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Anti-Judaism in the Present-Day Byzantine Liturgy

Anti-Judaism in the Present-Day Byzantine Liturgy

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 . He outlines the process of alienation between and Judaism, the self-concept of the Church and the Christian State as the True Israel, the hatred of several ecclesiastical leaders (e.g., ) 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 , for example, 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 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

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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 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 , viz. the hymns of Lazarus (the day before Palm ), when the raising of Lazarus is commemorated, and the hymns of and .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 and liturgical scholar, Konstantinos Papayan- nis, prepared a critical edition of the official 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

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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 (theok- tonia). As early as on Palm Sunday evening, Jewry is called upon to get ready for the atrocity:

‘Prepare, Judea, your , 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 with the Cross during Good , the deposition of the Crucified One during the and the stately reading of the Resurrection on a podium outside the church during the , are rather recent developments, having been introduced in the 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 . 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’, ‘’, ‘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 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 of the ninth (ode) of the 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

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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 , 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 ‘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 (Crestwood, NY, 1969), pp. 89-93; The Lenten Triodion, transl. Mother Mary and (London/Boston, 1978), p. 57. 10 The Greek Orthodox priest, Pavlos Koumarianos, is convinced that the present liturgi- cal shape of Holy Week primarily satisfies “emotional” needs of the faithful instead of revealing the “truth”. Therefore, he suggests radical changes, such as the restoration of Maundy Thursday as the day of the , as the day of expectation, Easter Sunday as the day of participation in the paschal liturgy and, furthermore, the cel- ebration of vespers in the evening and matins in the morning, and the reduction of the all-importance of the visually dramatic elements. He does not address the issue of anti- Judaism. See: P. Koumarianos, ‘Liturgical Problems of Holy Week’, St Vladimir’s Theolog- ical Quarterly, 46 (2002), pp. 3-21. 11 after the fourth beatitude in the Service of the Holy Passion: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 209. 12 First troparion of the ninth canticle of the triodion in the Service of the Holy Passion: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 217. 13 Second apostichon after the eleventh gospel reading and second of the ves- pers of Good Friday: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 222, 268. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 373

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found: ‘Arrogant Israel, murder-stained people…’ (alazôn Israêl, miaifone lae…), ‘Jealous, murderous and revengeful people…’ (fthonourge, fonourge kai alastor lae…) and ‘(teeth-)grinding, most malicious race of the Hebrews…’ (arabianon, skoliôtaton genos Hebraiôn…).14 In this service one also finds verses, such as: ‘According to Salomon, the mouth of the felonious Hebrews is a deep hole’, ‘On the malicious paths of the wicked Hebrews lie thistles and traps’, and ‘Oh, how insane, the murder of Christ (christoktonia) by the murderers of the Prophets’.15 Consequently, the Jews should be ashamed: ‘Be ashamed, oh Jews, even of those whom the Life-giver that you killed out of envy, raised from the dead’.16 Contrary to the hymns of the other Holy Week services, that are nearly always sung in their entirety, the greater part of the more than 180 verses of the Songs of Praise (Egkômia)17 – lamentations that belong to the Epitafios service – is not chanted because their number is too high and the choirs solemnly intone in order to stress the mourning character. In liturgical , however, the choice of the verses chanted is rather arbitrary and, consequently, it is not unlikely that in several places the verses on the Jews just quoted are still sung.18

The second theme is an important motive for the murder: Jealousy. Accord- ing to the Greek hymnographers, the Jewish envy already began with the raising of Lazarus – not only a prefiguration of Christ’s resurrection but also of the general waking up of the dead at the Last Judgment. In the hymns of Lazarus Saturday, there are hardly any polemics against the Jews, it is true,

14 Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 299, 300, 306. 15 Hagia Hebdomas, p. 309. 16 Hagia Hebdomas, p. 307. 17 These Hymns of Praise accompany the 176 verses of Ps 118 (LXX) about holding to God’s regulations. 18 In his edition of the liturgical texts of Holy Week (see n. 4), Konstantinos Papayannis incorporated all Egkômia that are in the Triodion. However, for each of the three staseis of the Hymns of Praise, he particularly recommends about thirty to the choirs; here, he relies on a selection made by E. Farlekas, in which almost all negative statements about the Jews (consciously?) have been left out. At the same time, Papayannis argues that the Holy Synod make a decision on the number of verses that should be chanted. See Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 14-16. Several Greek-English service books used in the United States of America con- tain fewer verses than Farlekas’ selection. See A. Calivas, Great Week and Pascha in the Greek Orthodox Church (Brookline, Mass., 1992), pp. 82-83. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 374

