(No subject)

[Guest guest]

Dear friends in Sangha

 

for your information I posted this articles about Gibsons "The passion"

because I am sure this work (which is surely professionaly good done) will

be a root of still another terrible conflict in this "world" so full of

unsolved......

 

hugs

 

michael bindel

http://www.aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory/The_Passion_A_Historical_Perspective.asp

The Passion: A Historical Perspective

by Rabbi Ken Spiro

Mel Gibson's film fits comfortably within the history of Christian anti-Semitism.

Mel Gibson's film, "The Passion of Christ," has already stirred a lot

of passions and heated debate. What's all the fuss about? After all,

isn't it just a movie and we all know the ending already? Clearly

there are much bigger issues at stake. By examining the implications

of the story of the Passion, we can begin to understand why so many

are justifiably apprehensive about the impact this movie might have.

THE ROOTS OF CHRISTIAN ANTI-SEMITISM

The Passion remains the central event of Christianity and the role of

the Jews in this story serves as the foundation of the early

Christian view of Judaism and the Jews.

Here is a brief overview of the Jewish role in the Passion story as

portrayed in the Gospel. The corrupt priesthood, feeling threatened

by Jesus' popularity, conspire against him and have him arrested by

the Romans. A Jewish mob further conspires to keep him imprisoned and

ensure his torture and crucifixion. As he is led to his death, he is

further abused by a Jewish mob.

The Jewish role in the story is overwhelmingly negative and culminates

in the ultimate crime: deicide -- the murder of God. The Gospel is

uniformly hostile toward the Jews, while making the Roman procurator,

Pontius Pilate, almost completely guiltless. After being "forced" by

the Jewish mob to sentence Jesus to death, Pilate symbolically washes

his hands and pronounces: "I am not responsible for the death of this

man! This is your doing. The whole crowd [the Jews] answered back:

Let his blood be on our heads and the heads of our children."

(Matthew 27:24-25)

Paul, the most important personality in the history of the church,

makes a special point of blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus:

"[the Jews] killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and persecuted

us. How displeasing they are to God! How hostile they are to all men.

They even tried to stop us from preaching to the Gentiles...This is

the last full measure of the sins they have always committed. And now

God's wrath has at last fallen upon them." (Thessalonians 1,2)

Probably the most damning of all accusations appears in John 8:44:

"You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to

follow your father's desires. From the very beginning he was a

murderer."

The negative role that the Jew plays in the Passion served to create a

solid foundation on which later Christian anti-Semitism would be

built.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF CHRISTIAN ANTI-SEMITISM

While latent hostility toward the Jews simmered for centuries, intense

persecution and serious anti-Semitic violence started to take shape

after the year 1000 -- at the end of the first millennium. It seems

that people get nervous about big dates, especially Christians whose

Book of Revelations predicts that at the end of a thousand years

Satan will be released from prison and then he's going to wreak havoc

on the world.

The approaching millennium led to a religious revival in the Christian

world which historians call the "New Piety." The New Piety focused

especially on the historicity of Jesus, which meant focusing on his

death and of course the Jews' role in that conspiracy. So at this

time, we see the notion of Jews as "Christ-killers" -- which first

surfaced in the 4th century -- gaining tremendous popularity. But

that alone does not explain the vehemence of Christian persecutions.

To fully understand the issue, we have to look at other, more complex

reasons.

REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY

To start off, the continued existence of the Jews was an irritant to

many Christians. And this is why:

Christian theology accepts the Hebrew Bible. It does not quarrel with

the statements therein that the Jews were a special people chosen by

God to receive the Torah and bring holiness into the world. But

Christian theology says that the Jews failed in their mission. This

is why God sent His "son" (Jesus) to straighten things out, but the

Jews refused to recognize him as "god" and worse, conspired to have

him killed. As a result, God abandoned the Jews and replaced them

with the "new chosen people" -- the Christians. (Hence, the Christian

segment of the Bible is called the "New Testament" which is Greek for

"New Covenant.")

By this line of reasoning however, there would no longer be any

purpose for Jews in the world. They should disappear, like did so

many mightier nations. But by the first millennium -- already 1,000

years after the death of Jesus -- the Jews were still all over the

place. Christian theology had to come up with some sort of answer to

this problem, and it did. The Jews must have been doomed to wander

the earth by God as a "witness people" -- teste veritatis in Latin.

The purpose of a "witness people" is to survive throughout history to

bear witness at the end of days, when Jesus appears again for the

so-called "Second Coming."

But the explanations of Christian theology could not remove the sore

spot that the presence -- at times, strong and prosperous presence --

that the Jews represented. At the heart of the matter was the

Christian view of Judaism as a direct competitor for the soul of

humanity.

