“Da Vinci Code” by Rabbi Denise L. Eger, Sermon on May 19, 2006

Shabbat Shalom,

There is no escaping this week’s blockbuster movie opening of the “Da Vinci Code”. It is everywhere. Tom Hanks peers down at us from countless billboards, buses, and bus shelters! While I haven’t seen the movie yet, (although I am sure that I will), I did read the book a long while ago…when it first came out. It is a printing phenomenon, with over 60 million books in print! Translated into 44 different languages. It has taken the book world by storm.

Author Dan Brown has woven a fast paced tale of intrigue that carries the main character Robert Langdon, from the streets of Paris and a murder at the Louvre museum to the far reaches of Scotland and Rosslyn Chapel chasing a long lost secret that threatens the very fabric of Christianity. This is a story that contains murder, mayhem, secret codes, the Knights Templar and Vatican conspiracies.

The premise of the book is based on a theory about the search for the Holy Grail. As you may know the Holy Grail is supposedly the cup used by Jesus of Nazareth during the meal known as the Last Supper. This cup was then used by one Joseph of Aramathea to catch some of Jesus’ blood when he was crucified on the cross. This cup entered into folklore with a great flurry, including being an important focus of the Arthurian Legends. It was connected with the Knights Templar—a secret society of Knight dedicated to protecting the remnants of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem as well as relics of the early church including finding and guarding the Holy Grail. The grail legend infuses medieval texts and stories, epic poems, operas like Parsifal, and the movies such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and now the Da Vinci Code.

But this story turns on a different understanding of the Grail… and the Holy Grail of the Da Vinci code is none other than the progeny of Jesus. Dan Brown took a theory that had long been bandied about and brought it to the attention of the world in a new way. This theory is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and she had a child by him. Following his death, Mary fled to France with her child. That child, a daughter, Sarah was then connected to the Merovingian dynasty of kings who ruled over France in the middle ages. Thus the Holy Grail—is not a chalice that held the blood of Jesus but the bloodline of Jesus.

Further, a secret society called the Priory of Sion—which indeed is the French word for ZION—another name for Israel—is charged with guarding the secret, guarding the descendants of Jesus, and the secret religion of female centered spirituality that Jesus and Mary supposedly were dedicated to.

This theory embedded in the “The Da Vinci Code,” has caused many Catholic Church leaders to call for a boycott of this film. The Catholic Church in particular feels threatened by this story because it basic premise eats away at its hierarchical, male centered Church. And to them it is nothing short of blasphemy to call for a female-centered spirituality when God is envisioned as a man!

The story upsets many other Christian leaders because they fear the popularity of this story. Even though it is a book of fiction, they fear it will cause many to question the basic premise of Christianity which is that Jesus was God on earth and that he died on the crucifix and was resurrected three days later. Nowhere in their bible does it say that Jesus married. But it does teach that his death according to all forms of Christianity is the sacrifice that atones for the sins of Christians. Jesus is God incarnate on earth and did not have descendants. Thus it calls into question the divinity of Jesus.

While these theories are fascinating for those of us interested in religions of the world, and for those who might love conspiracy theories, for the Jewish community we aren’t really concerned with the divinity of Jesus other than how it affects our relationships with Christians!

This very issue was one of the demarcation points between Judaism and early Christianity. Jesus didn’t fit our bill of Messiah.

So what is the Jewish perspective on the Messiah?

Our Jewish tradition had clear expectations of the messiah. The Messiah would be a descendant of the line of King David. The Messiah would be the anointed one of God in the same way that King David was handpicked by God to succeed King Saul on Israel’s throne. Elijah the prophet would return and herald the coming of the Messiah. The Messiah would be a real political king who would reunify the Jewish people into a mighty kingdom and throw off any domination by foreign powers. Then this Messiah-King would usher in a period of great joy, faith and stability for the Jewish people. The Jewish Messiah will restore the Temple in Jerusalem and the world will worship God as One. But our Messiah would never be God or a divine figure. The Messiah would always have been mortal.

