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Two More on The Passion
Feb. 22nd, 2004 07:34 pmRabbi David Klinghofer:
According to people who have seen a rough cut, Gibson's film depicts the death of Christ as occurring at the hands of the Romans but at the instigation of Jewish leaders, the priests of the Jerusalem Temple. The Anti-Defamation League charges that this recklessly stirs anti-Jewish hatred and demands that the film be edited to eliminate any suggestion of Jewish deicide.
But like the Christian Gospels that form the basis of Gibson's screenplay, Jewish tradition acknowledges that our leaders in first-century Palestine played a role in Jesus' execution. If Gibson is an anti-Semite, so is the Talmud and so is the greatest Jewish sage of the past 1,000 years, Maimonides.
Tom Piatak:
To Gibson’s credit, he has largely outmaneuvered his critics and provided an object lesson in how to win a battle in the Culture War, by staking out his position and refusing to back down. He has largely ignored the critics’ calls for “sensitivity” and “dialogue,” cultivating instead conservative Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox who share his belief in the Gospels, as well as conservative Jews who appreciate Gibson’s sincerity and see in the Gospels something other than antisemitism.
According to people who have seen a rough cut, Gibson's film depicts the death of Christ as occurring at the hands of the Romans but at the instigation of Jewish leaders, the priests of the Jerusalem Temple. The Anti-Defamation League charges that this recklessly stirs anti-Jewish hatred and demands that the film be edited to eliminate any suggestion of Jewish deicide.
But like the Christian Gospels that form the basis of Gibson's screenplay, Jewish tradition acknowledges that our leaders in first-century Palestine played a role in Jesus' execution. If Gibson is an anti-Semite, so is the Talmud and so is the greatest Jewish sage of the past 1,000 years, Maimonides.
Tom Piatak:
To Gibson’s credit, he has largely outmaneuvered his critics and provided an object lesson in how to win a battle in the Culture War, by staking out his position and refusing to back down. He has largely ignored the critics’ calls for “sensitivity” and “dialogue,” cultivating instead conservative Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox who share his belief in the Gospels, as well as conservative Jews who appreciate Gibson’s sincerity and see in the Gospels something other than antisemitism.