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but in this day’s Synaxarion the Jewish people is called ‘full of envy’: because of Lazarus’ resurrection ‘its jealousy rages against Christ’.19 And on Palm Sunday evening, one intones: ‘When the Jews, priests and Levites saw the res- urrection of Lazarus, out of envy, they hatched a plot and, through a treach- erous trick, handed Christ over to Pilate to death’.20

A third main theme which can be heard in many hymns is the absurdity of the Jewish crime. The Jews kill their benefactor! They kill Him who not only always cared for them und healed them but throughout their also conferred great benefactions on them. For a right understanding of these hymns, one must take into account, besides the Jewish-Christian polemics, the Christian identification between Jesus Christ and the Second Person of the Holy . As Logos and Son of God, Christ already made heaven and earth, led Israel out of Egypt and spoke to his people through the Prophets. In their picture of the passion events of Christ, the Greek hymnographers like to present this absurdity, this paradox, in an antithetical way. It is often formulated as a reproach, and both the and the New Testa- ment of salvation are referred to. I shall give several examples hereof: ‘Today Jews nailed the Lord, who split the sea with the staff und led them through the desert, to the Cross. Today they pierced with a lance the side of Him who vexed Egypt with plagues for their sake and they gave gall to drink to Him who sent Manna as fare on them’.21 (It must be noted that here the piercing of Christ’s side, according to the done by a Roman soldier – Jn 19,34 – is ascribed to Jews.) ‘Lord, Jews condemned you, the Life of all, to death. Those who went with the staff through the Red Sea nailed You to the Cross and those who sucked honey from the rock brought gall to You…’.22 ‘At last, the Sanhedrin of the Jews assembles itself to hand over the Cre- ator and Maker of all to Pilate; oh outlaws, oh unbelievers! Because they

19 Triôdion katanuktikon, p. 346. 20 Seventh troparion of the eighth canticle of the triodion in the vespers on Palm Sunday evening: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 63. 21 Second verse of the sixth in the Service of the Holy Passion; Hagia Hebdo- mas, p. 193. 22 Verse after the in the of the service of the Great Hours (also named Royal Hours) on Good Friday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 242. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 375

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prepare Him who comes to judge living and dead for judgment and they make Him who heals the sufferings ready for suffering…’.23 ‘Lawgivers of Israel, Jews and Pharisees… See: the temple that you destroyed. See: the Lamb that you crucified… Are not mistaken, Jews, because it is Him who brought salvation in the sea and food in the desert…’.24 Incidentally, the fact that the hymns one time speak of “the Jews” and another time of “Jews” does not necessarily mean that they distinguish between the Jews in general and several Jews in particular. The hymns have to comply by strict rules with respect to metre and style and, consequently, the number of syllables; if there is no place for the definite article it is sim- ply left out. Other examples of the Jewish “absurdity” are found in the aforementioned Good Friday ‘Songs of Praise’. Here one can hear: ‘Just as from a bitter source, the descendants of the tribe of Judah laid the feeder and giver of the Manna, Jesus, in a pit’. ‘Those that were fed by the Manna, raised their heels against the benefactor… bring both gall and vinegar to the Redeemer’.25 With reference to the controversy between God and His people described in the Book Micah (Mic 6,1-8) the Jews are called to account. Here we meet with a style that is very similar to the Western Improperia (Reproaches),26 it is true, but it is more drastic; moreover, the Jews are now called by name: ‘Thus the Lord speaks to the Jews: My people, what have I done to you or with what have I wearied you? I gave your blind light, cleansed your lep- ers, raised up a man who lay down on his bed. My people, what have I done to you and what have you given me in return? Instead of manna, gall, instead of water, vinegar; instead of loving me, you nailed me to the Cross. I do not endure any longer; I will call the gentiles to me and they will glorify me together with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them the eternal life.’27

23 First idiomelon accompanying the Praise Psalms in the matins of Maundy Thursday: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 159-160. 24 Third verse of the twelfth antiphon in the Service of the Holy Passion on Maundy Thursday as well as second idiomelon in the of the service of the Great Hours on Good Friday: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 201-202, 250-251. 25 Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 299, 309. 26 See e.g. A. Gerhards, ‘Improperia’, Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, 17 (1996), pp. 1198-1212; L. van Tongeren, ‘Les Improperia du Vendredi Saint au banc des accusés’, Questions Liturgiques, 83 (2002), pp. 240-256. 27 First verse of the twelfth antiphon in the Service of the Holy Passion as well as first 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 376