That is part of the irony of the Jesus story even as told in the Christian Bible. Jesus was not a political figure in the sense that he represented any real constituency. He was the leader of only a small group of disciples. The Christian Bible claims he descended from the line of King David—creating a reason for him to be born in Bethlehem, the birthplace of David. Even though his earthly parents, Mary and Joseph came from the Galilee, in Nazareth. And the Romans mocked his status at his crucifixion by placing a sign over his head, King of the Jews. But he hardly was able to overcome the Roman domination of Israel during his lifetime nor was he able to bring a time of justice into being, which are hallmarks of the Jewish messiah. Further his disciple Paul, who was once named Shaul, lifted the need to observe Mitzvot as a part of Christianity in his bid to extend Jesus’ sovereignty to non-Jews. This was the real breaking point between Judaism and Christianity. Until that time most Christians still observed Jewish law. But because of Paul’s teachings that the mitzvot were no longer necessary—in his words it is faith not works, Christianity developed in a very different fashion from Judaism.

Traditional Judaism still believes in and prays for the coming of the Messiah. We sing Ani Maamim beemunah shlemah, ---Words written by Maimonides, I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah. Traditional Judaism in the Ritzeh prayer of the Amidah, prays for a restoration of the Temple and the ancient sacrifices—hallmarks of the Messiah.

Conservative Judaism in its most recent statement Emet V’Emunah (Truth and Faith says this about the idea of the Messiah. “We do not know when the Messiah will come, nor whether he will be a charismatic human figure or is a symbol of the redemption of humankind from the evils of the world. Through the doctrine of a Messianic figure, Judaism teaches us that every individual human being must live as if he or she, individually, has the responsibility to bring about the messianic age. Beyond that, we echo the words of Maimonides based on the prophet Habakkuk (2:3) that though he may tarry, yet do we wait for him each day."

Our Reform Judaism long ago rejected a human messiah and especially a human king messiah. Instead Reform Judaism understood that it would take the collective efforts of humanity to bring about a Messianic age. That Messianic time would be a utopian era of peace and justice and equality for all. When as the prophets teach, “All could sit beneath his or her vine and fig tree. And as Amos taught, “Justice will roll down like water, Righeousness like a mighty stream.” This belief of Reform Judaism in a Messianic Era or time is reflected in subtle changes in certain of our prayers. In the Avot v’Imahot prayer in the Amidah we no longer pray for a go-el—a redemeer which is a reference to the Messiah, but for geulah—a redemptive time. In The Gevurot prayer, we no longer pray for Mechayei Meitim—the ressurection of the dead—a traditional belief and hallmark of the Messiah for all Jews, but to God who gives life to all. And in the Ritzei prayer we no longer pray for the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem and the reinstitution of sacrifice. But for our prayers to be accepted by God.

And isn’t that the point—our relationship to God, our faith, needs to be strengthened in all we do. We live in a world that has too much despair, too much hatred, too much oppresion, too much war, too much poverty. We come to synagogue, to be strengthened and to be uplifted and renewed to face the difficulties that life throws our way. We observe Jewish holidays, holy days and life cycle moments to give us the fortitude to make sense of our world and most importantly our lives. We pray to change outcomes not only in the world but in ourselves!

At the end of the day, if the the Da Vinci Code has given us pause to consider questions of our faith and our spirituality. Then this is a good thing. It might not be our religion that is at the core of this story, but it gives us a chance to reflect on clarifying our own traditions’ ideas and where we stand in relationship to that.

Soon we will observe the holy Festival of Shavuot. Feast of Weeks. We will remember the moment at Sinai when we became covenanted to God. We will celebrate the giving of Torah and read from the Ten Commandments. Shavuot each year is a chance for you to renew your own place in the Jewish world. It is the time when you can pledge yourself anew to the covenant we made so many generation ago. It is the time when you should stand up at Sinai and be counted. Shavuot begins Thursday evening June 1, I hope you will join us here and renew your own place in the covenant of our people.
And that’s no conspiracy!

Posted by Lee at May 22, 2006 05:10 PM