Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 13 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 20 years, 10 months ago by
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How do Jewish people feel about the portrayal of Jews in the movie “The Passion of the Christ”?
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Name : Luz-M, City : New Lenox, State : IL, Country : United States,We couldn’t really care less. Why would we want to see a movie about Jesus and his death, anyway?
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Name : Emily25369, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 10, City : Annandale, State : VA, Country : United States, Social class : Upper middle class,I am not really a practicing Jew and haven’t been for many years and yet would still like to put in my view of what a Jew might think of that movie. The first thing that comes to mind is that when I was growing up we weren’t even aloud to say the word Christ as pertaining to Jesus. To a Jew Jesus was not the Christ, but only possibly a prophet or teacher and really doesn’t have anything to do with Judaism. For a Jew the bible as a christian knows it stops at the Old Testament-we are not taught the New Testament at all. So I would think that most Jews wouldn’t see the movie as any more than a movie and very sad. The portrayal of the Pharisees didn’t come across as incorrect to me considering all I have to go on is what I have heard from Chrisitan friends. From their standpoint it did seem correct. They wanted him killed and that is what they got.
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Name : Jenny, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 30, City : Birmingham, State : AL, Country : United States, Occupation : manager, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Over the years, the telling of the Passion has been used as a reason (and is associated with) violence against the Jews. Jews are portrayed as Christ-killers, which only serves to perpetuate these views (even though this has been denounced by the Vatican). While Christians may view the movie with one perspective, Jews are reminded of violence and prejudicial actions against them along with the stereotypical views. In addition, while the movie has not caused a backlash against Jews so much in this country, in Europe, Asia, and Middle East countries acts of anti-semitism have increased.
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Name : Jeff31191, City : Hartford, State : CT, Country : United States,Since no one has responded to this yet, I will post a short one. The real question about the ‘Passion’ should be whether or not it is anti-Christian. In any event, I consider the portrayal of Judaism and Jews in the film to definitely be anti-Judaic which in turn is the main reason for anti-semitism. With more conviction than in a Passion Play I saw recently in Arkansas, the film condemns an entire religion for being unethical, shortsighted, responsible for killing Jesus, and evil. Other than that it was the most tasteless splatter film I’ve ever seen.
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Name : O Shepard, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 60, City : Cedar Rapids, State : IA, Country : United States, Occupation : retired, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Jesus was a Jew. How do Christians feel about that?
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Name : Laura G., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 23, City : Brooklyn, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : media specialist, Education level : 4 Years of College,I cannot speak for all Jews, but I know that the Jewish community is distragught over some of the portrayals in The Passion of the Christ. For example, Caiaphas going to people and surreptitously enlisting their help in the conviction fo Jesus. The fact of the matter is that Pilate was known to be a particularly cruel governor, routinely torturing people for minor offenses. He was ruthless, and would not have been intimidated into passing a sentence. He especially would not have been influenced by someone with such a low position in Roman society as the Jews were at the time. The Jewish problem with the Passion in my community is that the movie makes it appear as if the Jews were largely responsible for the crucifiction. And this mistaken idea acts as fuel for anti-Semitism in today’s world. A local Jewish child in my community went to school shortly after the release of the movie and was accused by classmates of ‘killing Jesus.’ The other children said that they were told that the movie was true, and therefore the Jews must be bad people. It is fine to make a film about the life and death of Jesus, but I believe that The Passion was made in an irresponsible manner with little regard for actual DOCUMENTED Roman History.
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Name : Emily, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Jewish, Age : 27, City : Memphis, State : TN, Country : United States, Occupation : Designer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Oh come now! Jews have`nt cared cared about Jesus Christ for most nearly 2000 years.A movie is`nt going to change that!Jews who do not except Jesus as the son of God will except the anti christ and that will be their fatal undoing!
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Name : therocdoc24751, City : aurora, State : CO, Country : United States,I can’t speak for everyone who is Jewish, only for my friends and family and of course, for me. Some people found it frightening. In light of our past, it reminds us of the ‘programs’ which were just an excuse for anit-semetic acts, often instigated by Christian holidays or sermons that reminded them that ‘the Jews killed Jesus’ and resulted in acts of violence. Some felt very isolated in the theater where they watched a historical movie that others in the theater took as the truth. Still others, myself included, found it too violent to watch and did not go see it.
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Name : Dianne Shames, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 53, City : Media, State : PA, Country : United States, Occupation : College Professor, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,My family is Conservative Jewish and so are most of the other families we know–and they were all pretty suspicious of the movie even without seeing it, because of Mel Gibson’s background as much as the plot. One woman said her rabbi advised any curious moviegoers in the congregation to sneak in using a ticket to a different movie rather than let Gibson profit (!) In general they seemed to treat the movie, not as an act of anti-Semitism, but as something that might be a warning sign or a potential cause of it. As an ex-Jew, and one who’s therefore probably biased in the other direction, I did see the movie (without sneaking in)–and I differ. Yes, it does portray the Jewish characters as cruel, fanatical and solely guilty for Jesus’s crucifixion. But it makes clear that they’re not being evil for evil’s sake–they’re stamping out what they saw as heresy and possible schism the way any religious leader of that era would. I do think the Passion likely happened as Gibson portrayed it (minus the miracles), I don’t think those events or the movie say anything about the character of modern Jews, and I doubt it’ll inspire hate in anyone who didn’t feel it already.
