Gość: dana33
IP: *.adsl.actcom.co.il
08.03.04, 13:01
mozna i tak tez, nie? :)
SHABBES SERMON
FEBRUARY 28, 2004
RABBI MITCHELL WOHLBERG
"Should a Jew See Mel Gibson's 'Passion'?"
Today I want to provide an answer to a question I've been asked quite often
in recent weeks, one that a rabbi never before had to confront. Question?
As a Jew, should we see Mel Gibson's movie, "The Passion?"
Outside of his family, my father's greatest pride and joy was his library.
It was one of the largest rooms in the house. My father found no glory in
cars or boats or summer homes. His greatest physical possession was his
library. All four walls of the room from ceiling to floor, lined with
thousands of books, almost all of them in Hebrew. The books were stacked so
tight that my brothers and I used to use them as a wall to play a mini-
version of handball ... something we made sure our father never saw. But
there was something in that library that my father tried to make sure that we
would never see. It was one book hidden behind all the others. But each of
us, in our own way, somehow found it. It was a copy of the New Testament.
That's where rabbis used to keep a copy of the New Testament. My father in
his sermons never even referred to Jesus by name; calling him the Nazarene.
And here I am, a rabbi openly being asked by Jews whether they should see a
movie enti tled, "The Passion of the Christ!"
There has been much discussion about this movie, much concern expressed about
it by Jewish leaders. I, for one, had taken no position on the movie; a
movie that describes what some have called "the greatest story ever told." I
had this rather novel idea that one shouldn't speak about something they had
not seen. But this Tuesday I saw it. I had been invited to a screening of
it for religious leaders and had been asked to bring along another person who
could understand and discuss the theologic ramifications of the movie. So I
took along my son, Jonathan, a well-known theologian who did not mind missing
a re-run of The Simpsons in order to see the movie. Besides, shouldn't
a father and son watch a movie about someone who is considered by many both
the father and son?
So now, I have an answer to those who asked: should a Jew see this movie?
And in giving my answer, I suspect I will be violating a rabbinic dictate
which teaches, "Ein gozrin gezeirah al ha-tzibbur elah im rov tzibbur
yecholin la-amod baw ...," that a rabbi should not offer a judgment that most
people are not going to follow. I know that many of you are going to see the
movie; if only out of curiosity or to see what everyone is talking about.
Despite that, I still have to tell you, when asked if a Jew should see this
movie, my answer is: No! Why should you?
First of all, you know the end! Who goes to a movie that they already know
the end to?
Second, the end is: someone dies and the Jews are blamed. "Same old, same
old." That same story has been repeated so many times, in so many different
ways; how many times can you watch it and still be interested?
Third, Mel Gibson made the movie available for advanced viewing for selected
groups across the country. "Selected" meaning Christians, but not Jews! If
we weren't allowed in when it was shown for free, why pay now? Is it only
Jewish money that counts and not our opinion?
Fourth, a Jew shouldn't see this movie because I don't think it is a very
good movie. And many movie critics agree. The Baltimore Sun movie critic
compared it to "The Exorcist," labeling it "just a religious exploitation
film." The New York Times writes, "This film seems to arise less from love
than from wrath, and to succeed more in assaulting the spirit than in
uplifting it." New Yorker Magazine's David Denby, called the movie "one of
the cruelest movies in the history of cinema; a sickening death trip." So,
what's in it for a Jew? It certainly is not entertaining and, in fact, it is
not really educational. You learn nothing about Jesus' Jewish roots or why
some Jews considered him the Messiah, while most didn't. All you will learn
as a Jew is that the fat High Priest and the vengeful, blood-thirsty Jewish
mob insisted on his death! Which brings us to the next reason for Jews not
seeing the movie:
The movie is a little hazardous to our health. More people are going to get
their impression of what happened in Jesus' last hours from this movie than
perhaps all the other movies and plays about this topic over the centuries,
combined! What they are going to see certainly doesn't make the Jews look
good; quite the contrary, it goes out of its way to make us look bad. And
many Christian organizations are already planning to use the movie as a
missionary tool to get people to convert to Christianity. I have this
brochure which offers for sale Passion post-cards, Passion color banners,
Passion door hangers, Passion impact cards labeling the movie, "Perhaps the
best outreach opportunity in 2000 years." If that be the case, you tell me
why a Jew should see it?
And besides, the movie you're going to see is a very different movie from
what a Christian is going to see. Christians are going to see their Lord
tortured, killed and resurrected. For Christians this will be an inspiring
experience. Jews are going to see why we've been presented as "Christ
killers," a label that has caused us unimaginable pain and agony for 2000
years.
And this leads to what is perhaps the most important reason that a Jew should
not see this movie. More than a Jewish problem, this movie is a Christian
problem. In making this movie, Mel Gibson was not simply attacking the Jews
of 2000 years ago, he was attacking his own church of today. The very making
of this movie runs counter to what the Catholic Church stands for today.
Stories of the Passion are nothing new. Passion plays and music, most
certainly contributed to anti-Semitism down through the ages, depicting Jews
as evil killers of God. After the Holocaust, the second Vatican Council came
to the realization that these portrayals must end once and for all. In 1997,
Pope John Paul II said that "erroneous and unjust interpretations of the New
Testament regarding the Jewish people and their alleged culpability (for the
crucifixion) have circulated for too long, rendering feelings of hostility
toward this people." The Pope recognized what Passion plays have led t o,
and has encouraged Catholics to revise and reconsider such presentations.
And the presentation that was considered the worst of all - the Passion play
at Omerammergau - which Hitler praised, presented a revised version several
years ago. Indeed, New York's Cardinal Edward Egan found it necessary this
week to write a letter to be read tomorrow in all the churches in his diocese
about the movie, warning that "one may legitimately question whether such a
representation exceeds the limits of propriety, good taste or artistic
authenticity."
So why doesn't Mel Gibson, a good Roman Catholic, listen to his own Pope?
Because he is part of a conservative branch of Catholicism that doesn't
accept the Pope; the doesn't accept the changes made by the second Vatican
Council. Rather, he sees things from his own distorted perspective.
I don't want to tell you too much about the movie because it has given me
enough sermon material to last me a year. But for now let me just give you
one example of what I mean. Mel Gibson's version of The Passion is "R"
rated, because of the violence it has in it. Now you know, in our day and
age, to get an "R" rating because of violence ... you gotta have a lot of
violence! And this movie most certainly has it; with everything ranging
from, as one critic put it, the Jewish priests "spit, slap and verbally abuse
him (Jesus)," to Jewish guards