The hostility that the Christians felt toward the Jews can be seen

readily from the writings of the early fathers of the Christian

Church. (See: What Did They Think of the Jews? by Allan Gould, pp.

24-25.)

>From John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople, we get this:

"Jews are the most worthless of men- - they are lecherous, greedy,

rapacious - they are perfidious murderers of Christians, they worship

the devil, their religion is a sickness ... The Jews are the odious

assassins of Christ and for killing god there is no expiation, no

indulgence, no pardon. Christians may never cease vengeance. The Jews

must live in servitude forever. It is incumbent on all Christians to

hate the Jews."

>From Gregory of Nyssa, we get more of the same:

"Slayers of the lord, murderers of the prophets, adversaries of god,

haters of god, men who show contempt for the law, foes of grace,

enemies of the father's faith, advocates of the devil, brood of

vipers, slanderers, scoffers, men whose minds are in darkness, leaven

of the Pharisees, assembly of demons, sinners, wicked men, stoners and

haters of righteousness."

In some places, such calumny exploded in a wave of massive anti-Jewish

violence and the murder of thousands of Jews in Europe and the Middle

East during the first Crusade from 1096-1099. (Some 10,000 Jews of an

estimated population of about 20,000-30,000 were murdered in 1096 as

the first Crusade got under way.)

In other places, such calumny bred other forms of persecution.

BLOOD LIBEL

It is next to impossible to explain the accusations that were hurled

at the Jews during this time. Jews were persecuted not only for being

"Christ-killers" but as "baby-killers."

The first such accusation -- better known as a "blood libel" -- was

leveled in 1144 in Norwich, England. There, Jews were charged with

kidnapping a Christian baby and draining the baby of blood. The

charge became so popular it would sweep, in various forms, through

Europe and then spread to other parts of the world.

Why did Jews need blood according to Christian opinion? What do you think is the correct answer?:

a. Jews suffered from hemorrhoids as a punishment for killing Jesus

and drinking blood was the best cure for hemorrhoids at the time.

b. All Jewish men menstruate and need a monthly blood transfusion.

c. Jewish men, when they're circumcised, lose so much blood because of

that surgical procedure that they need to drink Christian babies'

blood.

d. It's the chief ingredient in matzah, and therefore prior to every

Passover Jews would be requiring a large supply.

e. All of the above.

The correct answer is (e) -- all of the above. This is a very

important lesson in anti-Semitism. You can say anything about the

Jews and people will believe it.

It's ironic that Jews, who are prohibited by Jewish law of consuming

any blood whatsoever (kosher meat is carefully washed and salted to

remove all traces of blood), were precisely the people accused of

drinking blood.

The blood libel makes even less sense when you consider that in the

13th century the Church adopted the doctrine of transubstantiation.

This is a mystical idea which maintains that when the priest says

mass over the wafer and wine, these objects mystically change into

the body and blood of Jesus. Christians who consume the wafer and

drink the wine are said to be mystically eating the flesh of Jesus

and drinking his blood. It's ironic that the Christian world, while

engaged in the ritual of "drinking the blood of Jesus" would accuse

the Jews -- who are forbidden to drink blood -- of this totally

fabricated hideous crime. But then the accusations got even wilder.

Starting in Switzerland and Germany in the 13th century, Jews were

accused of kidnapping communion wafers from churches -- to torture

it. Medieval documents tell stories describing how a Jew (usually

called Abraham) would steal a wafer from a church, stick a knife in

it, and blood would start pouring out. He would then cut it up into

pieces and send it to different Jews who would continue to torture

it.

This would be funny if not for a fact that thousands of Jews were

slaughtered as a result of such stories. For example, the entire

Jewish community of Berlitz, near Berlin in Germany, was all burned

alive based on the accusation of torturing a wafer.Other accusations

were to follow: well poisoning, causing the Black Death and numerous

other heinous acts, usually accomplished with the help of Satan.

These accusations led to the dehumanization, brutalization, expulsion

and murder of Jews throughout Europe.

It is important to note that in Medieval Europe Passion Plays,

reenacting the final drama of the life of Jesus, would be regularly

performed in the weeks leading up to Easter. These plays would

usually inflame the audience and were often followed by accusations

of Jewish ritual murder and violence against Jews. (Gibson has also

timed the release of his movie to correspond with the beginning of

Lent and the period leading up to Easter Sunday.)

