Word: oberammergauers
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...children." This verse (Matthew 27: 25), in which Jews seemingly take responsibility for Christ's death, has for centuries been cited as biblical justification for Jewish suffering. With anti-Semitic incidents on the rise in Europe, nervous eyes were steadied last week on the Bavarian Alpine village of Oberammergau (pop. 5,000), where the decennial Passion play, condemned by Jews as anti-Semitic, opened once again with the "blood curse" intact but muted...
However audiences may judge the event, one thing is certain: the economy of Oberammergau will thrive happily. This year's play, to be performed 95 times through Sept. 30, is expected to attract about 460,000 visitors and generate close to $5 million for the prosperous village. Some things never change...
Munich's Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger declared from an Oberammergau pulpit, "AntiSemitism has no part in this play." Saying that anti-Semitism can be brought on "by talking about it," he added: "I beg of everybody, particularly our Jewish friends, to stop reproaching us with an anti-Semitism totally alien to the historic roots and content of this play...
...Oberammergau reformers are not satisfied. The production, says Hans Schwaighofer, head of Oberammergau's venerable woodcarving school, "does not alter the play's strident tone or its message: the collective Jewish guilt for the death of Jesus." Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum of the American Jewish Committee, who has lobbied the villagers for years, is horrified: "The play is a nightmare of antiSemitism. Jews are still portrayed as bloodthirsty and cruel characters...
Despite these criticisms, half a million tourists are expected to flock to the village this summer. And the mountain folk of Oberammergau are unlikely soon to give up their Passion. Says a Roman soldier in the cast: "We have acted in this play as children. We have sung in the choir and lived with the text all our lives. We shall not abandon it because some people in New York and fancy art critics think Rosner is better. This is our play. They can't take it away from...