DISPATCHES By Hank Kalet: Gibson film should open Americans’ eyes to ant-Semitism.
By: Hank Kalet
The reactions to Mel Gibson’s latest film, "The Passion of the Christ," betray what I think is a dangerous divide in the American psyche.
The general response to the film seems to fall into two camps: the believing Christians who wish to take the film as a true rendering of the Gospels and see no anti-Semitism on the screen and Jews who view the Passion story as one steeped in anti-Semitism and blame.
Basically, one’s response depends on where one comes from both religiously and politically. Many of the believing Christians interviewed by news outlets around the country said they were deeply affected by the film. They said they saw no anti-Semitism and said that the film offered a close reading of the biblical text and that what was portrayed was historical and religious truth.
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Most Jews who have seen the film conservative pundit and film critic Michael Medved is one of the few exceptions I’ve come across were troubled by the central role the character of the Jewish High Priest Caiphas plays in the decision to crucify Jesus and the way in which Pontius Pilate is portrayed as an indecisive and tortured executioner, not the brutal killer he actually was.
The softening of the Pilate character, Jewish critics argue, changes the dynamics of the biblical story, stripping responsibility from a Roman military government seeking to instill order and laying it at the feet of the Jewish hierarchy. Is it any wonder Jewish critics are concerned?
So who’s right, here? And what does the wide chasm between Christian and Jewish opinion tell us?
I haven’t seen the film and have no plans to see it (as a Jew, I feel that I’m not part of the target audience) so, I can’t and won’t offer the kind of textual analysis that others can offer.
But then, this column is not so much about the film, but the reactions to it. "The Passion of the Christ" has become a cultural phenomenon disconnected from the actual film and there is something to be gained by looking at this reaction. "The Passion of the Christ" grossed about $120 million in its first weekend and somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million to date, the kind of numbers usually reserved for a blockbuster action flick, and the response among moviegoers has been mostly positive.
Yet, the fact remains that Jews and non-Jews are viewing this film through very difference lenses. Allyson Gall, director of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, told a Feb. 29 forum at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Princeton (I am quoting from our sister paper, The Princeton Packet) that passion plays which is what "The Passion of the Christ" essentially is historically led to violence. It is that history, she said, that colors Jewish response to the film and that too many Christians just do not understand.
Because of that history, says Rabbi David Eligberg of Congregation B’nai Tikvah on Finnegans Lane, Jews have a right to feel concerned.
"It is a powerful movie," he told a South Brunswick Area Clergy Association forum, also held Feb. 29. "It impacts on a visceral level and that’s just what I’m scared of."
The fears in regard to the film may seem a bit overblown at this point, but given recent history I would hope that non-Jews can understand why we Jews might be a little concerned. Anti-Semitism is becoming more prevalent again and not just in the Arab world and Europe, but in the United States, as well.
The Anti-Defamation League says the number of anti-Semitic incidents rose 8 percent in 2002, the last year for which statistics are available nationally. The ADL also reported that there were two dozen anti-Semitic incidents in New York City in November 2003, compared with 10 during the same month in 2002.
And while there was a 23 percent decrease in the number of bias crime incidents in New Jersey in 2002, the number in which Jews were victimized 193 remained the same.
Obviously, these incidents are unrelated to the Gibson film. I only mention them to underscore that there remains, even here, an undercurrent of anti-Semitism in the culture.
Again, I have not seen the film, but the responses have been mixed in terms of its portrayal of Jews and whether it may foster anti-Semitism. The ADL and many other critics most notably Frank Rich in The New York Times and Christopher Hitchens on Slate, neither of whom is Jewish say it is.
The response from many Christian viewers and pundits like liberal talk show host Tavis Smiley is that the film is faithful to the Gospels.
"It is clear from the Gospels and the doctrine that the Jews killed Christ," Noel Ilogu said at a forum sponsored last week by the South Brunswick Area Clergy Association. He said that while the Romans physically executed Jesus, it was the Jewish crowd that demanded he be crucified.
Christopher Jennings of Cranford told The New York Times that charges of anti-Semitism were misguided because "the Jews at that time wanted Jesus to be crucified. He was betrayed by his own people. It won’t cause anybody to hate them now. I don’t hate any Jews. If anything, this movie will touch a lot of hearts."
The Rev. Frank Strasburger, associate rector of Trinity Church, however, is troubled by this response. He said at the Princeton forum that the "Passion of John is a deeply anti-Jewish story." But that just makes it more important for Christians to find ways to keep the dialogue open with Jews.
"Mel Gibson didn’t make it up," he said. "He gets it out of the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Matthew. The onus is on us."
I would add that the onus is on all of us. As Jews, we have a responsibility to identify what we perceive as anti-Semitism, to call out those who engage in the stereotyping of and discrimination against not just Jews, but blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and any group that faces bias or hatred.
And Christians have a responsibility to keep the lines of dialogue open and to avoid the kind of broad-based blame that has plagued relations between Christians and Jews in the past.
Perhaps the response to a desecration of a synagogue in Denver can point the way. After the synagogue was vandalized with swastikas and Nazi symbols on the eve of Purim, about 300 people from various faiths turned out to clean it up, according to the Associated Press.
"This is a place for everyone," area resident Doug Mix told the AP. "That is why everyone is here. There are Christians, Jews, Muslims and people who are not religious. We all came out here because America is still America, and we don’t tolerate this."
I couldn’t have said it any better.
Hank Kalet is managing editor of the South Brunswick Post and the Cranbury Press. He can be reached via e-mail by clicking here.