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Oberammergau Passion Play To Delete Anti-Semitism
tZ Three Jewish human relations
| agencies this week expressed
_j gratification at the announcement
Z of changes in the script of the
^ Oberammergau Passion Play held
3 every ten years in the Bavarian
“ village from which it takes its
3 name.
■n The current text, last performed
® in 1970, was written 100 years ago
_and contained numerous
£ references to Jews as having been
> responsible for the crucifixion of
- Jesus.
3 Rahbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, in-
’i tcrreligious affairs director of the
i» American Jewish Committee, call-
| ed the decision a “significant break
» through in the decades-long
rj struggle of enlightened Christians
^ and Jews to uproot the poisonous
3 weeds of prejudice and anti-Jewish
ji> hatred that the Oberammergau
Passion Play kept alive and nur
tured among millions of Christians
across several centuries, and par
ticularly in Nazi Germany . .
The Anti-Defamation League of
B’nai B’rith welcomed the
reported changes “if they are real
changes” and not an exchange of
“one set of anti-Semitic references
for another.”
Rabbi Leon Klenicki, director
of ADL’s department of Jewish-
Catholic relations, noting that the
proposed script, written in 1750 by
the Benedictine priest Ferdinand
Rosner, reportodly ‘makes less
mention of the Jews’ and blames
Lucifer for Jesus’ death. Rabbi
Klenicki said it is important to
point out that in medieval times,
Jews were charged with being
'agents of the devil’ and some texts
even refer to Jews as the children
of Lucifer.
The American Jewish Congress,
which launched an international
campaign nearly nine years ago to
eliminate anti-Semitism in the
presentaton, said, “It is welcome
Minyan Survey Shows
Conservatives Slow
To Count Women
The controversial 1973 decision
to permit women in Conservative
congregations to be counted in the
minyan — which continues to roil
some Conservative rabbis — has
resulted in “very little ferment and
much apathy” in those con
gregations about the ruling, accor
ding to a survey made by the
Women’s League for Conservative
Judaism.
Results of the 1974 survey were
described in the current issue of the
Women's League “Outlook." A
questionnaire, devised to in
vestigate the role of women in the
areas of congregational ad
ministration, education and ritual,
was sent to the president of each of
the sisterhoods of the movement’s
800 synagogues. Mrs. Jerome
Dick, reporting on the findings,
declared that 437 sisterhoods,-
more than half,, “a remarkable
return," had responded.
Mrs. Dick reported that the data
showed that some practices
providing a significant role for
women members “have been
almost universally accepted within
the Conservative movement."
Mixed seating is “an accepted and
expected situation." A widow or a
single woman may become ai
member of a congregation “with
fuH rights, privileges and respon
sibilities." The Conservative syn
agogue religious school "provides
not only equal educational oppor
tunities but the same curriculum”
for both boys_ and girls, “which
leads directly to the fact that Bat
Mitzva has become firmly es
tablished, although the mode of
observance is varied."
While only 21 Conservative con
gregations were reported to have
or have had women presidents,
women have been elected to the
other most important offices and
significant chairmanships in more
than two-third of the responding
synagogues. Slightly more than a
fourth of the responding syn
agogues do not give husband and
wife individual voice and vote but,
Mrs. Dick noted, in many syn
agogues, husband and wife have
equal congregational status in a
ballot representing a family vote.
The poll showed that women are
in a position to “influence action
and to guide or initiate policy" on
ritual practices in 92 percent of the
responding congregations, through
election as officers or appointment
as chairmen or members of
religious or ritual committees, but
there nevertheless seemed to be
“very little ferment and much
apathy in the area of religious
ritual," according to Mrs. Dick.
As one of the examples, a fin
ding was cited that only 23.8
percent of the responding con
gregations count women in a
quorum for a minyan. Only 19.9
percent ask a woman — other than
the Bat Mitzva — “to chant a
Haftarah." Only 16.8 percent ask
women — again other than the Bat
Mitzva — to serve as cantor, the
poll showed.
In sharp contrast to complaints
by some Conservative rabbis that
the decision on women as possible
minyan members was a step in the
direction of Reform Judaism and
that the decision had embroiled
them in congregational battles
between friends and foes of the
decision, Mrs. Dick declared it was
“surprising" that so few Conser
vative -congregations seemed even
to be discussing that decision and
other ritual practices affecting
women members. The poll found
that only 41 of the responding syn
agogues — “barely ten percent” —
reported that they had the coun
ting of women for a minyan
“under discussion."
Two-thirds of the responding
synagogues reported that aliyot
were not given to women
members, other than to a Bat
Mitzva, while only 31 con
gregations — 7'/i percent — had
that practice under discussion.
Mrs. Dick asserted that the fin
dings "strongly suggest" an
"overwhelming” silent majority
which seemed to be “somewhat
unmoved" by the resolution of the
Committee on Law and Standards
of the Rabbinical Assembly, the
association of Conservative rabbis,
regarding “a more active role for
women in the rituals of the syn
agogue, or by the hue and cry
which seems to be emanating from
what is evidently a small percent
age of our Conservative women."
(Copyright 1975, JTA)
news that the people of
Oberammergau have finally come
to appreciate the importance of
presenting the Crucifixion play
with fidelity to the Biblical text
and with regard to the sensibilities,
rights and dignity of other
religious faiths.”
Artists, writers and church
leaders supported the American
Jewish Athletes—
— CONTINUED FROM PAGES
although born right in New York
City.
One day he came to me and
,said, “Haskell, I have an idea I
think we should carry out.” It
developed that he wanted to form a
Fellowship of Jewish Athletes
similar to the Fellowship of Chris
tian Athletes. I explained to him
that the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes was based on religious
faith and that was the prime func
tion for these athletes to organize.
It was comprised, and still is, of
those non-Jewish athletes who are
religious, moral and upright. In
the course of my conversation with
my co-worker, it developed that he
had never had a Bar Mitzva. It just
happened that his father, a
foreigner by birth, never gave him
a Jewish education.
As a result of my findings of this
nature over the years, I prefer to
write, whenever possible, about
sports in Israel. I feel and believe
that readers in the United States of
the English-Jewish press are con
cerned about the State of Israel,
whether they are religiously inclin
ed or not. In my investigation and
many trips to the Holy Land I
have also, unfortunately, found out
that as Israel goes politically so
goes their sports programming.
Now that the Russian-Arab bloc is
keying in on Israel from every
direction — politically and
diplomatically — they are trying
to parallel their ecpnomic and
political boycotts in the sports
world. Fortunately for Israel, there
are still some democratically in
clined sportsmen around the world
who still look upon sports as a
separate domain from politics, and
while they may not agree with
Jewish Congress in its efforts.
In July of I942, Adolf Hitler
praised the drama, saying .. it is
vital that the Passion Play be con
tinued at Oberammergau; for
never has the menace of Jewry
been so convincingly portrayed as
in this presentation of what
happened in the times of the
Romans. There once sees in Pon-
Israel’s actions in any given
military stance, arc determined
that Israel shall march with all
nations in every sports competition
in which it desires to participate.
Consequently, I find it much
more rewarding to write constant
ly about sports in Israel rather
than devote time to athletes of the
Jewish faith performing in the
States who are covered anyway
one way or another quite heavily
by the daily press and wire ser
vices.
tius Pilate, a Roman racially and
intellectually superior, there he
stands out like a firm, clean rock
in the middle of the whole muck
and mire of Jewry.”
The Rosner script with the text
changes will be used in the 1980
performances.
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