Thursday
Nov 20th
| Visiting student Rabbi finds Passion Play polemic |
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| Written by GR Staff | |
| Saturday, 29 March 2008 | |
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"Do you want to go to the Passion procession this morning of Good Friday?" asked my host. Eager to see a locally enacted ritual during my visit to Ajijic, my host and I drove to the center of town, and we joined the throngs of people gathered to witness this annual ritual that would culminate on Easter morning.
Standing on the sidelines of the street, my host began to translate for me what was being called out by the small group of men who were leading Jesus to the Roman rulers. As he narrated, I felt tears come to my eyes, my throat tighten, and a sensation of fear grip my heart, for the group of men were acting the part of the Jews from the discredited part of the story of the Passion Play. Why the visceral reaction? For centuries, even up until 50 years ago here in Mexico, the Jewish people were warned to stay under cover during the Passion Plays; all too often, the passion for their story turned the Christian faithful into monsters who raped, pillaged, and murdered their Jewish neighbors. We left the plaza quickly, for I really no longer could simply be a spectator of a religious procession; it had taken on an all-too-real face of the painful history for my people: blood libels, torture, denigration and centuries of persecution and diaspora. I am here in Ajijic for 10 days because, as a student Rabbi, I am here to lead the thriving Jewish community that is located in this beautiful town. In much of the Catholic world, the more historically accurate story, that it was the Romans and not the Jews, who brought Jesus to trial and, ultimately, to his death, has replaced the anti-Semitic polemic. A number of years ago, the Church decreed that this change in the story was to take place. Why, I ask myself, has this not occurred in Ajijic? Surely the priests here received the message from the Pope to make that change in the narrative. It seems to me the word hasn't been absorbed by the Passion Play participants. It was uncomfortable to witness a religious ritual that is grounded in the defiling of an entire people, especially given the reality of a bloody history that was perpetrated by the Church upon the Jewish people. I yearn for the time when each faith tradition removes the historically false narratives from its ritualized celebrations, especially those which, for centuries, have caused unbelievable pain and suffering. As a soon-to-be Rabbi, as a Jew, as a woman and as a North American, I call upon the religious community here in this wonderful town to open a dialogue about this matter. I look forward to returning to Ajijic, to be with my fellow Jews and their holy neighbors; all of us are the faces of God, and it will become a wonderful world when we all treat each other with this in mind. Jan Salzman Student Rabbi Vermont |
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