c. 2000 Religion News Service

(Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.)

(UNDATED) I had hoped the 2000 production of the world-famous Oberammergau Passion Play would at last be purged of all anti-Jewish elements. But a study of an English translation of the German language text reveals this will not happen, and I am profoundly disappointed.

According to tradition, the plague that swept Germany in 1633 spared the Bavarian village of Oberammergau, and in gratitude, the townspeople promised to honor God by performing a play the following year depicting the death of Jesus. The tradition has survived and on May 21, the play once again will be presented.

The elaborate production held every 10 years is nearly six hours in length, and is produced, directed, staged and performed by Oberammergau (population 5,350) residents. The six months of performances will attract some 500,000 viewers from around the world and ticket sales will exceed $30 million.

Americans will comprise the largest number of visitors, and alumni associations of several U.S. universities, including Harvard and Wesleyan, have scheduled trips to the play.

From its inception the Oberammergau production, like almost all other similar dramatizations, contained many negative anti-Jewish elements. Critics charged the production conveyed the pernicious belief that the Jewish people then _ and now _ are guilty of Jesus’ death and as result must endure collective punishment from God for their alleged “crime.” They further charged the play was strongly supersessionist: the belief that Christianity theologically triumphed over Judaism.

But with the end of World War II and the Holocaust, along with the positive teachings of the Second Vatican Council, many religious leaders publicly called for radical reform of the script, costuming, music and staging to eliminate anti-Jewish elements.

Since 1970 I have worked with Oberammergau leaders in seeking such reforms. That involvement included a visit to the play’s 350th anniversary performance in 1984, a virulent anti-Semitic production.

During the past 30 years, the AJC made many specific recommendations regarding the play, and AJC representatives participated in a series of conferences and face-to-face meetings with Oberammergau officials that focused on reforming the production. The goal was always the removal of all anti-Jewish elements from the play.

I became especially hopeful when the Oberammergau reform camp won a closely fought referendum in the mid-1990s authorizing a serious and systematic overhaul of the production’s negative aspects. And indeed there will be many positive changes this year, including the elimination of the horrific judgment scene of earlier productions that had 250 men, women and children on the large outdoor stage shouting for Jesus’ death by crucifixion _ a Roman form of capital punishment: “We take his blood upon us and upon our children.” This chilling blood curse from the book of Matthew will not appear in the 2000 performances.

Because 2000 marks the start of the Christian millennium, the American Jewish Committee urged Oberammergau reformers to create an entirely new play reflecting the positive gains in Christian-Jewish relations as well as modern biblical scholarship while still providing a spiritually satisfying experience for the audience.

Unfortunately, this did not happen and the 2000 Passion Play, despite the constructive changes, still reflects many of the problems of the basic text written in the mid-19th century. While I am deeply appreciative of the positive reforms, the text remains deeply flawed and still contains anti-Jewish elements.

Nor am I alone in this assessment. I formally requested eight prominent scholars of religion, including Catholics, Jews and Protestants, to independently study the text. The scholars welcomed the positive changes from previous scripts, but they also expressed serious concerns about the script’s overall themes.

The scholars understood the Oberammergau Passion Play is much more than a text. The production is akin to an opera with rich costuming, dramatic staging, complex scenery and evocative music. While no script can convey the total theatrical experience, it is also true that the text is the central component of the play. The scholars were aware the script might be amended before the performances begin, and hopefully any final changes will improve the text.

With these caveats in mind, the scholars carefully analyzed the script. Their findings reflect a general dissatisfaction with the text, and several scholars were especially critical, including the Rev. John Pawlikowski of Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union who attended a 1984 performance.

After studying this year’s text, he wrote: “…the Jewish priests are portrayed as totally wicked and ultimately responsible for Jesus’ death. … While one can detect some effort to make it more acceptable … it is far too minimal. Christian visitors deserve something better.”

DEA END RUDIN