It began with light-hearted predictable cultural criticisms. It was funny, for a while, and then the text turned to more serious “spoofs” such as “unintended cruelties effected by religious pure hearts.” A case in point was a discussion in which the protagonist became aware that he, a Jew, was somehow still seen as included in the responsibility of Jesus’ death. He laughingly proclaims that this is quite a feat in that it happened 2.000 years ago. I did not laugh. It became obvious to me that growing up Jewish in a Christian culture had a deep and enduring impact on him. It underscored for me the importance of addressing the continuing possibilities of the transmission of anti-Judaism in our Christian texts.
At this volatile time, with the growth of anti-Jewish Web sites like “Jew Watch,” and issues concerning Israeli and Palestinian peace, it seems critical to address the anti-Judaism possible to associate with the Lenten and Holy Week texts.
I urge that special attention be paid to the anti-Judaism that can be periodically interpreted from various Christian texts, but most especially those in the Easter season.
In her book, Preaching without Contempt, Marilyn Salmon, an Episcopal priest and professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in Minneapolis, states, “The historical and ongoing ability of Christian texts to communicate anti-Judaism and contribute to anti-Semitism is a fact and a continuing problem.” How do we incorporate this kind of awareness into the reading of, and preaching of, these texts?
Professor Salmon suggests careful consideration and clarification of context, of the time period of the writing and the intent of the writers. Thoughtful solutions vary. Jewish professor and scholar Daniel Boyarin from the University of California at Berkeley focuses on the meaning of the word “Jews” as being critically important in the Passion Narrative. Does the Greek word Ioudaioi, when translated as “Jews” pertain to a priestly establishment that claimed a spiritual superiority despised by the general population? Or Jewish officials put in place by, or afraid of, Rome? Most significantly, does it mean “Jews” as we use and understand the word today?
Professor Amy Jill Levine, a Jewish New Testament scholar who teaches at Vanderbilt University Divinity School writes that scholarship will not likely arrive at a universally accepted understanding. However, the persistent fact is that certain Lenten and Holy Week texts have historically been interpreted as anti-Jewish and continue to have that ongoing potential at every reading. Thus, she says, these “problematic texts” must, at the very least, undergo “merciful treatment.” The sensibility she suggests is what John Buchanan reflects in a pre-Easter editorial in The Christian Century magazine. “As I read those passages, I think of my friends Joe and Tony, Jews who are married to Presbyterians and who are sitting in the pew. I want to interrupt the reading and say. This doesn’t refer to all Jews.”
As a lay person, I would thus urge the transmitters of our tradition to acknowledge to their congregations this year, in their own creative ways, that the good news for Christians must in no way perpetuate bad news for Jews.
Ann Lewis of St. Paul, Minn., is a member of the House of Hope Presbyterian Church, a member of the St. Paul Interfaith Network, and the convener for a focus group for “Initiatives for Institutional Change.”
