Garnering more than $200 million in its opening week, Mel Gibson's film about the death of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ, has profited enormously from its controversial buzz. As a campus with a particularly large Jewish population, it seems appropriate for Brandeis to examine the claims of anti-Semitism in the film. Chaplains Fr. David Michael and Rabbi Allan Lehmann provided a forum for students and community members to learn about the film and voice opinions at the discussion held Tuesday night, "Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ: Inspiring or Incendiary?-Catholic and Jewish Responses." During the discussion, Prof. Rueven Kimelman (NEJS) and Prof. Philip Cunningham, a Catholic scholar and adjunct professor of theology at Boston College, presented their views of the film in terms of accuracy, societal impact and its significance to Christian-Jewish relations.Cunningham began the discussion with a short speech. He spoke first about the violence in the movie. He described the inundation of brutality as emotionally draining. He also depicted the film as presenting a polarized world of good versus evil. Next, he mentioned how he was struck by the number of historical errors in the film. One of the inaccuracies involved the crucifixion itself. In the film, Jesus was nailed through the palms. But documented Roman crucifixions reveal the common practice was to drive the nails through the wrists, not the palms. It is also unlikely that Jesus carried the cross, which probably weighed close to 300 pounds itself.

Most of these details derived from Christian artistic depictions of the crucifixion rather than historical methods. Another inaccuracy, according to Cunningham, was the portrayal of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate as a sympathetic leader when he was in fact described as ruthless in many historical documents. On the other hand, Ciaphas, the High Priest of the Jews, is portrayed as vindictive. Jews in general are not presented in a favorable light throughout the film. Cunningham clarified that this is due to the fact that the script is based mainly on the visions of the Passion seen by the 19th century nun, Ann Catherine Emmerich, in which Jewish characters are negatively portrayed. He said that emphasis on Emmerich's visions, rather than the gospels, undermines the proclamations of Vatican II, which made many important reforms in Catholicism, including condemning anti-Semitism.

Kimelman spoke next about the impact of the movie.

"The most significant impact," he said, "is that people are excited about it at all." Kimelman went on to explain how the controversy sparked by the movie is a sign of progression.

Fifty years ago, most Christians would have taken the content for granted and most Jews would have been living with the images for years. Kimelman said the truly remarkable thing is the split in Christian opinion and the fact that it is possible to hold a session on the topic. He then presented a list of statements proclaimed by a group called the Christian Scholars, which made such revolutionary assertions, such as the statement, "Jews did not kill Jesus." He also expressed how the movie can have different meanings for different people. Jews may go into the film looking for anti-Semitic comments, while Christians may identify with Jesus and feel he is suffering for all their sins.

Following the speeches, Lehmann and Michael led a question and answer session with the audience and the speakers. Many audience members asked questions about the religious background of the film, including why Jesus was executed, if the use of demonic figures in Judas' demise was accurate and why the Jewish mob chose to eronate Barabbas, a murderer, instead of Jesus. The speakers also fielded questions about the film's impact on Jewish-Christian relations. Both Kimelman and Cunningham felt it is necessary that both Christians and Jews learn more about the New and Old Testaments because education is the key to fostering Christian-Jewish relations.