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‘When you were drawn upon the Cross, Lord, You cried thus: For which deed do you wish to crucify me, Jews? Because I cured your paralytics? Because I raised up your dead as if it were from sleep? Because I healed a woman that suffered from haemorrhages, because I pitied the Canaanite woman? For which deed do you wish to murder me, Jews? However, you will look on Christ, whom you now pierce, criminals.’28 ‘Oh, how did the criminal Synagogue condemn the king of creation to death, without respecting the benefactions? He (Christ) reminded them (the Jews) of those deeds and confirmed them when He spoke to them: My peo- ple, what have I done to you? Have I not filled Judea with miracles?…’.29 ‘Two evil things has my firstborn son Israel done: he abandoned me, the source of the water of life,… he nailed me to the Wood… You, Israel, were not ashamed but handed me over to death…Forgive them, holy Father, for they do not know what they have done.’30

Therefore it is hardly surprising that, in various verses, the Jews are called “ungrateful”, “ignorant” or “unwise” (agnômones). According to the Good Friday Songs of Praise, this “ungratefulness” is all the more painful because Christ ‘as the Giver of Life did not kill the Jews when he hung on the cross but also woke up their dead’.31 For the Byzantine hymnographers it is clear that such serious crimes must be punished. That is why several times one sings: ‘Pay them back, Lord, according to their works, because they made vain plans against You’.32 Properly speaking, the Jews do not exist any longer: ‘because when You were lifted up today the race of the Jews perished’.33

idiomelon in the sext of the service of the Great Hours on Good Friday: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 201, 250. Cf. the idiomelon in the none: ibid., p. 261. 28 Third idiomelon in the terce of the service of the Great Hours on Good Friday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 243. 29 Sixth idiomelon in the vespers of Good Friday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 269. 30 First idiomelon accompanying the Praise Psalms (after the ninth gospel lesson) in the Service of the Holy Passion on Maundy Thursday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 219. 31 Hagia Hebdomas, p. 305. In the original text, Jesus Christ is addressed in the second person (‘You…’ ). 32 Second and third verses of the eleventh antiphon (cf. first verse) as well as first verse of the thirteenth antiphon in the Service of the Holy Passion on Maundy Thursday: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 200-201, 204. 33 Third idiomelon accompanying the Praise Psalms (after the ninth gospel lesson) in the Service of the Holy Passion on Maundy Thursday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 220. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 377

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Some troparia assert that, unfortunately, the Jews are stubborn: ‘With the betrayal, the races of the Hebrews were not satisfied, Christ, but they shook their heads, consigning You to mockery and scorn…’ and ‘Neither the earth when she trembled nor the rocks when they were split convinced the Jews. Neither the veil of the temple nor the resurrection of the dead…’.34 The felony is passed to the next generations, as the following troparion makes clear: ‘Alien for the lawless is the just legal order and strange for the unbelieving is the knowledge of God: the Jews spurned this because of their lawlessness; therefore, notably, they inherited the curse, just as the fig tree.’35 And: ‘The gathering of the Jews… inheriting the crime of murder-stain…’.36

The extreme classic example of Jewish treason is Judas. Also in Greek, lin- guistically, the names of Judas (Ioudas), of the tribe Judah (Iouda) and of the Jews (Ioudaioi) are very close. Incidentally, instead of “Jews”, also “Hebrews” (Hebraioi) may be said. Judas is denoted as miserable traitor, cheater, pervert and murderer – malicious, niggardly, idiotic, ‘thrice wretched’, ungrateful, evil, etc. Several times, Judas and the Jews are almost named in the same breath: ‘Judas… runs to the Jews and says to the criminals…’.37 Or Judas’ deeds are simply ascribed to Jews in general: ‘For thirty pieces of silver, Lord, and a vile kiss Jews tried to kill You…’.38

A further subject matter concerns the incapacity of the Synagogue to bring forth good fruits any longer. In particular, we meet with such assertions on the Monday of Holy Week. On this day, among other things, the fig tree that was cursed by Jesus and subsequently withered is commemorated (Gospel

