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Expanding Repentance
IF,
or nearly 2,000 years, Chris-
tians have, with varying degrees
of animosity, held Jews liable
for the death of Jesus of
Nazareth.
For much of that time, the
condemnation was a rallying
cry for overt anti-Semitic
action, including, pogroms and vicious
social and economic discrimination. In
recent decades, however, church leaders
have urged an end to indicting Jews for
the crucifixion; as the Second Vatican
Council stated so powerfully in 1965, the
death of Jesus "cannot be blamed on all
the Jews then living, without distinction,
nor upon the Jews of today."
Overtly at least, the push to accept the
historical facts — that Jesus was a Jew liv-
ing in a Jewish society ruled by a Roman
official who ordered the execution —
without assigning religious or ethnic fault
has seemed to be successful, particularly
in America. And that is why the ill-con-
sidered remarks by New York Knicks bas-
ketball star Charlie Ward ("They had his
blood on their hands") are so startling.
Ward, a born-again Christian, has
apologized profusely for the remarks,
given during an interview with the New
York Times, and has accepted rabbinical
counseling. But the remark underlines an
inescapable truth: at some visceral level
and despite the urgings of their ministers,
many Christians in our nation share this
belief in Jewish culpability for deicide.
Only a few days before Ward's com-
ments were published, Paul Weyrich, bet-
ter known for his political conservatism
than for his membership in a Greek
Orthodox church, published an Easter
essay that noted that Christ "was cru-
cified by the Jews."
As Jews, we need to face this lin-
gering misapprehension and deal with
it sensibly. Without having
to invoke the specter of mass
anti-Semitism, we need to
continue to work both at the
institutional and personal
levels to be sure that the latent mis-
giving does not blossom again into a
pattern of division.
The institutional will is certainly
there. In city after city, ecumenical
conversation has become totally
accepted and unremarkable. Metro
Detroit is certainly a national model
for such discussion, thanks to the
hard work of the Ecumenical Institute
for Jewish-Christian Studies, the
National Conference for Community
and Justice and other interfaith initia-
tives.
The worry is that the conversations
stop there, and that ordinary congre-
gants have no excuse to raise and dis-
cuss the issue, either among them-
selves or with those of another faith.
It would be entirely appropriate now
for rabbis and Christian ministers to
suggest using the Ward comments as
a catalyst for organizing grass-roots
meetings at which church members
could examine the meaning and con-
sequences of a belief that deserves to
die. A Jewish voice at those meetings
would help provide insight.
Charlie Ward seems to have
learned something important from his
careless remark. It would be nice if
others could profit from it as well. ❑
EDITOR IAL
Dry Bones
rAgla
SI-IARON 1 1
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Revitalizing Jewish Detroit
T
he City of Detroit is concerned about
losing residents. The recent census indi-
cates that its population has shrunk to
just over 950,000 residents, dipping
below a million for the first time in many decades.
Nonetheless, the city is seeing a rebirth. The
Bruce D. Friedman is a faculty development specialist
with the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Michigan
State University. He lives in Detroit and serves on the
Freedom House Board of Directors as the Jewish com-
munity representative. He is a board member of the
Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue.
BRUCE D.
FRIEDMAN
Community
Views
success of its efforts is evident
as I walk to the Isaac Agree
Downtown Synagogue each
Shabbat and notice an increase
in the number of apartments
and lofts being constructed
along the route. There is a con-
certed effort to attract new resi-
dents to the city while encour-
aging former residents to recon-
sider their living arrangements.
Such efforts are supported by
the return of businesses, such as
Compuware, to the city and the
proliferation of recreational activities in the down-
town area. As I walk along Woodward Avenue, I see
signs on the Fox Theatre boasting how "Detroit is
becoming a place to recreate." This slogan is sup-
ported by increased activity at the Detroit Sympho-
ny Orchestra Hall, Michigan Opera Theatre, Fox
Theatre, Comerica Park and Detroit Institute of
Arts.
This effort is beginning to pay off as new people
are moving to, or back to, Detroit. I see only a small
piece of this growth as new faces begin to appear at
services. Some residents are just discovering the
REVITALIZING
JEWISH
DETROIT
on page 34
5/4
2001
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