[HANASHIR:16924] RE: Being Proactive about "The Passion"

[Meris Ruzow <meris...>]

Adrian - Thanks for printing this message.   None of us know what lies
ahead in the next few weeks and the more support/ideas we can give each
other, the better.  One of the kids in school today was already afraid
that someone may spray swastikas on her brother's locker in "public high
school."   Let's hope none of that happens.
Meris
 
Meris (at) nycap(dot)rr(dot)com
 
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-hanashir (at) 
shamash(dot)org] On
Behalf Of Robbi Sherwin
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 3:26 PM
To: hanashir
Subject: [HANASHIR:16921] Being Proactive about "The Passion"
 
Chevra: 
Two months ago, my Rabbi, Kerry Baker, gathered a group of ministers, a
priest, other rabbis and cantors to form a group we decided to call
"Face to Faith."  Also involved were the local Community Relations
Council and ADL reps. The initial task was to find a way to understand
each other as "The Gospel According to Mel" was about to sweep across
the nation like a  tidal wave.  We knew it had to take place before the
official opening of the movie, today, Ash Wednesday. We met weekly and
during that time together created a program last Sunday called: "Cross
Purposes: The Passion: What it Means to Christians. What it Means to
Jews."  (Note: as I use the word "Passion" I am talking about the
suffering of Jesus - not necessarily the movie.)
 
Would people actually attend?  Who was our target audience? How would we
get the word out?  We decided it was very important that we hold the
program in a church, and a the fellowship hall of a Catholic Church was
selected.  During the weeks we worked together to put together a program
of importance to Jews and Christians, our relationships & mutual respect
grew and blossomed. 
 
The program began with music - a niggun I had written and the "dona
nobis pacem" Sim Shalom round, sung by myself, a Conservative Hazzan and
the music minister of the church. A Cons. Rabbi & a Baptist Minister
talked about the process and the friendships we have formed; then four
speakers: The Bishop from the Austin Diocese, who spoke about what the
Passion meant to him, Rabbi Baker, who spoke about historical trouble
because of the story and how it has affected Jews; Rev. Sid Hall
(Methodist) who told of his growth in understanding of the issues and
Rabbi Alan Freedman (Reform) who spoke of ways we could come together. 
 
An aside - As an Air Force brat growing up in small towns all over the
U.S., my siblings and I had suffered many anti-Semitic acts, including
beatings, tearing through my hair looking for horns, tearing off my
skirt looking for a tail, bricks thrown through our windows, fire set to
our lawn..... verbal slurs - Sadly, my guess is that many of you have
probably experienced these things yourself.   The priest had some
doozys, too!  He grew up in east Texas as a Catholic - prejudice is not
just for Jews! Ever heard the slur "mackerel snapper?"  During the
course of these meetings, and in sharing our stories, every single one
of the ministers we worked with privately apologized to me for what had
happened in my childhood.  Cathartic personally - yes, but there was
greater work to be done.
 
After the opening remarks, we broke into 15 groups, led by a minister
and a knowledgeable Jew or clergy (although we didn't have enough clergy
to go around). As the designated "wandering Jew,"  I was able to visit
each group and the stories I heard astounded me.  One man, a Catholic,
(around 60) told of his love for a Jewish girl that led to her parents
rending their clothes for her.  It wasn't until he found out the parents
were both Survivors and him later visiting Auschwitz, that he finally
understood.  A woman cried and begged forgiveness for what had been done
to the Jews.  I heard other stories like mine - stories about
misunderstandings, prejudice.  One very angry Protestant said:  "The
word "Passion" isn't even in our lexicon - we don't use the word - we're
not CATHOLICS.  Another comment: "This is really between Mel Gibson and
the Catholics, not the Christians and the Jews." One person said: "Who's
idea ! was it to give the microphone to clergy?  These groups are really
what it is all about!"
 
We came back together to my niggun, had a closing prayer,  and sang the
Hirsh "Oseh Shalom" in Hebrew and English.
 
Did I mention there were over 500 people there - probably 1/3 of them
were Jewish. The paper had done a story on it that day (Sunday) and the
news media were out in force.
 
The new group we formed: "Face to Faith" will continue to meet and do
programming like this on a regular basis.  We figure the next thing we
will tackle together is the "December Dilemma."  Yes, there is plenty
dividing the global Jewish community we need to deal with, and nothing
brings the Jews together like being in crisis-mode. In the meantime, we
are now in each other's houses of worship - sharing our stories and
music, debunking myths and misunderstandings and building tolerance and
appreciation in Austin, Texas.  
 
Robbi Sherwin
 
 
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*^*^*^*^
Cantor Robbi Sherwin
Congregation Kol Halev
Austin, Texas
(512) 467-7270
 <http://www.kolhalev.org> www.kolhalev.org
Spirited Jewish Songcrafting!
Pre-Order Aish HaKodesh! 
 <http://www.robbisherwin.com> www.robbisherwin.com
 <mailto:robbisherwin (at) earthlink(dot)net> robbisherwin (at) 
earthlink(dot)net
 
Bloom where you're planted......