Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   EDITORIAL Friday, March 12, 2004 Jews, Christians respect one another across great divide of faith The recent gathering of Jewish and Catholic leaders at the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation to discuss Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” demonstrated clearly what a well-respected rabbi said a few years ago: Jewish/Christian dialogue is all about learning to respect each other’s traditions and loving one’s brothers and sisters. It is not about conversion or even agreement. We are never going to look at faith in the same way. The frank discussion concerning this powerful but divisive film was conducted with genuine goodwill and sincerity on both sides. Members of both faith communities expressed appreciation that the dialogue was taking place; members of both groups voiced a desire that such working together might grow beyond dialogue sessions into fruitful action that will benefit the broader community. These are laudable results. But the disparity in viewpoints displayed in the discussions demonstrated anew in stark fashion the great gulf existing between good people of sincere faith when it comes to the question of who Jesus Christ is, and how His life and death should be understood and depicted. For Jews, Christ was a rabbi among rabbis and a prophet among prophets; for Christians, He is the Word made flesh, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Redeemer, the Savior, the Son of Man, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings who suffered and died to redeem us from sin. No amount of dialogue, however well intentioned, can totally eradicate this great divide. Whatever one may think of Gibson’s film artistically, the real issue for Jews is whether it will enflame passions once more against a people who have endured centuries of suffering, most recently in the Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis. This is a completely understandable and totally legitimate concern, and is in fact one expressed as well by many Christians who have viewed the film. The great irony, as anyone who has participated in the Jewish/Christian dialogue sessions in this or any other diocese must know, is that huge strides have been made in understanding the Jewish roots of Christianity in the past 50 years, particularly with regard to the Jewishness of Jesus and the centrality of the Old Testament (Hebrew) Scriptures as an underpinning for New Testament (Christian) biblical scholarship. As Jewish leaders at the recent session acknowledged, perhaps somewhat less progress has been made among some Jewish communities in understanding what Jesus means to Christians and what the New Testament includes. Regardless, those involved in dialogue sessions such as these already know and value the rich history that these two faith traditions have shared down through the centuries. Viewing “The Passion of the Christ” is not likely to stir up anti-Jewish feeling among mainline Christians who have had contact and dialogue with Jewish friends and neighbors; it is the fringe elements, those looking for an excuse to blame Jews for the ills of the world, who may twist the message of the film to their own ends. The unfortunate reality is that there are all too many such persons in the world, from Osama bin Laden down to the trenches of a variety of terrorist organizations around the globe. One can come out of a dialogue session on “The Passion of the Christ” disheartened by the divisions that still separate our two faith groups, or filled with hope at the progress that has been made in only a few decades to alleviate centuries of misunderstanding and mistrust. The divisions and differences are real. But that we should, and must, continue the dialogue and the hard work necessary to deepen the respect, understanding and friendship between the Jewish and Christian communities can never be in doubt. — Lou Jacquet/Editor   Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   Other Articles of 2004   Democrats’ consideration of modified abortion stance welcome   Coach’s dismissal gives some insight into America’s psyche   Arafat’s death an opening, but Middle East peace remains elusive   The presidential campaign: ‘A pox on both their houses’?   150,000 and more put aside scandals, embrace beacon of hope   When Catholic schools close, parents must shoulder some of the blame   Jews, Christians respect one another across great divide of faith   Latest ‘civil war’ pits defenders of marriage against courts   Civility in short supply as nation faces a barroom brawl   Catholic publications ‘speak truth to power’ nationwide, up north   Past Articles From 2003