Judaism Confronts The Passion

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Judaism Confronts The Passion

• The Jewish View surrounding the death of Jesus of
  Nazareth

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What is The Passion?

• The Passion Play is a dramatic rendition of the
  suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection of
  Jesus.
• Passion plays take as their source material, the
  Gospel narratives.
• There are 4 Gospels Mark, Matthew, Luke and
  John.
• This is an essential faith story for Christianity.

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• Earliest plays were found in the 13th Century.
• Grew over the next few hundreds of years in
  France and Germany.
• Became increasingly elaborate involving entire
  towns and the play itself would last days.

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Oberamergau, Germany

• Most famous of plays
• Involved over 800 actors
• The actor playing Judas had to move out of town
  for the entire run of the play.
• Put on every ten years except during WWII when
  Hitler ordered a command performance.

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Why are we concerned?

• Passion narratives and plays have been the source
  of seasonal anti-Semitism since the beginning of
  the common era.
• Blood libels
• Oberamergau, Germany
• Hard to distinguish fact from fiction
• 40 Years of Christian/Jewish coalition building
  can be threatened.

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• The secretive and dishonest way in which this
  film was created has heightened the concerns.
• The lack of scholarly input and the disregard
  Gibson has for centuries of scholarship on the
  Biblical narrative.

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Gospel History

• Timeline
• 37 BCE Herod the Great
• 0 CE. Birth of Jesus
• 4CE Herod Antipas
• 14 CE Tiberius (Emperor)
• Pontius Pilate (Governor)
• 33 Crucifixion
• 67-70 Destruction
• Gospel of Mark
• Gospel of Matthew
• Gospel of Luke
• 95 Gospel of John

• Problems
• Historicity of narratives
• Persecution and transference
• Elevation through denegration
• It took nearly 2000 years before the Christian
  community looked at the stories critically

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Other Problems?

• The details of the entire story are told in less
  than 700 words. Less than an op-ed piece in the
  Beacon Journal.
• Little agreement between the narratives on the
  details. The only fixed points in the story are

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Fixed Points

• Jesus is arrested by Roman soldiers
• Jesus is accused of a crime by the High Priest
  Caiphas. The crime is threatening the Temple.
• Pontius Pilate examines Jesus
• Pilate releases Barabbas
• Jesus is condemned
• Jesus is crucified with two others who are guilty
  of treason.
• Soldiers divide Jesus garmets
• Jesus dies on a cross which is labled King of
  the Jews.

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Problem Points

• No clarity among the stories as to the crime or
  who made the charge.
• The High Priest was powerless except as a
  religious functionary. No political power.
• The Governor, Pilate, was one of the most
  ruthless leaders of the province.
• Pilate crucified nearly 20,000 criminals during
  the 10 years he was Governor.
• Jesus is crucified between two rebels against
  Rome.
• There is no title King of the Jews. The
  messiahship of Jesus is a post-resurrection
  discussion.

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• Hard to find the Historical Jesus
• Dating of The Passion
• Arrest and Trial on Pesach?
• Burial on Shabbat?
• Corruption of the Passover symbols
• Being Sold for 20 pieces of silver
• Jesus as Joseph
• Glossa Ordinaria
• Why is Judah the only contemporary with a
  Jewish name? Not too many Jews with the name
  Luke.

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Gospel Parallels The Arrest

• Mark
• Judas, accompanied by large armed crowd from
  the chief priests and elders, betrays Jesus who
  is then seized. Jesus says Let the scriptures
  be fulfilled. A young man following Jesus
  wearing nothing but a linen cloth escapes. He is
  caught, but escapes by leaving the linen cloth
  and running off naked. The disciples flee.

• Matthew
• Large crowd from one chief priests and elders
  comes to arrest Jesus. Slaves ear cut off, no
  mention of healing. Jesus says arrest is being
  done so that the scripture of the prophets may
  be fulfilled. All disciples flee.

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Gospel Parallels The Arrest

• Luke
• A crowd led by Judas comes. Slaves ear is cut
  off, but Jesus heals it. Chief priest, officers
  of the temple and elders have come for him.
  Jesus says, This is your hour and the power of
  darkness.

• John
• Judas guided a detachment of soldiers and some
  officials from the chief priests and Pharisees.
  They told him they were looking for Jesus and he
  identified himself. Then Simon Peter, who had a
  sword, drew it and struck the high priests
  slave, cutting off his right ear. Jesus
  commanded Peter, Put your sword into its sheath!
  Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given
  me?

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The Nun

• Sister Anne Emmerich (1774-1824)
• The Passion is based upon the diaries of St. Anne
  Catherine Emmerich and the Gospel of John.
• She was a stigmatized nun (she inflicted the
  marks of crucifixion on herself).
• Lived only on communion wafers
• Mystic, Visionary

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JEWISH VIEW

• Gospels are not historical or factual accounts of
  events in the life of Jesus
• Rome was an evil persecutor of Jews and early
  Christians until the 3rd-4th Century.
• Crucifixion was a Roman punishment for rebels
  against the Roman empire.
• Jews were powerless against Rome. Temple was
  destroyed 40 years later.
• Jewish view of Jesus is that he was a faithful
  Jewish boy who had a passion (no pun intended)
  for Torah and thought that the corrupt Roman
  priesthood was creating distance between the
  faithful Jewish community and God.
• HE WAS NOT OUT TO CREATE A NEW RELIGION
• Christianity was created by Paul of Tarsus after
  the death of Jesus.

