2,000 Years Ago, Redux
Fellow Jews, we seem to be repeating the history of 2,000 years ago.
The musical Jesus Christ Superstar takes place back then, a story about a bunch of Jews. I’ve produced the show, and I find it very Jewish, especially the way it analyzes and interprets history. It shows the Temple being defiled, public suffering with few helping, the Romans and their agents rife with corruption, and the Priests – as it tells – also corrupt. Judas warns Jesus that all has gone sour. And there is much wrestling with God.
There are many similarities between today and this story, with songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
This spark occurred to me when there was a massive fire burning outside Jerusalem, possibly purposely set. Far-right Jewish extremists attacked a Reform congregation peacefully observing Yom HaZikaron: they broke in, throwing rocks, destroying things, and terrorizing.
Some called it “an attempted pogrom,” others deemed it an “opening salvo.”
Let the chorus in our production chant, “What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a-happening…”
Was this really happening now? Living 2,000 years ago, Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel wrote, “When justice is done, truth is served, and peace ensues.” They didn’t learn then, we haven’t learned yet.
Here in the United States, the (Jewish) president of Harvard University filed a lawsuit in response to President Trump, who has been using nebulous accusations of antisemitism to gain control over institutions. Again we Jews are divided. Will the lawsuit benefit Harvard? Will the accusations of antisemitism improve conditions for Jews? Do we want Trump accusing anyone of antisemitism while strong-arming them?
And the tenor sings, “Cut the confessions, forget the excuses!”
It is cheap for Trump to use us in this way, driving antisemitism as a wedge to gain more power over his perceived adversaries. If we object, Trump can blame everything on us and call us traitors for not genuflecting to him “fighting for Jews.” If we don’t object, Trump crushes all educational, news, arts, and other organizations (all of which he wants to do anyway) in the name of fighting antisemitism; again, it’s our fault. We are pariahs, regardless. They will blame us for killing Jesus. They will blame us.
“I don’t want your blood money!” “You might as well take it, we think that you should!”
Blame. The elected leaders of the U.S. and Israel are both aspiring autocrats. Trump wants to own Gaza and Greenland, he ignores court orders, has usurped power from Congress, deports people without due process, and “doesn’t know” whether he should uphold the Constitution, until he asks “my lawyers” (not “our lawyers” – he’s like the wicked child in the Haggadah).
Prime Minister Netanyahu, failing a judicial takeover, wants to perpetuate militant hell-bent war to keep himself out of jail, pleasing his right-wing coalition and disregarding humanity. He pointedly ignores West Bank settlers who are also not exactly following rules. He is killing children and calling it a kosher war, and doesn’t explain to the rest of the world, doesn’t even try to curry favor with usually sympathetic countries. Thus the world is turning against Israel (and against us Jews). We in the diaspora may sympathize with his motives or may vehemently disagree, but we have to deal with the resultant antisemitism for his greater glory.
Hail, Caesar, then. The vast majority of Jews live in these two democratic countries, both fomenting antisemitism.
And, centurions, there is war, endless war. And there are pending wars, threatened wars. Trade wars. Accusatory wars. Possibly nuclear war.
We are a peace loving people. We got that message more than 2,000 years ago. Yet people keep attacking us. Do we really kill children in the name of peace?
“Listen to that howling mob…”
Division and war. We are the ones who are supposed to know better. Some light unto the nations we are!
“The stakes we are gambling are frighteningly high.”
The United Nations, with numerous Arab-majority member countries, has attempted to sanction Israel. Israel alone, and no other country where actual genocides are occurring.
The Roman Empire is back: Pontius Pilate washes his hands and Herod does whatever he wants. (Heaven help us if any other religions are born of this.) And Trump posts an image of himself as pope on the official White House account. We sing, “Ho-zannah, hey, zannah, zannah zannah ho…”
I’m not going to draw direct parallels, nor am I going to draw a political cartoon. But we must understand that no good can come if we do not change our collective attitude.
Look at the Jews now leading Ukraine and Mexico. They’ve been decent representatives of both their constituents and our belief system. They hold a moral high ground against their countries being attacked, sanctioned, or destroyed. Both have had rather notable, complicated dealings with Trump, and Ukraine also with Netanyahu, as both the U.S. and Israel irrationally try to curry favor with Russia, such that the rest of the world hesitates to deal with either.
“Everything is fixed.” “Remember Caesar!”
And more. Voting for the World Zionist Congress (WZC) has just closed in the United States. Encouraging a vote for egalitarian Jewish values (specifically the MERCAZ party), we watched as again Jews were pitted against Jews, attacking rather than holding a simple, open, and fair election.
The WZC governs the spending of the proceeds of the holdings of the World Zionist Organization in Israel, established in 1897 for the benefit of all Jews everywhere. Every Jew has a stake in the collective. If we all would vote, we would have proportionally distributed representation. Many don’t vote because they’ve never heard of the WZC. Publicizing it might tempt the old antisemitic accusations about loyalty and money, but it is difficult to spread the word for an election in whispers. There should be no shame in voting our stock: we should be eager to have all our organizations share in the wealth, rather than clambering for it like three-year-olds.
Yet some were clambering, making the whole thing a battle over money and power for the few, holding themselves out as holier and therefore more deserving. They don’t want others voting, unless coerced to vote for right-wing parties.
Of the seven million or so voting-age Jews in the United States, about 239,000 voted, a 93% increase over the last election in 2020, exceeding the previous high turnout in the 1980s. This is not enough to give the WZC a fair representation of world Jewry.
It is not unlike the minority of U.S. citizens who elected Trump: he refers to it as an overwhelming mandate to deport immigrants willy-nilly and take over the world. Julius Caesar in a blue suit.
Reports of some Orthodox parties breaking rules – paying off students for votes, using prepaid cards and autogenerated ballots, etc. – will be adjudicated. Some of their advertising said “We don’t want Rabbi Jill leading prayers at the Kosel.” They accuse the more liberal factions of lying and being unworthy of a vote. Upon reading that I thought, “Since when does one denomination of Judaism throw stones at another?” Then the Reform congregation was attacked, with actual stones.
In other words, the Jews advocating inclusion, equality, egalitarianism, and freedom to practice religion are being attacked by those who blacklist our rabbis, ban our getting married in Israel, and ultimately would ban our citizenship “right to return” simply because they consider us the “wrong” sects.
Remember what happened to the different sects 2,000 years ago: the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Essenes.
And Caiaphas sings, “We need a more permanent solution to our problem.”
If Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are false prophets with a following, if Putin and Orbán and others are jockeying to take and share the spoils, then we really are paralleling 2,000 years ago.
Why do I like Superstar? Great show, great music. Most importantly, it forces me to look at my own history from someone else’s perspective. Consider seeing it, because as members of this world we should understand how others view us.
Singing, “Could we start again, please?”
How will history judge us, the Jews of our time? Will there be another musical 2,000 years hence?
Are we really doing everything we can to improve the world? Or have we lost the reins and no one is steering the chariot?
