So much controversy surround Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." Whatever your perspective, it is clear that the power of the movie stems, in part, from placing the viewer at the front row of the events depicted. All Christians, past and present, are considered to have experienced this suffering because Jesus died for their sins. And much of Church ritual is designed to bring back this experience of Jesus's suffering.
The question to be asked is, what consequence is to be drawn from this seminal event of suffering?
Certainly, we the Jewish people are experts in suffering. Our historical seminal event is the experience of slavery in Egypt. Passover is the holiday that commemorates this event, and ritual has been inserted into the Passover Seder to recognize the suffering that slaves endured over a period of 430 years.
But the emphasis during the Seder and subsequently for the rest of the year is not suffering itself, but the fact that we were freed from that horrific state. "Remember," the Bible tells us, "how you were freed from Egypt; how G-d took you out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm!" Therefore, once the salt water and bitter herbs are dispensed with, the focus shifts to the greatness of an event that celebrates the need for all people to live in freedom.
Suffering is not and cannot be the central concept of our religion, no matter how many times throughout history we have suffered. Because if you dwell on suffering, you are inclined to ask, "Who is to blame?" In the case of Passover, we would naturally blame the Egyptians who "treated us harshly." And yet the Bible instructs us NOT to heap guilt on the Egyptians. They are not to be banished from … During the Seder itself, we spill a drop of blood to recognize our sadness that even our enemies had to be killed.
So it is no surprise that Jews would not undertake a campaign of violent vengeance even against the Nazis, because revenge is not part of our spiritual vocabulary. Quite the opposite is true. The Bible tells us that the seminal experience of slavery was meant to teach us that we are never to subjugate others precisely because we know what it means to suffer. "Do not shun a stranger, because you yourself were strangers in Egypt," the Bible reminds us.
What is disconcerting to us is that some people use their experiences of suffering to blame and inflict punishment on others because of what happened years ago. Thank God our values teach us otherwise. Passover is one of those precious holidays that force us to reflect on the price of freedom and how we are taught to treat others.
Chag Sameach