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Name : A-I, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 22, City : West Hartford, State : CT, Country : United States, Occupation : programmer, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,There is fear in the Jewish community that the labeling of all Jews as ‘Christ killers,’ a concept most major Christian denominations have condemned, will be reawakened, especially among the more fanatical and lesser educated, both within the Christian and Moslem communities. Here is some historical information that might explain, in my opinion, what most Jews feel is the correct responce to your question: Jesus was born, lived and died a Jew. He observed Judaism including the Jewish Sabbath and holidays. Every one of his disciples and followers were Jews. The description of a ‘virgin birth’ quoted by Matthew is a mistranslation of the Hebrew Bible that says, ‘a young woman shall give birth.’ Jesus committed no crime of blasphemy and therefore committed no crime against Judaism. The Sanhedrin, which supposedly found him ‘guilty,’ would never meet on a Jewish holy day. The punishment of crucifixion was a Roman form of punishment used against those convicted of treason against the Roman rulers. Pontius Pilate was one of the cruelest Roman governors who later on was recalled by Rome because of his appallingly cruel and vindictive acts towards those over whom he ruled. Such a man would not be swayed by the Jews he ruled. Even if he did claim to be the Messiah, Jesus was only one of many during that time period to do so. The most famous in Jewish tradition was Bar Kochba, who led a rebellion against the Romans some 100 years after Jesus. The doctrines Jesus taught were consistent with Judaism. It is the doctrine about Jesus where Judaism and Christianity part. In essence, Jesus was a good Jew, who like all public figures had enemies, supporters, and many indifferent to his preaching and deeds.
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Name : Mark22064, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 40, City : Philadelphia, State : PA, Country : United States, Social class : Middle class,The rampant mistreatment of Jews by the Romans is well portrayed by the brutality they wreaked on Jesus. What is not shown is that Jesus was only one of over half a million Jews killed by the Romans just as brutally. The rubbish about the sneering priests in the movie is par for the course, and actually rather tame compared to the libels against Jews seen in Passion plays throughout the US only 35 years ago. All in all, the hubbub about the movie’s (and Mel Gibson’s) anti-semitism was mostly just hype that made all Jews look like fearmongering whiners (thanks a lot, Abe Foxman, you did it again), and did a great job of promoting the movie. The people who should REALLY be upset about this movie are children’s rights advocates, who should have loudly protested people (otherwise devout Christians) taking their kids to see what amounted to nothing more than a snuff film supposedly based on a religious story. Even moreso, the Christians themselves should be protesting, since Gibson claimed that his film was based on the Gospels, when clearly it was based on very selective readings which supported the twisted plot, but which, overall, give a pretty warped portrayal of ‘the Passion’.
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Name : Tomer, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : human, Religion : Jewish, Age : 32, City : Eau Claire, State : WI, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I have refused to watch the movie so far, I am Jewish but my Christian wife has watched it. It left her very upset. But she claims that Jews were not unfairly portrayed in the movie. But judging from what I read about Mel Gibson, his family and his upbringing, I would guess he does have some prejudice towards Jews. I personally won’t watch the movie because I don’t like watching 2 hours of someone being beaten, abused, tortured and then killed. Judging by my wife’s reaction to the movie, it’s not something I want to see. I personally believe the Jesus Christ was a great man, an excellent teacher and someone’s whose values and morals should be followed by all people. As for being the son of God, the vote is still out on that one for me. So to answer your question, I am very sensitive to any sort of prejudice when it comes to Jews. I don’t like being held responsible for ‘killing Christ’, or from hording money from Christians, or being in control of the media. So if the movie portrays Jews in that kind of light, I would have to say I’m offended. Sorry I haven’t actually seen it, maybe someone who has can comment better on this.
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Name : Lee, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 42, City : Seattke, State : WA, Country : United States, Occupation : Graphics Designer, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,I would say most Jews are offended by how they are portrayed in the passion. What is really sad about ‘The Passion’ is that most people who blame the Jews are misguided on three levels: 1) Christians understand that Jesus was meant to die. I think enlightened Christians would tell you that the local Jews of that time did nothing but act as a device to help Jesus achieve his destiny. 2) You can’t blame all Jews for the actions of a select few. Pilate and the Pharisees would’ve silenced any threat to the peace or themselves during Passover. They saw the outspoken Jesus as a threat. 3) The passion plays themselves (on which the movie is based) were used during several points in history to incite anger towards the Jews. The Crudades, the Inquisition, the Nazis: all used the Passion as a reason to kill and torture Jews.
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Name : Thomas Berkeley Goodloe, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 27, City : Richmond, State : VA, Country : United States, Occupation : Banking, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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