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Catholic Teaching on Passion Plays

• Jesus must not be depicted as opposed to the Law
  (Torah). In fact, as the Notes describe in
  greater detail, "there is no doubt that he wished
  to submit himself to the law (Gal 44) . . .
  extolled respect for it (Mt 517-20), and
  invited obedience to it (Mt 84) (cf. Notes III,
  21, 22).
• Jesus should be portrayed clearly as a pious,
  observant Jew of his time (Notes III, 20 and 28)
• The Old Testament and the Jewish tradition
  founded on it must not be set against the New
  Testament in such a way that the former seems to
  constitute a religion of only justice, fear, and
  legalism with no appeal to the love of God and
  neighbor.

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• Jews should not be portrayed as avaricious (e.g.,
  in Temple money-changer scenes) blood thirsty
  (e.g., in certain depiction's of Jesus'
  appearances before the Temple priesthood or
  before Pilate) or implacable enemies of Christ
  (e.g., by changing the small "crowd" at the
  governor's palace into a teeming mob).
• 5) Jesus and his teachings should not be
  portrayed as opposed to or by "the Pharisees" as
  a group (Notes III, 24). Jesus shared important
  Pharisaic doctrines (Notes III, 25) that set them
  apart from other Jewish groups of the time, such
  as the Sadducees. The Pharisees, in fact, are not
  mentioned in accounts of the passion except
  once in Luke, where Pharisees attempt to warn him
  of a plot against him by the followers of Herod
  (Lk 1331). So, too, did a respected Pharisee,
  Gamaliel, speak out in a later time before the
  Sanhedrin to save the lives of the apostles (Acts
  5). The Pharisees, therefore, should not be
  depicted as party to the proceedings against
  Jesus (Notes III, 24-27).

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Therefore, any presentations that explicitly or
implicitly seek to shift responsibility from
human sin onto this or that historical group,
such as the Jews, can only be said to obscure a
core gospel truth. (Statement of the National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 20,
1975).
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"The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has
committed itself to 'live out our faith in Jesus
Christ with love and respect for the Jewish
people' Our Guidelines for Lutheran-Jewish
Relations include reminders that 'the New
Testament must not be used as a justification
for hostility towards present-day Jews,' and that
'blame for the death of Jesus should not be
attributed to Judaism or the Jewish people.' In
keeping with these commitments, we view with
concern recent public reports regarding the
forthcoming film on the Passion by Mr. Mel
Gibson." -- Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America , Department for Ecumenical Affairs
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"We want to assure each of you that the content
of this movie will be used by us and the members
of our congregations solely to tell the story of
our faith and not to hold the Jewish people
responsible for the death of Jesus. We believe
that Jesus willingly died for all our sins and it
is wrong to use this powerful and important story
to foment anti-Semitism."We are sorry for any
fear or anxiety that any of you feel concerning
this movie and we hope that our commitment will
in some way ease your concerns. All of us value
the Jewish roots of our faith and we are
committed to building lasting and respectful
relationships between our communities." --Open
Letter to the Jewish Community of Denver, signed
by 49 local Christian clergy, February 20, 2004.
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"Christians who saw or heard the Passion,
especially during the Holy Week before Easter,
have reacted violently against the nearest Jews.
We even know of some Christian rulers in the
Middle Ages who warned the local Jews to stay
indoors on Good Friday in order to protect them
from violence. That's more than just a bad
review. So our response to this story is
important in ways it will not be for other
stories. We have a responsibility to be informed
and to consider the larger picture in which the
Passion is presented. Anti-Jewish images and
slogans born in by-gone Passion portrayals are
still used to slander Israel and the Jews.
Therefore, every presenter of the story must be
alert to its potential for doing 'collateral
damage'". -- The Christian Scholars Group on
Christian-Jewish Relations, Boston College Center
for Christian-Jewish Learning
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Why we oppose this film?

• Not Historical or Factual
• Resurrects Anti-Semitism
• Gibson is a theological lightweight who doesnt
  understand the Jewish community and doesnt
  accept scholarly opinion..
• The depiction of the Jewish characters in the
  story border on age old stereotypes.
• The over-the-top violence that turns a story of
  Christian faith into a Horror film.
• Turns back the clock of Christian/Jewish
  Relationships 50 years.
• The Directors Cut DVD released for Christmas
  2004

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Whats Next?

• Increase Dialogue Groups
• Educate ourselves about these stories
• Give our children a pride-filled foundation in
  their own faith.
• Encourage Biblical scholarship
• Continue to create partnerships with other
  religious communities.

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The End

• Prepared by Rabbi David A. Lipper
• Temple Israel 2004