fifty years, dramas called Passion plays have brought to the stage the narratives surrounding the final days of Jesus as depicted in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Most often, Passion plays are shown during Lent (hence Gibson’s release of his film on Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of that period). The Catholic Church at the Second Vatican Council in 1962 affirmed that neither the Jews of today nor all the Jews indiscriminately at that time can be held responsible for crimes committed during Jesus’ trial and death. Pope John Paul II has gone on record stating that ascribing Jewish responsibility for the death of Jesus is an “unjust and an erroneous interpretation.” Likewise, mainstream Protestant denominations today do not hold Jews as a group responsible for the death of Jesus. Even so, through the centuries, Passion plays have led to anti-Semitic feelings and actions.
Like you, I pray that the release of Gibson’s movie will not spark anti-Semitic sentiment in Charlotte, nor worldwide. Nonetheless, as Jews we need to respond.

Our first response should be to educate ourselves. We must have the knowledge needed to engage in informed discussion with those around us. In an effort to support you on this journey, Myers Park Baptist Church and Temple Beth El have joined together to create a resource guide containing informational texts surrounding the history of early Jewish/Christians relations as well as materials that respond to issues raised in the movie. These guides are available at the Temple.

Secondly, we should build strong bridges of trust and cooperation with our neighbors of other faiths in order to support one another in the strongest way possible. When our neighbors of any faith are attacked, in the media or otherwise, we should be the first to speak in their defense. Likewise we should be able to rely on them when we are in need of a voice or action of support.

I hope you will respond to the challenges of this film by learning more about yourself and by learning more about your neighbors. Ari Goldman’s words could serve as a guide for all of us—until we know those who stand beside us, we will never truly know ourselves.

Judy Schindler
Rabbi