34 Second and third verses of the eleventh antiphon in the Service of the Holy Passion on Maundy Thursday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 201. 35 Second troparion of the ninth canticle of the triodion in the vespers on Palm Sunday evening: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 63-64. 36 First verse of the thirteenth antiphon in the Service of the Holy Passion on Maundy Thursday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 204. 37 Second in the beginning of matins of Wednesday of Holy Week (Great Wednes- day); seventh troparion of the eighth canticle of the triodion in the apodeipnon () of Great Wednesday; second apostichon of matins of Maundy Thursday: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 124, 145, 162. 38 Fourth verse of the third antiphon of the Service of the Holy Passion on Maundy Thurs- day: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 189. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 378

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reading of this day: Mt 21,18-43). In the hymns of this day and its eve, one chants about the withered fig tree, a prefiguration of the Synagogue, full with leaves but without any fruits. Christ has cursed this barren and unfruitful Syn- agogue.The hymnographers are anyhow convinced that the Law is fruitless and the Synagogue has been excluded from spiritual fruits.39 However, the fate of the fig tree does not only symbolise Judaism but it is also a warning for the “brothers” (adelfoi), i.e. the Orthodox (and ), not to stay fruitless and wither.40 This also applies to the bridesmaids (Mt 25,1-13) that are commemorated on Tuesday of Holy Week: “We”, so the Orthodox, should be watchful and prepared like the wise maids, just as we must imitate the servants who traded with the talents entrusted to them and did not hide the money in the ground (Mt 25,14-30). “We” must also lead our lives in such a way that, at the Last Judgment, we will be numbered among the sheep, not among the goats (Mt 25,31-46). In addition, on , when the woman that anointed Jesus is commemorated – in Byzantine tradition, she is identified with a sinful whore – we meet with a few troparia, according to which ‘I (viz. the Orthodox singer or listener) am even more sinful than the harlot’.41 So, it is our own purification, watchful- ness and salvation that are at stake.

The issue of the curse of the Law (katara tou nomou) too is found several times. The first line of the (viz. the characteristic troparion that summarizes the contents of the festival of the day) at the end of the Service of the Holy Passion on Maundy Thursday is: ‘You have redeemed us from the curse of the Law through Your precious blood’.42 This apolytikion is twice repeated.

39 Second troparion of the first canticle, fourth troparion of the eighth canticle, third, fourth and fifth troparia of the ninth canticle of the triodion in the vespers on Palm Sun- day evening; Synaxarion in matins of Great Monday: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 60, 62-64, 73. 40 Second and fourth troparia of the first canticle and kathisma of the triodion in the ves- pers on Palm Sunday evening; third apostichon in matins of Great Monday; and oikos in matins of Great Tuesday: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 60-61, 77 (81), 103-104. 41 Kontakion and oikos of matins of Great Wednesday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 128. 42 This text serves both as apolytikion and as kathisma before the sixth gospel reading in the Service of the Holy Passion on Maundy Thursday: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 207, 224. See also Hôrologion to mega (Athens, Apostolikê Diakonia, 61977), p. 458. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 379

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The polemics against Judaism are also found in other hymns sung during Holy Week and the paschal octave: ‘Let us not celebrate as Jews, for our paschal lamb, Christ God, has sacrificed himself for us’.43 Moreover, in the paschal attributed to , one sings: ‘Come, let us drink a new drink, conjured not from the unfruitful rock…’ and ‘The ancestor of God, David, dancing in front of the shadowy (viz. only symbolical) ark…’.44 Sometimes these polemics again become invective: ‘Disbelieving and adul- terous Jewish race (Genea Ioudaiôn apiste kai moichalis), come and look at Him whose coming in the flesh, for our sake, Isaiah saw; how He marries the new Zion as she is chaste and rejects the condemned Synagogue …’.45 In the hymns of Palm Sunday, a contradiction between the Jews who rejected Jesus and the innocent children of the Hebrews (paides tôn Hebraiôn; cf. in Latin tradition: pueri Hebraeorum) who hailed Jesus at his entry into Jerusalem, is described: ‘Bad and adulterous Synagogue that did not keep fidelity to her own husband, why do you own a testament (i.e. the Old Tes- tament) whose heir you are not? Why do you pride yourself on the Father after you rejected the Son? You did not accept the Prophets although they proclaimed the Son. Be even ashamed of your own children who cry thus: “Hosanna to the Son of David…”’.46 And: ‘… Children cheer You as befits God, Jews slander You as contradicts the Law…’.47 In several cases the ‘chil- dren’ are even called ‘infants’ (brefê, nêpioi; as a reference to Ps 8,3, the lat- ter word is usually found with the addition of thêlazontes, ‘sucklings’), so, beings that are harmless and guileless. However, at another place – in a verse from Romanos Melodos – the evaluation of those who welcomed and cheered Jesus is far less positive: ‘At first, with branches, the ungrateful Jews sang in praise of Christ God, then, with clubs, they arrested Him…’.48

