The Jewish World a Month Later or,

Post-Passion Prognosis

By Rabbi Aaron Parry*

I’m the Education Director for the West Coast office of Jews for Judaism. In that capacity I monitor the movements of the Christian Fundamentalist evangelical world and how they affect my co-religionists. One month after viewing Gibson’s flick, I am grateful that this extremely graphic and numbingly violent exposé of the last 12 hours of Jesus has not led to many overt expressions of anti-Jewish hostility, or for that matter, mass conversions out of Judaism.

In fact, according to a recently released survey by the Institute for Jewish and Community Research in San Francisco, only 2 percent of the 1,003 adults polled said "The Passion" is more likely to make them hold all Jews responsible.  A second poll of 2,500 people, 85 percent of whom are evangelical Christians, conducted by the Chicago-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, showed only 1.7 percent of respondents blamed all Jews for Jesus’ death.

These facts are encouraging considering that Gibson portrayal made it seem that even the sadistic Roman soldiers at the end feel compassion for Jesus while the Jews do not. However, lack of increased gratuitous anti-Semitism has never been my community’s main concern. The following quote from a letter to the L.A. Times, is:

I am a high school teacher and the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Monday morning, Period 1, a student, age 17, comes into my room. She asks me if I had seen the film "The Passion."

I answer, "No."

She continues, "It was so sad. I cried so much. I hate the Jews."

Very, very sadly, that tells the whole story, Mr. Gibson

Our office has received many counseling inquiries from parents and educators concerned about the effect “The Passion,” is having on the daily interaction of their charges with non-Jewish schoolmates and the way Jewish students perceive their own Jewishness. Needless to say adolescents are both curious and impressionable. One parent called us after her 15-year old son had gone out with some friends ostensibly for a Sunday matinee at the local Cineplex. They purchased tickets to see Scooby Doo2, caught an usher off guard, and sneaked into The Passion.

This precocious High School sophomore confided to his parents that he indeed had watched the movie from beginning to end. What was this student’s reaction to the film?

“Mommy, why did the Jews kill Jesus, he seemed like such a nice guy?”

So now we have at least two students who think less of the Jewish people in the wake of Gibson’s creativity. Granted, there is an upside to this film. We’ve all heard the story of a "Passion" viewer who confessed to a crime after watching the movie. He’s a 21-year-old Texas man who murdered his 19-year-old girlfriend, a death that had been ruled a suicide. The Internet has spawned an entire industry of spirituality-oriented websites. One of them asks, "Did a miracle occur in your life that is a result of having seen and experienced the film...?" Responses are going to be v ideotaped and compiled for a documentary, "Changed Lives: Miracles of the Passion."

Returning to the darker side of humanity, a married couple in Georgia was arrested after a theological argument over "The Passion of the Christ" turned violent. Melissa Davidson suffered injuries on her arm and face, while husband Sean had a scissors stab wound on his hand (his shirt was ripped off as well). What was their dispute? Whether God the Father in the Holy Trinity was human or symbolic. Clearly, passions are aflame over The Passion of Christ, and we’re just getting warmed up!

But back to my point. How should Jewish people respond to all this clamor over Gibson’s cinematic phenomenon? In honor of that 1 st Century dialect Gibson utilized in his film, we’ll turn to an Aramaic Talmudic dictum for the answer. “Lav Achbar Ganav, ela Chora ganav.” (The mouse is not the thief the hole is the thief). In my assessment, the community’s over-reaction to perceived threats of violence, anti-Jewish sentiment, or a spike in evangelical proselytizing of Jews sorely misses the point. These concerns represent the proverbial red herring (or in this case white mouse) and should challenge us to look beneath the surface to better understand who we are and why we feel vulnerable or unsure of ourselves in light of the almost cult-like fervor millions of Fundamentalist Christians have attached to this film. (I read a clever line from an article by a prominent rabbi and author concerning negative critiques of The Passion, “If you mess with Mel, you are messing with God!”)

In my opinion, conscientious Jewish people should realize that provocative and faith-challenging events such as The Passion release should serve as a strong motivation to awaken more “Jewish Passion,” – for Judaism. (As a matter of fact, we launched just such a website www.JewishPassion.com the same day the movie was released) In other words, we have to ask the obvious question, “Where do we go from here?” How about these for starters?

• When is the last time we were passionate about God? Okay, maybe we wouldn’t turn out en masse for a viewing of, say, a remake of Ten Commandments (with or without Charlton Heston). But, we can revitalize our synagogue commitment to make them more exciting and “Jewser Friendly.”
• Why aren’t we passionate enough about Jewish study like our Christian counterparts? Boeing Company in the Pacific Northwest, for example, has dozens of recreational clubs available to employees. One of them is a Christian bible study group. Where are the Jewish Bible study groups?
• Do we have a passionate dream to make the world a better place, a place with more Godliness? This passion may not manifest itself into a $25 million blockbuster, but who knows?
• How about simply igniting a flame for more spirituality that is flickering somewhere in one of those recesses of our heart and needs a bit of stoking to bring that flame to its full incandescence!
• As Jews we have to overcome this collective Woody Allen-like inferiority complex that projects a nebbish posture as if we are ashamed of our traditions and faith. We should never be afraid to “show our colors.”

On that last note, I am reminded of the eloquence of John Adams, Harvard graduate and second President of the United States, as he articulated his sentiments concerning the Jewish people:

 

“They have done more to civilize men than any other Nation. They are the most glorious Nation that ever inhabited the earth. The Romans and their Empire were but a bauble in comparison to the Jews. They have given religion to three-quarters of the globe and have influenced the affairs of Mankind more, and more happily than any other Nation, ancient or modern.”

If John Adams was so passionate about the existence of the Jewish people, why can’t we?

*Rabbi Aaron Parry is Education Director for West Coast branch of Jews for Judaism. He is the author of a soon to be released book The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding the Talmud. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife and children.