The ultimate consequence of the deeply superstitious, irrational and

violent anti-Semitism of Europe was the Holocaust. Hitler could not

have carried out the Final Solution without the cooperation of the

many Germans, nor without the collusion of much of Europe. Centuries

of largely Church-sponsored Jew hatred had transformed Europe into a

fertile ground for the mass murder of the Jews.

Possibly the scariest modern development is that the Arab world has

now picked up on the worst, Medieval libels against the Jews.

Accusations of blood libels, poisoning, and murder circulate daily

throughout the Palestinian Authority's print and electronic media. In

2003 Syrian television aired a series based on the famous forgery, The

Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which contained staged scenes

portraying Jewish ritual murder.

MAKING AMENDS

Although it was usually too little too late, throughout history there

were church officials and even a few popes who spoke out against

anti-Semitism. The most significant turning point in the Church's

relationship with the Jews happened in October 1965 with the

publication of Vatican II-Declaration of the Relation of the Church

to Non-Christian Religious. Vatican II states: "True, authorities of

the Jews and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of

Christ (cf jn.19:6), still, what happened in His passion cannot be

blamed upon all the Jews then living, without distinction, nor upon

the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the

Jews should not be presented as repudiated or cursed by God as if

such views followed from the Holy Scriptures." (Alexis P. Rubin,

Editor, Scattered Among the Nations-Documents Affecting Jewish

Hisitory 49-1975. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson, 1995. P.302).

Vatican II clearly represents a great leap forward in the Church's

attempt to make amends for millennia of Christian hostility toward

the Jews. The current pope, John Paul, has gone further than any

other pope in history in his attempts to make amends and heal

Catholic-Jewish relations. And there is no doubt that the Church has

a far more positive and tolerant attitude toward the Jews. Gibson's

graphic, modern Passion Play could well represent a huge step

backward in the relationship between Jews and Christians, possibly

undoing decades of progress.

RE-IGNITING THE HATRED

Despite the good intentions expressed in Vatican II that "...the Jews

should not be presented as repudiated or cursed by God as if such

views followed from the holy Scriptures," the fact of the matter is

that anyone looking objectively at the Christian Bible will see that

it is loaded with anti-Jewish sentiment. Any attempt, therefore, to

accurately portray the Passion story on film is likely to stir up

anti-Jewish sentiment and help to re-ignite the age-old hatred that

has caused so much Jewish suffering. The timing for the release of

The Passion is particularly poor, given the current rise in

anti-Semitism world-wide, especially in Europe.

See also: Mel Gibson and the Jews.

FURTHER READINGS:

Carroll, James, Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews - A History, Houghton Mifflin, 2002

Lewis, Bernard, Semites and Anti-Semites-An Inquiry into Conflict and

Prejudice. New York, W.W. Norton &; Company, 1999

Pagels, Elaine. The Gnostic Gospel. vNew York: Vintage Books,1989.

Prager, Dennis and Telushkin Joseph, Why The Jews-The Reason for

Antisemitism. New York, Simon &; Schuster, 1983

Trachtenberg, Joshua, The Devil and the Jews-Medieval Conceptions of

the Jew and its relation to Modern Antisemitism. New York, Meridian

Books, 1961

Rubin, Alexis P., Scattered Among the Nations-Documents Affecting

Jewish History 49-1975. Northvale, New Jersey, jason Aronson Inc.,

1995

Wistrich, Robert S., Anti-Semitism-The Longest Hatred. London, Thames Methuen, 1991.

Note:

I have received a lot of feedback from Christian readers regarding the

topic of Medieval anti-Semitism. Most of the comments come from

evangelical Christians who claim that those who persecuted Jews in

the Middle Ages were not really true Christians and that I shouldn't

lump all Chritians together.

Readers of this series should understand that this is a history series

and as such, it reflects the historical realities of the past. One

thousand years ago in Western Europe, there were no evangelicals. The

Catholic Church reigned supreme. Superstitious, violent anti-Semitism

was rampant and there were no Christian supporters of the Jewish

people. Today, thank God, the situation is very different. There are

tens of millions of Christians who are good friends of the Jewish

people and true supporters of Israel. In no way is the series meant

to reflect the modern realities of Jewish-Chrisitan interaction, nor

is it meant as an attack against Israel's true friends and allies. My

sincere apologies if it was understood to be otherwise.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Ken Spiro

Author Biography:

For $180, you can sponsor one issue of Ken Spiro’s Crash Course in

Jewish History in honor or memory of a loved one or to celebrate a

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Rabbi Ken Spiro is originally from New Rochelle,NY. He graduated from Vasser College with a BA

in Russian Language and Literature and did

graduate studies at the Pushkin Institute in

Moscow. He has Rabbinical ordination from

Yeshiva Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem and a Masters Degree in History from

The Vermont College of Norwich University. Rabbi Spiro is also a

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1995 - 2004 Aish.com - http://www.aish.com

Print Version - Mel Gibson and the

Jewshttp://www.aish.com/societyWork/society/Mel_Gibson_and_the_Jews.asp

 

 

Mel Gibson and the Jews

by Rabbi Benjamin Blech

His latest lethal weapon? Mel's film promises spiritual inspiration but instead

evokes the kind of rage that for centuries past resulted in ruthless acts of

retribution.

