Rabbi’s Comments on ‘Temptation’

I don’t know whether to be amused or outraged at comments by Rabbi Henri Front (Aug. 10) concerning protests against the film “The Last Temptation of Christ.” Front states that “only an idiot would make a comment” about the film without having seen it. Does this mean that the rabbi would have to see each and every pornographic snuff film before venturing an opinion on it?

If a film were made depicting Nazis as misunderstood but essentially good men who did right as they saw it, would the rabbi have to hear every line of dialogue before registering concern?

And how about if Hollywood released a “fictional” film attacking Judaism at its core, basing it on a book by a Jewish writer who had been repudiated by Jewish leaders for blasphemy? How would the rabbi feel if his sincere misgivings were dismissed as “hatred, ignorance and stupidity?”

I would think that, in an increasingly secular world hostile to our beliefs in the same creator, the rabbi would be joining his Christian brothers and sisters in denouncing this direct attack on beliefs held by millions. Christians and Jews worship the same God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and study the Jewish prophets, poets and law-givers, accepting them as the word of God. Christians have an unbreakable bond and respect for Jews and strongly support Israel. We should be working together against those who would attack the roots of faith in either tradition.

BILL COOK

Mission Viejo