rew Christians and Gentile
Christians."
Rabbi Klenicki found the
videotapes' evil characters
— spies, priests and common
people — to have big noses.
The rabbi compared this
stereotyping of evil as a
reminder of Der Sturmer,
the Nazi publication that
carried pictures of people
with big noses representing
world Jewry.
"Does the artist know that
noses were like that 2,000
years ago," Rabbi Klenicki
said. "Why does Jesus have
a nice gentile nose? Wasn't
he Jewish?"
Mr. Griffin, the CEO of
Family Network, said Jew-
ish animators were involved
in the creation of characters.
"We asked our staff to
identify the evil characters
according to the nose stereo-
type from 157 characters in
the series," Mr. Griffin said.
"Only 48 were considered
bad, and a number of
apostles were among them."
Mr. Griffin said the anima-
tion was produced "in classic
animation format."
"Cartoons are effective
when they're about evil and
good," he said. "If we're
guilty, we drew Jesus accor-
ding to an accepted standard
on view in any museum in
the world. I guess he does
look more gentile than Jew-
ish."
But noses weren't the only
subject to which the ADL ob-
jected.
Rabbi Klenicki said the
tapes continually depicted
Jewish figures, such as
Caiaphas, a Jewish high
priest appointed by the
Romans, in religious garb,
like the tallit and yarmulke
"It appears in the program
as a distinctive symbol of
Judaism," the rabbi said.
"Some evil characters wear
it while involved in intrigue
situations foreign to prayer.
Caiaphas wears the tallit at
the Sanhedrin (the rab-
binical court). He expresses
himself with words not part
of the the New Testament or
rabbinic sources."
Rabbi Klenicki said chil-
dren who watch the videos
will see Jews with large,
hooked noses, directly
responsible for the death of
Jesus.
"They will see the syn-
agogue portrayed as a place
where angry, malicious Jews
call for the arrest and
beating of Christians,"
Rabbi Klenicki said. "These
and scenes like them could
lead children to fear and
dislike Jews and * reinforce
prejudice in adult viewers."
Mr. Griffin said Christians
believe Jesus died for them

.

as a way to absolve their
own sins.
"Since Jesus died for us,
we believe we killed him,"
Mr. Griffin said.
Mr. Griffin said his net-
work is editing the sections
found offensive to Jews.
"We're taking out
sentences like, 'Herod the
King of Jews,' and any ref-
erence to Jews being the
enemies of Jesus or the
church," he said. "The ADL
has taken a tough position
with us, but they are ab-
solutely professional and
Godly in their position."
Rabbi Klenicki said the
ADL has agreed to act as
consultants on future pro-
jects of the Family Network.
Mr. Griffin said 12 stories
based on the Old Testament
are in production and his
company will look to the
ADL for advice and ap-
proval.
"What happened as a
result of our videos was
something we worked very
hard to avoid," Mr. Griffin
said. "We worked hard not
to create an anti-Semitic
feeling, and now we feel
that's just what did
happen."
Mrs. Gildenberg is happy
the Family Network has re-
sponded so quickly and
positively. She thought their
concept is a good one and
wants to find similar videos
with Jewish content for her
daughter.
"What got me so upset was
thinking these are the
images Christian children
will walk away with," she
said. "I kept changing the
station because I couldn't
believe I was watching
regular network and not a
Christian evangelical cable
station." ❑

Midrasha Hosts
Sing-A-Long

The . Midrasha-College of
Jewish Studies, a division of
the Agency for Jewish Educa-
tion, will host a sing-a-long —
an evening of Israeli and
Jewish songs for the com-
munity 7 p.m. Oct. 6.
Families are encouraged to
come; children over the age of
5 are welcome.
The evening will be divided
into two parts; the first is in-
tended for Americans who are
not familiar with most Israeli
songs. A variety of Israeli
songs will be taught. The se-
cond part of the evening,
beginning at 8:30 p.m., will
focus on singing rather than
teaching.
The coordinator and pre-
senter of the evening is Nira
Lev.
For reservations, call the
Midrasha office, 352-7117.

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

15