43 Second verse of the fifteenth antiphon in the Service of the Holy Passion on Maundy Thursday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 206. 44 Pentêkostarion, pp. 2-3. Cf. first troparion of the eighth canticle (‘shadowy Pesach’) of the triodion in the apodeipnon of Great Wednesday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 144. 45 Third idiomelon accompanying the Praise Psalms in matins of Palm Sunday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 52. 46 Third apostichon in vespers on Palm Sunday evening: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 59. 47 Third apostichon in vespers on Lazarus Saturday evening and second idiomelon in the beginning of the vespers on Palm Sunday evening: Hagia Hebdomas, pp. 36, 58. 48 Hypakoê in matins on Palm Sunday: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 45. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 380

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As is well known, anti-Jewish polemics are not an invention of the Byzan- tine hymnographers, but have their roots in the Early Church. The Jewish prophetic self-criticism from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc., in the Tanakh and the self-criticism in later Jewish tradition were used, indeed abused by Christians and directed against the entire Jewish people. Further, the Gospel of St John is very polemical for those Jews that did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. St Paul is also a Fundgrube for the hymnographers: With respect to the issue of the curse of the Law, for instance, they refer to the Letter to the Galatians, where Paul writes about the contradiction between faith and the curse of the Law (Gal 3,10-14). Unfortunately, they do not quote Paul’s pos- itive appraisal of his “mother religion” in the Letter to the Romans (Rom 9–11). They also refer to the patristic apologetics and occasional invective against Jewry (among others Meliton of Sardes, and John Chrysostom).49

It must be admitted that, even during Holy Week, the Jews are not only blackened. There are also several positive statements. Various hymns, for instance, speak of ‘the beloved Israel’ (ho êgapêmenos Israel).50 Others wish ‘peace over Israel and salvation for the gentiles’.51 Psalm verses, such as ‘Let the house of Israel (or Aaron) say that He (the Lord) is good …’ (LXX Ps 117,2.3), are recited during the Palm Sunday Eucharist.52 In the none of the Great Hours on Good Friday, the says: ‘Do not turn us over to the end (last judgment or death) because of Your holy name, do not dissipate Your covenant and do not take away Your mercy from us, for the sake of Abra- ham, Your beloved one, , Your servant and Israel, Your holy one’.53 How- ever, one must critically remark that these positive statements are not applied to the Jewish people but to the New Israel, viz. the Orthodox Church. Some-

49 See e.g. H. Schreckenberg, Die christlichen Adversus Judaeos-Texte und ihr literarisches und historisches Umfeld (1.-11. Jh.), Europäische Hochschulschriften, XXIII/172, (Frankfurt, 41998). 50 Idiomelon accompanying the fifth verse from the ‘Lord, I cried …’-psalms (LXX Ps 141, 142, 130) during the Palm Sunday vespers: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 32; second troparion of the ninth canticle of the canon during the Palm Sunday matins: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 50. 51 Heirmos and troparia of the fifth canticle of the canon during the Palm Sunday matins: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 46. 52 Third antiphon at the beginning of the Eucharist: Hagia Hebdomas, p. 54. 53 Hagia Hebdomas, p. 266. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 381

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thing similar is true of the Old Testament saints, such as the ‘very good’ Joseph (Iôsêf ho pagkalos), that are commemorated during Holy Week. We are also confronted with the interesting phenomenon that Old Testa- ment saints, the Jewish righteous from the Tanakh, hold a much more promi- nent place in Byzantine and other Eastern rites than in the . The Byzantine numbers many festivals of the Old Testament patriarchs, prophets, etc., who are also commemorated during the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours.54 However, they are hardly perceived as Jews but are especially significant because they fit well into the Christian typological design: They are ‘types’ (tupoi) of the real truth, namely Jesus Christ and His salvific death and resurrection.