Soon we'll find out who is more powerful, Mel Gibson or Pope John XXIII.

Shortly before his death in 1963, the spiritual leader of Catholics round the

world composed this prayer: "We realize that our brows are branded with the mark

of Cain. Centuries long has Abel lain in blood and tears because we have

forgotten Thy love. Forgive us the curse which we unjustly laid on the name of

the Jews. Forgive us, that with our curse, we crucified Thee a second time."

It was an awesome admission that reversed almost 2000 years of unjustifiable

hatred. Christian anti-Semitism, rationalized as fitting punishment for the Jews

guilty of the heinous crime of deicide, killers of Christ, was officially

declared "a great sin against humanity." Jews dared to hope that the distortions

of ancient history which prompted Crusades, pogroms and perhaps -- as many

scholars suggest -- even the world's silence during the Holocaust, were finally

put to rest in the dustbin of grievously outdated theological errors.

How strange then to now have the 21st century witness the re-birth of a

monumental lie. What the Pope declared a sin, Mel Gibson has resurrected as the

definitive story of the death of Jesus. Once again the world is told that it was

the fault of "the perfidious Jews." In a movie that reeks with gruesome violence

unbearable even by Hollywood standards, "The Passion of the Christ" weaves the

contradictory threads of the Gospels' accounts describing the last hours of the

life of Jesus into a tale that portrays a reluctant Pontius Pilate decreeing

crucifixion for "the son of God" at the mad urging of a Jewish mob led by

Caiaphas, the High Priest.

No, according to Gibson it wasn't the guilt of the Romans. Pontius Pilate, as

the movie sees it, would never have carried out such cruel punishment. Mike

Evans, a Dallas minister and head of the pro-Israel Jerusalem Prayer Team,

suggested to Gibson that he might add a one-sentence message on the screen after

the last scene: "During the Roman occupation, 250,000 Jews were crucified by the

Romans, but only one rose from the dead." That would make clear to the average

viewer that Jews, just like Jesus, were victims of the same vicious regime. But

so far, that message does not appear. It would detract from the theme that runs

throughout the film.

Rejecting the views of the Second Vatican Council, Gibson holds firm to his

literal interpretation of the Gospels that make Jews the villains of the most

horrendous crime of history: Jews "killed God." In one version of the movie, the

Jews utter the line that almost begs for retaliation against them to this day:

"His blood be upon us and our children!" Whether this scene survives the final

cut is still unknown. (It is in fact included in the version shown to Newsweek's

reviewer.) But Gibson is confident that whatever he decides will be the will of

God. As he's publicly stated, "The Holy Ghost was working through me on this

film." And surely not even the healing words of Pope John XXIII can override a

harmful conflicting message to Gibson directly from the Almighty Himself!

Keep in mind, this is from the man who admitted to saying about New York Times

columnist Frank Rich, who was critical about his film, "I wanted to kill him. I

want his intestines on a stick. I want to kill his dog."

Most remarkable of all, to my mind, in the storm of controversy surrounding this

film, is that it ought to be even more of a Christian issue than it is a Jewish

problem. After all, it is the latter-day Church itself, through its spiritual

leadership, that addressed this ancient question of Jewish culpability. The

former Pope was courageous enough to acknowledge the Church's regrettable role

in blaming the blameless. The present Pope, John Paul II, affirmed this

confession as he "recognized Christian responsibility for past wrongs against

Jews throughout history" and, using the Hebrew word tshuvah, "repentance," asked

for forgiveness.

"The Passion of the Christ" suggests that Hollywood is wiser than His Holiness.

It offers a discredited version of history that is far more fitting for "13th

Century Fox" than a contemporary studio aware of the theology of papal

leadership.

Those who've seen the movie (Full disclosure: I haven't yet -- but I've spoken

to several people who did, both Jews and non-Jews, Rabbis and priests. I do plan

on seeing the film once it comes out and will write a follow up article.) agree

that the Romans fare much better than the Jews in their treatment of Jesus. As

J. W. Eagan famously said, "Never judge a book by its movie." This is a film

that makes the Gospels seem almost tame in their depiction of Jewish evil. Which

is why it's so irrelevant to ask the question, "Is Mel Gibson really

anti-Semitic?"

