As Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ" prepares to open this week, the American Jewish community is sharply debating whether publicizing fears that it could spark anti-Semitism was a tactical mistake that brought more attention to the movie.
Reflecting sharply divided opinion among American Jews, some leaders dismiss as overblown the worries that the film could reignite ancient but long discredited charges that Jews were collectively responsible for Jesus' death.
"Most American Jews feel so comfortable in this country that they don't anticipate anti-Semitism" from the film, said Howard I. Friedman, board chairman of the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and former national president of the American Jewish Committee.
"Among Christians, I just don't see much evidence of anti-Semitism and I see a great deal of goodwill."
The American Jewish Committee has taken a deliberately low-key approach. Executive Director David A. Harris said the film's portrayal of Jews was "pretty ugly" but that the committee did not believe it should do anything that might publicize the movie.
"It's a fine line we have to walk," Harris said. "The film is troubling and problematic, but we don't want to bring attention to it and ensure its box-office success."
Harvey J. Fields, rabbi emeritus of Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles and a longtime interfaith leader, said charges of anti-Semitism were "off target" and that he was "disappointed and frankly embarrassed" at the way some Jewish leaders had condemned the film before its opening.
Fields, who had not seen the movie, specifically criticized activists such as Abraham H. Foxman, the Anti-Defamation League's national director, and Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, who have led the charge against the film. He said they had used the issue of anti-Semitism "to attract attention to themselves and their organizations."
"I think we have reached a point in this new millennium where we ought to be much more careful about screaming anti-Semitism in this world," Fields said.
Hier, who in June co-wrote an early op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times raising concerns about the film, acknowledged that his actions may have boosted publicity for the movie but said he does not regret his outspokenness.
"The overriding issue for Jews in history is that too often we kept silent and we paid a great price, and I feel we should not do that again," said Hier, who has seen the film twice.