3. REFORM?

I will close with several short remarks on the urgent question of whether a reform of the very problematic liturgical texts mentioned here is desirable and if such seems possible within the foreseeable future. First three preliminary remarks: a. Greek rhetoric has an emotional meaning different from the Western European that tends to be more sober. Not only praise but also abuse are ear- lier uttered and may already be forgotten on the next day. Also today, in Greece and the Near East, it may happen that first there is an intense con- troversy and then the opponents drink coffee or ouzo together. Things that may sound terrible in German or in English might sound differently in Greek or Arabic. With that, nevertheless, I do not intend to imply that the anti- Jewish polemics in the Byzantine rite should be neglected. b. An important characteristic of Greek Orthodox theology is its apolo- getic demarcation with respect to the non-Orthodox, including the Jews. Because one wishes to confirm the truth of one’s own faith, clear liturgical and dogmatic lines are drawn. After the boundaries between right and wrong beliefs have been drawn, practical coexistence is surely possible. Despite the fact that the Jews are put in their “” theological and liturgical places,

54 B. Groen, ‘Old Testament Saints and Anti-Judaism in the Current Byzantine Liturgy’, in A Cloud of Witnesses: The Cult of Saints in Past and Present, eds. M. Barnard, P. Post and E. Rose, Liturgia Condenda, 18 (Leuven, 2005), pp. 145-159. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 382

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the Orthodox can live together peacefully with them, without pogroms. So polemics against Judaism and malignant enmity towards actual Jews are not per se identical. However, it cannot be denied that Jewry was humiliated and oppressed by Christian supremacy – from the fourth century on. The Church and the Byzantine State considered themselves as the “True Israel”. Although, in the Eastern , Judaism was a religio licita (allowed religion) Jews were treated as second-class citizens.55 c. Research on how people really experience the hymns in question is nec- essary. Do people identify with the anti-Jewish invective or do they just lis- ten to the singing and immediately forget what they heard? (Or not listen at all?) Do they apply what they hear to present Jewry or do they experience the texts as merely something historical? In other words, do the hymns really feed anti-Semitism?56 Unfortunately, there is hardly any empirical research on how Orthodox faithful actually live the liturgy.

During an official visit at the Greek Orthodox of Jerusalem in May 1995, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomaios, in his func- tion of honorary Primate of the Orthodox Church, argued in favour of a reform of the liturgical texts of Holy Week with respect to Jewry. Actually, he declared himself in favour of suppressing the anti-Jewish passages, in par- ticular the invective. The background of the patriarchal plea is the fact that the Constantinople Patriarchate is not only engaged in a dialogue with the other Christian churches and Islam but also with Judaism. It is difficult to take the Jewish partners seriously and, at the same time, demonize them dur- ing worship. Moreover, some Orthodox theologians and liturgists are ashamed of the harsh anti-Jewish statements in their own liturgy.57 Another motive for reform might be the fact that, during the five official theological consultations between the Orthodox Church and Judaism that

55 Davids, ‘Anti-judaïsme en antisemitisme in de eerste eeuwen van het christendom’; Schreckenberg, Die christlichen Adversus Judaeos-Texte. 56 An almost identical question is asked by Kratzert, “Wir sind wie die Juden”, pp. 185- 186: ‘Wenn heute orthodoxe Christen diese liturgischen Texte singen und hören, dif- famieren sie dann das heutige Judentum bzw. bauen sie einen Haß gegenüber den heute lebenden Juden auf?’ 57 Kratzert, “Wir sind wie die Juden”, pp. 178-182 discusses earlier reform proposals made by, among others, Alivizatos and Papademetriou. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 383

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have been held since 1977, Jewish participants repeatedly stated that they feel hurt by the anti-Jewish hymns in the Holy Week liturgy and expressed their wish that these texts be revised. During a congress held by the ecumenical Pro Oriente Foundation in Vienna in October 2004, the director of the lib- eral Jewish Geiger College in Berlin, Rabbi Walter Homolka, also appealed to the Eastern churches to follow the example of their Western counterparts and recognize God’s covenant with the Jewish people.58 In , an official liturgical reform can only be undertaken by the Holy Synod. In the Moscow Patriarchate, at present, the atmosphere for such a reform is unfavourable. Within the Constantinople Patriarchate, to which also the Greek Orthodox in , America and Australia belong, the attitude to reform is more open. The American Greek Orthodox profes- sor of liturgical studies, Alkiviadis Calivas (Kalivopoulos), for instance, stresses the importance and necessity of reform. However, he concentrates on the revision of the Typicon, especially on the revision of the liturgical order (e.g. time, rubrics) on Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday, and does not address the issue of the anti-Jewish invective.59 Generally speaking, in the Western world, especially in North America where numerous Jews live, many formal and informal contacts between Jews and Eastern Christians exist. In several English translations of the original Greek texts, the invective is simply omit- ted.

