1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 369 Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 60(1-4), 369-387. doi: 10.2143/JECS.60.1.2035289 © 2008 by Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. All rights reserved. ANTI-JUDAISM IN THE PRESENT-DAY BYZANTINE LITURGY BERT GROEN* 1. INTRODUCTION In a short but significant chapter in a Dutch manual on Eastern Christian- ity, Adelbert Davids describes the rise and expansion of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism in the Early Church. He outlines the process of alienation between Christianity and Judaism, the self-concept of the Church and the Christian State as the True Israel, the hatred of several ecclesiastical leaders (e.g., John Chrysostom) of Judaism, their promotion of anti-Jewish state leg- islation and forced conversions of Jews to Christianity.1 The phenomena of theological anti-Judaism and profane anti-Semitism have not only been serious historical problems in the relations between Judaism and Christianity, but they are also important issues in present-day contacts and dialogue between the two religions. Furthermore, one might ask the question if these notorious phenomena do not deny the universality of salvation. In the Byzantine rite, for example, Easter is the “Feast of Feasts”, the festival of the Resurrection of Christ that brings about salvation and for- giveness for all people. Of course, such redemption primarily concerns those who believe in Christ – in a free act of faith and in relation with the com- munity of believers, viz. the Church. However, according to several texts of the Byzantine liturgy, it looks as if one people will never share in the joy of the salvation of mankind, viz. the Jews. * Bert Groen is professor of liturgics and sacramental theology at the University of Graz. He also is UNESCO professor for intercultural and inter-religious dialogue in South- Eastern Europe and chairs the Graz section of the ecumenical “Pro Oriente Foundation”. 1 A. Davids, ‘Anti-judaïsme en antisemitisme in de eerste eeuwen van het christendom’, in Oosterse christenen binnen de wereld van de islam, eds. H. Teule and A. Wessels (Heerlen and Kampen, 1997), pp. 47-56. I wish to thank Sophia Senyk (Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome) and Antoine Lam- brechts (Benedictine monastery of Chevetogne) for their comments on an earlier version of this article, and Ania Lentz-Michaelis (Amersfoort) who carefully revised the text. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 370 370 BERT GROEN Anti-Jewish polemics are not an exclusive privilege of Byzantine rites. In Western rites, too, this phenomenon is found. However, after the Second World War, under the influence of the Shoah, the Roman Catholic Church and other Western (Protestant) churches revised the anti-Jewish statements in their liturgies and adopted a more positive attitude towards Judaism.2 Regrettably, in the official liturgical books used in Byzantine rites today we still meet with a drastic and extensive anti-Jewish polemic that also several times degenerates into torrents of abuse. My aims in this article are, first, to explore the anti-Jewish polemics in Byzantine hymnography and, second, to discuss the urgent questions of whether a reform of the anti-Jewish texts is desirable and if this seems pos- sible in the near future.3 2. SURVEY OF THE ANTI-JEWISH POLEMICS Here, I will concentrate upon Greek pre-paschal liturgical hymns, viz. the hymns of Lazarus Saturday (the day before Palm Sunday), when the raising of Lazarus is commemorated, and the hymns of Palm Sunday and Holy Week.4 The hymns of the paschal octave will also be taken into considera- 2 See, e.g., D. Kranemann, Israelitica dignitas? Studien zur Israeltheologie Eucharistischer Hochgebete, Münsteraner Theologische Abhandlungen, 66 (Altenberge, 2001); „…dass er euch auch erwählet hat“: Liturgie feiern im Horizont des Judentums, eds. A. Deeg and I. Mildenberger, Beiträge zu Liturgie und Spiritualität, 16 (Leipzig, 2006); B. Groen; ‘Anti- judaismus in der christlichen Liturgie und Versuche seiner Überwindung’, in Prekäre Zeitgenossenschaft: Mit dem Alten Testament in Konflikten der Zeit – Internationales Bibel- Symposium Graz 2004, ed. J. Kügler, Bayreuther Forum Transit: Kulturwissenschaftliche Religionsstudien, 6 (Münster, 2006), pp. 247-278. 3 Cf. B. Groen, ‘Antijudaismus in der heutigen byzantinischen Liturgie’, in Dialog oder Monolog? Zur liturgischen Beziehung zwischen Judentum und Christentum, eds. A. Gerhards and H.H. Henrix, Quaestiones Disputatae, 208 (Freiburg i.B., 2004), pp. 210-222; idem, ‘Attitudes towards Judaism in Greek-Byzantine Liturgy: Anti-Judaism in Holy Week Texts and the Appreciation of Israel’s Righteous’, Analecta Bruxellensia, 12 (2007), pp. 81-93. 