Decide Debate

Deborah Pardo

February 11, 2004

NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2004 -- Mel Gibson's upcoming film "The Passion of the Christ" sparked further debate last night when more than 750 Jews and Christians poured into a large room at the Hilton hotel in Manhattan to consider the question of who killed Jesus.

Unlike two years ago, when Shmuley Boteach, the popular Lubavitch rabbi, and Michael Brown, a messianic Jew, argued the messianic claims of Jesus, this time the panelists kept their tone passionate but amiable, joked and often agreed with each other.

"This is a Jew-Jew discussion about the most important Jew who ever lived," Brown said in his opening statement.

Brown spent his first five minutes condemning the Christian church for its history of persecutions of Jews brought about by the deicide charge -- that Jews killed Jesus. Downplaying the historical events, Brown preferred to emphasize the more theological perspective that blames the death of Jesus on all of humanity for its sins.

Christians, who made up a little more than half the audience, responded to many of Brown's assertions with cries of "Amen!"

Boteach thanked Chosen People Ministries, a messianic organization that sponsored the evening, for not placing any restrictions on what he could say.

Boteach began by placing the guilt for Jesus' death on the Romans and called for a Jewish reclamation of Jesus from the gentiles.

"I think it's time to take back Jesus from the anti-Semitic Christians," cried Boteach. "He's one of us."

Boteach also expressed his admiration for evangelical Christians who support Israel and espouse moral values similar to Orthodox Jews. He said he feared the bonds that have developed betweens Christians and Jews would be undone by Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" which is set to open in theaters on February 25.

Gibson, who belongs to a traditionalist Catholic splinter group that rejects the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in 1965 -- which repudiated the deicide charge against the Jews -- has said that he wanted "The Passion" to portray the intense violence of the last 12 hours of Jesus' life.

While the debate itself focused less on the film than on the wider issues between Jews and messianic Jews -- Jews who believe Jesus to be the messiah -- both speakers had clear thoughts about the film's potential consequences.

"This is bad for evangelicals because Mel Gibson is closing Jewish hearts to Jesus," said Boteach at a pre-debate press conference.

Many evangelical groups have openly supported the "The Passion" hoping its message will affect viewers nationwide.

"I think it will be impossible for anybody Jewish or not to walk out of a movie theater and not be asking themselves 'who is this man Jesus?'" said Kyle Fisk, executive administrator for the National Association of Evangelicals, the largest network of evangelical Christians in North America.

Unlike most leaders in the Jewish community, Fisk saw two screenings of the film and said he thinks that it will advance rather than set back Jewish-Christian relations.

Both Brown and Mitch Glaser, the president of Chosen People Ministries, admitted that messianic Jews don't completely agree with the positive evangelical approach to the film.

"Messianic Jews are not quite as enthusiastic as evangelicals because we understand the raw nerve that this is touching," said Glaser. While Glaser said he believes that some Jews had a part in the death of Jesus, he said the problem arose when the death was blamed on all Jews for all time.

Many Jewish groups are concerned the scenes in the film with Jews calling for Jesus' death could ignite new waves of anti-Semitism, similar to how the Passion plays during the middle ages fueled persecution. In response to the fears, the Anti-Defamation League has requested that Gibson present a postscript to the film denouncing anti-Semitism.

The Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, an umbrella organization for 90 messianic congregations, has also released a statement asking Gibson to repudiate Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism and wants him to include a rider to the film clarifying that only a small number of Jews demanded Jesus' death.

Its statement said that Jews and Christians would see the film through different lenses. Christians will base their opinions on its accuracy in relation to the Bible, while Jews will evaluate it according to their historical experiences with Christianity.

"I'm with the side of history, as much as we know the Jews did not kill Jesus," said Leo Shliselberg, 77, an observant Jewish man who attended the debate. Shliselberg said he would not watch the film or any of Gibson's future productions.

Although Boteach has encouraged boycotting the $25-million film, Boteach and Brown both plan to see it.

"I can say for a fact that if there's anything that comes out in the way of misunderstanding or anti-Semitic venom from that film my voice will be as loud as Shmuley's to fight against it, protest it and expose it," said Brown.

Reporter Deborah Pardo may be reached at dep2103@columbia.edu.

(Updated Feb. 18, 2004)