No Orthodox Church wishes to reform the liturgy on its own. This deci- sion is left to a large pan-Orthodox council. There are also influential groups, such as the Athos , that contend that the liturgical tradition is unchangeable and that all troparia passed down to us are essential for wor- ship.60

58 W. Homolka, ‘Von der Heiligung des göttlichen Namens: Der Märtyrerbegriff aus jüdis- cher Sicht’, in Europa, vergiss deine Märtyrer nicht: Pro Oriente-Studientagung, eds. R. Prokschi and J. Marte (Klagenfurt, 2006), pp. 33-40, here 40. 59 Calivas, Great Week and Pascha, pp. 10-11 (esp. n. 35), 16, 107. 60 See also the different opinions on this issue in Immanuel, 26/27 (1994), pp. 77, 89, 123, 125-126, 131. According to Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Peristeri (diocese in Athens), a reform is ‘christologically and soteriologically absurd’ (p. 126), whereas professor N. Brat- siotis argues in favour of omitting the anti-Jewish hymns on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday (p. 123). 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 384

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Closely connected with the reform issue are both the participation of the faithful in the services and the intelligibility of the texts. Regarding the believ- ers’ participation, it can be pointed out that almost all hymns discussed here are sung either during a morning service or in vespers and that the number of people taking part in both types of services is indeed usually very low. However, the Divine Office during Holy Week is an exception: I already mentioned the large-scale participation in the Maundy Thursday “Holy Pas- sion” service and the Good Friday Epitafion service. In many other cases, the liturgical language – in Greece: Ancient and Byzantine Greek, and in Russia: – is hardly intelligible for the faithful. In the specific case of Holy Week, in particular the Good Fri- day ‘Songs of Praise’, however, this is not so because the egkômia are written in a simple style that is certainly intelligible for “present-day ears”. Moreover, the current Greek words for “Jews”, “criminals”, “lawless”, etc. are identical with those used in the hymns.

Attempts at reinterpretation are also made. In his Lenten Triodion, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in Great Britain, Kallistos Ware, literally translates the anti-Jewish assertions61 but, at the same time, he argues that the statements against those who handed Christ over to death refer to the Christian community gathered in worship: we ourselves have often betrayed the Saviour and crucified Him again.62 The noted Russian-Ameri- can Orthodox theologian, Alexander Schmemann, thinks that we Christians ought to ask ourselves on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday if we are not like Judas in his perverted love and if we, too, would not have rejected Christ and killed Him either.63 Unfortunately, in his description of the “solemn accusations” in the vespers of Good Friday, Schmemann does not distinguish between those who are responsible for the death of Jesus and general anti- Jewish polemics.64

61 Lenten Triodion, pp. 464-661. 62 Lenten Triodion, p. 60. 63 A. Schmémann and O. Clément, Le mystère pascal: Commentaires liturgiques, Spiritual- ité orientale, 16 (Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1975), pp. 33, 37-38; cf. pp. 20-21: ‘des hommes “normaux”’. 64 Schmémann and Clément, Mystère pascal, p. 41. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 385

ANTI-JUDAISM IN THE PRESENT-DAY BYZANTINE LITURGY 385

In his study on Holy Week and Easter in the Greek Orthodox Church, the aforementioned Professor Calivas takes two tracks. On the one hand, he mentions the plot laid by ‘the religious authorities’ and ‘the leaders of all the religious parties and factions’ to kill Jesus as well as ‘the faithlessness of the Jewish religious classes’.65 On the other, in his description of Maundy Thurs- day, he does not denounce the Jews but people in general ‘who wage war upon Him (God) … And still others, who have been baptized, but … are negli- gent or lukewarm in their relationship with Christ and His Church.’ It is ‘our sins, both personal and collective’ and ‘our own dispositions towards Christ’, our repentance and experience of God’s forgiveness and love that are at stake.66 According to another American Greek Orthodox theologian, the ethicist Stanley Harakas, the hymns on the barren fig tree, the unprepared virgins, the greed and betrayal of Judas and on their positive counter-parts, viz. the good man Joseph, the alert virgins and the repentant sinful woman who anointed Jesus – hymns chanted during the so-called ‘Services of the Bride- groom’, viz. the matins of , Tuesday and Wednesday – must be taken as moral appeals to present-day people singing and hearing these hymns, the Orthodox worshippers, to do right and avoid evil, to be attentive and repent.67

