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"Passion plays whipped Hitler's Germany into genocidal frenzy"

weelll that would be an unfortunate oversimplification of a very complex situation; in any case, the Holocaust, Hitler, the Nazis, et al have been discredited and soundly denounced by just about everyone on the planet since 1945. Justifiably so.

The thing about the Passion, is that it is central to the Christian faith. It is not an optional thing that can be dropped or glossed over in the name of Jewish-Christian friendship. To ACCEPT the conclusion that re-enactments of the Passion are inherently anti-Semetic would be to demand the castration of Christianity. Christians are not going to accept that. ;)

But as several posters have pointed out, a starting point is to understand why the other reacts as he does . . .

As several posters have pointed out, a starting point is to understand why the other reacts as he does . . .

I agree with that point. I cannot know why, but nonetheless I am sharing my insights, flawed though they may be.

[Passion plays whipped Hitler's Germany into genocidal frenzy] ... weelll that would be an unfortunate oversimplification of a very complex situation; in any case, the Holocaust, Hitler, the Nazis, et al have been discredited and soundly denounced by just about everyone on the planet since 1945. Justifiably so.

Yet there are holocaust-deniers. If the underlying evil of Nazism is not well and truly dead, then there is a chance that re-enactments of the Passion may do again what it has (supposedly) done before. Can we sit here and guarantee to every Jew on the planet that nothing could bring back that evil? Or a different, perhaps more insidious, evil?

My opinion is that there is zero chance of a significant negative effect in the USA. I love Eastern Europe, but don't kid yourself. A Rumanian Christian girl told me "so many there hate Jews."