Those who wonder whether Gibson hates Jews simply don't get it. It doesn't

matter. Take Gibson at his word, if you want to, and accept his profession of

friendship. He may like us. But that isn't the issue. What matters is what the

film is going to accomplish. Simply put, I am told it is almost impossible to

walk out of the theater without hating the villains -- and the villains are

clearly identified as Jews.

In a time when religions most need to teach the message of reconciliation, a

film promising spiritual inspiration powerfully evokes the kind of rage that for

centuries past resulted in ruthless acts of retribution.

Passion plays have a history. Jews knew that performances were almost invariably

followed by pogroms. What can we expect after millions of people see this film?

Some Christian leaders are offended by the very notion that this may have any

relevance today. William Donahue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and

Religious Rights, attacks those who express fear of "the unintended

consequences" of the movie's critical portrayal of the Jews as "pernicious." So

if Jews suspect that history may be a guide to modern times, if not by way of

old-fashioned pogrom but in more sophisticated contemporary guise, we're guilty

of over-reacting and, worse, of even suggesting that anti-Semitism can again get

out of hand.

Make no mistake. Movies create mindsets far more than any other medium. Ingmar

Bergman was right. "No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes

directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls." To sit in

a darkened theater and be enveloped by a larger-than-life screen is to feel that

you are actually experiencing an event rather than just hearing about it. The

Reverend Billy Graham, it's reported, wept bitterly when he watched "The Passion

of the Christ" -- and surely it wasn't the first time he heard the story.

No passion play of the past could ever have had the emotional power of actually

being present at the Crucifixion -- with the added impact of special effects

that have made some viewers scream out in revulsion.

Responding to criticism, Gibson denies his intent is to blame the Jews. "It's

not singling them out and saying, 'They did it'. That's not so. We're all

culpable. We're all guilty. We all killed Jesus."

Let me make clear to Mel Gibson that for myself, I deny any personal

involvement. I didn't kill Jesus. Neither did my ancestors. Ironic, isn't it,

that the same Gibson who willingly accepts universal guilt for the crime of

deicide chooses only the Jews to be singled out as the real perpetrators. "We

all killed Jesus," he claims -- but it's just Jews whom the movie clearly

depicts as the scoundrels.

Do Jews have a right to share their concerns with those who choose to believe in

a different version of history? Can Jews object to an ultraconservative Roman

Catholic Hollywood icon producing a movie that reflects his personal bias?

The same freedom of speech that guarantees Gibson the right to make his film as

he sees fit allows us to point out what we find so objectionable.

Gibson speaks in the name of Christianity even as he rejects the explicit

pronouncements of its highest spiritual spokesmen.

Gibson claims he is guided by a desire to promote "love and forgiveness," while

he stresses a stereotype of Jews that for millennia led to hate and retribution.

 

Gibson publicizes his film as the "historically accurate story" of the last

hours of Jesus when its depiction rests far more on faith than on facts and

includes scenes -- like the one showing Jewish guards brutally beating Jesus as

they take him to the High Priest -- that have no basis in any New Testament

source. (Some of Gibson's script is inspired by the visions of two nuns: one in

17th century Spain and the other in 18th century France.)

While the Church has made major strides forward in reaching out to Jews in

reconciliation, "The Passion of Christ" takes a giant leap backwards to vicious

Jew-bashing and stereotyping. As Holocaust memories fade and scholars note the

resurgence of worldwide anti-Semitism, the one thing worse than the "Protocols

of the Elders of Zion" in our times is a mass-marketed appeal to religious

passion against Jews in the guise of the Gospels.

Regrettably, its very notoriety may well make this movie highly popular. That's

why I pray viewers understand the reason "The Passion of Christ" so strongly

fails as a spiritual message. Not only is it anti-Jewish and indifferent to the

harm it will surely bring in its wake to relations between gentiles and Jews, it

is so profoundly un-Christian.

First of a two-part series. Rabbi Blech's second installment will discuss his

reactions to seeing the film.

See also: The Passion: A Historical Perspective

Author Biography:

Rabbi Benjamin Blech is the author of seven highly acclaimed books, including

Understanding Judaism: The basics of Deed and Creed. He is a professor of Talmud

at Yeshiva University and the Rabbi Emeritus of Young Israel of Oceanside which

he served for 37 years and from which he retired to pursue his interests in

writing and lecturing around the globe. He is also the author of "If God is

Good, Why is the World So Bad?"

 

 

To buy The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jewish History and Culture, go to

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