As to the Jewish issue, the French Orthodox catechism, Dieu vivant, goes a step further. Here, the Christian crimes against the Jews are denounced and it is pointed out that God never cancelled His covenant with the Jew- ish people and that Jesus, the Son of God Himself, Mary and the Apostles had ‘Semitic faces’. Furthermore, the authors of the catechism state that Christians also, just as Judas, are in danger of being hypocrites and of becom- ing traitors and homicides of Christ by betraying their fellow men.68

65 Calivas, Great Week and Pascha, pp. 30, 36. 66 Calivas, Great Week and Pascha, pp. 17-18, 58. 67 Harakas, ‘Holy Week Bridegroom Services’. In the description of the barren fig tree (pp. 42-47), the author makes no reference to the Synagogue. Instead, a hymn is quoted in which we are called upon to avoid the fate of the fig tree and bring forth good fruits. 68 Dieu est vivant: Catéchisme pour des familles par une équipe de chrétiens orthodoxes (Paris, 1979), pp. 164-171. Translation into German, based on the second edition (Paris, 21998): Gott ist lebendig: Ein Glaubensbuch der orthodoxen Kirche (Münster, 2002), pp. 175-184. 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 386

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A few Byzantine-rite communities within the Catholic Church have either already left out the anti-Jewish texts in their liturgical books or changed the form and content of their language. In the hymns concerned within the Dutch Byzantijns Liturgikon, for example, the words “Jews”, “Hebrews”, etc. have been replaced by expressions, such as “evil men” und “sinners”, without any reference to the Jews.69 It is obvious that the Decree of the Second Vat- ican Council, Nostra Aetate (1965),70 in which the Jewish people and Jewish religion are positively esteemed, gave an important impetus to this reform.

Generally speaking, Christian identity and the joy about Christ’s redeem- ing acts must not be at the expense of others, in this case the Jews. And Jew- ish prophetic self-criticism should not be abused by Christians and used against the Jewish people.71 Unfortunately, in many liturgical texts of the Byzantine rite, the old and new covenants are opposed and the redemption by God’s Son from the old covenant is proclaimed. One ought to be cautious of all substitution theories that reduce Israel and its scriptures to a historical prelude to the coming of Jesus and thus do not give due attention to the con- tinuity of God’s appearance throughout the .

In Greece, one meets with anti-Judaism that is latent, it is true, but at the same time strong. In present-day Russia, anti-Judaism lushly grows. Many Greeks and Russians, for example, – also non-Orthodox – are convinced that the so-called “Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion” are an authentic Jewish document. (This book claims that the Jews will not rest before they have gained dominion of the world. Actually, it is a nineteenth-century forgery made by order of the Russian secret police.)72 In addition, for many Ortho- dox and Eastern-Catholics in the Middle East it is very difficult to decide to positively re-evaluate their opinions on Judaism. The main causes for this are, first, their observation that the social and economic position of the Chris- tian and Islamic Palestinian population is most precarious and that this group

69 Byzantijns Liturgikon (Tilburg and Zagreb, 1991), pp. 419-540. 70 Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Decreta, eds. J. Alberigo et al. (Bologna, 31973), pp. 968- 971. 71 M. Poorthuis, ‘The Improperia and Judaism’, Questions Liturgiques, 72 (1991), pp. 1- 24. 72 Ta Prôtokolla tôn sofôn tês Siôn, ed. Ch. Basilopoulos (Athens, 61993). 1783-08_JECS_18_Groen 31-03-2009 14:05 Pagina 387

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is discriminated against in the State of Israel and in the territories annexed by Israel, and, second, the problematic classic substitution theology. A direct causality between the hymns on the Jews discussed here and the Greek, Russian and Arabic anti-Judaism cannot be established, it is true, but an indirect causality cannot be excluded.

A positive answer on the issue of reform may also be found in Byzantine liturgical texts themselves, among others those that accentuate the Lord’s command of love, warn against slander or call for moderation and forgive- ness. In the “Prayer of St Ephrem”, for instance, that has its place in the so- called Vespers of Forgiveness on the last Sunday of the Forefast, i.e. at the beginning of the , one prays: ‘Lord and Master of my life,… the spirit of prudence, humility, patience and love give to me, Your servant. Yes, Lord King, let me see my own faults and not condemn my brother.’73

73 Triôdion, p. 72.

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