4 The texts concerned can be found in Triôdion katanuktikon (Athens, Apostolikê Diako- nia, 1960), pp. 336-443. The Greek priest and liturgical scholar, Konstantinos Papayan- nis, prepared a critical edition of the official liturgical book that contains the texts of Holy Week and added the texts of Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday to it: Hê Hagia kai Megalê Hebdomas, ed. K. Papagiannês (Athens, Apostolikê Diakonia, 91985; from now on, here abbreviated as Hagia Hebdomas). There exist also pocket versions. The first edition prepared 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 371 ANTI-JUDAISM IN THE PRESENT-DAY BYZANTINE LITURGY 371 tion.5 Only troparia that explicitly mention the Jews will be discussed. There are also troparia in which only “the criminals” in general come up, so with- out names, although, from its context, it is clear that the Jews are meant. Fur- thermore, there exist verses in which the “criminal assembly”, viz. the San- hedrin, or the “Pharisees” are brought up.6 A first main theme in the hymns concerned is the murder of God (theok- tonia). As early as on Palm Sunday evening, Jewry is called upon to get ready for the atrocity: ‘Prepare, Judea, your priests, make your hands ready for the murder of God.’7 As is well-known, in the Byzantine Holy and Great Week, the passion, death and resurrection of Christ are not just commemorated but also exten- sively re-enacted and visually dramatized.8 Several of these rituals, such as the procession with the Cross during Good Friday matins, the deposition of the Crucified One during the Good Friday vespers and the stately reading of the Resurrection gospel on a podium outside the church during the Easter vigil, are rather recent developments, having been introduced in the Greek Orthodox Church only during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Nev- ertheless, they are now often regarded as essential for the Orthodox Holy Week. By way of this ritual representation, in a certain sense, the salvific by Nikodêmos Neoklês appeared in 1906 in Constantinople. The translations from the Greek are my own. 5 Pentêkostarion charmosunon (Athens, Apostolikê Diakonia, 31984), pp. 1-22. 6 In his study on the Greek Orthodox contribution to the Jewish-Christian dialogue, the German theologian, Thomas Kratzert, also examines the image of the Jews in Byzantine Holy Week texts. See Th. Kratzert, “Wir sind wie die Juden”: Der griechisch-orthodoxe Beitrag zu einem ökumenischen jüdisch-christlichen Dialog, Studien zu Kirche und Israel, 16 (Berlin, 1994), pp. 160-186. In particular, he discusses the concepts of ‘Israel’, ‘Jerusalem’, ‘Zion’, ‘Jews’, ‘Hebrews’ and ‘Pharisees’ (pp. 162-178). His conclusion is that the Jewish image in the Greek Orthodox Holy Week is most negative (opponents of Jesus Christ and respon- sible for his death). See also p. 15, where he mentions the ambivalence of Greek Ortho- dox sympathy for Judaism and its closeness to it, on the one hand, and a ‘verbal, aggres- sive anti-Judaism in the Greek Orthodox theology and liturgy’, on the other. 7 Sixth troparion of the ninth canticle (ode) of the triodion in the vespers on Palm Sun- day evening: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 64. Cf. the eighth troparion of the same canticle. 8 A short description hereof can be found in: S. Harakas, ‘The Holy Week Bridegroom Services: An Ethical Analysis’, St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, 46 (2002), pp. 23-61, on pp. 29-31. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 372 372 BERT GROEN events are made real; past facts become current events.9 Because of this the faithful feel they become participants themselves and can identify with the protagonists of the liturgical drama.10 The exhortations in several hymns, older than the ritual dramatic representation itself, promote the process of par- ticipation and identification of the faithful. It is obvious that in this process Jews often incorporate the evil characters. It is interesting to note that, con- trary to the Jews, the then Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and his Roman soldiers, who are not less guilty of the death of Jesus than the Jewish religious leaders at that time, are not described in terms of abuse and invective. The theme of the murder of God is especially heard on Maundy Thurs- day and Good Friday. In several hymns of the popular Maundy Thursday ‘Ser- vice of the Holy Passion’ (Akolouthia tôn Hagiôn Pathôn), also named ‘Ser- vice of the Twelve Gospel Readings’ (Akolouthia tôn Dôdeka Euaggeliôn) or ‘Service of the Crucified One’ (Akolouthia tou Estaurômenou), in which the vast majority of the Greek population takes part, the Jews are called ‘the swarm of the murderers of God and the lawless people’,11 ‘the wicked gang of God-haters and the Synagogue of evil-committing God-murderers’,12 an ‘impious and criminal people’.13 In particular in the hymns of the popular Epitafios service on Good Friday – during this service, Christ is buried, as it were, but at the same time the paradox of the powerful God who conquers death by his own death is sung – hard statements on the Jews are again 9 A. Schmemann, Great Lent (Crestwood, NY, 1969), pp.