Jews and 'The Passion': Are Watchdog Groups Going Overboard?

Two weeks before Mel Gibson's

flashes onto two thousand screens, online ticket merchants are reporting that up to half their total sales are for advance purchases for

. One Dallas multiplex has reserved all twenty of its screens for

. I am neither a prophet nor a movie critic. I am merely an Orthodox rabbi using ancient Jewish wisdom to make three predictions about

.

One, Mel Gibson and Icon Productions will make a great deal of money. Those distributors who surrendered to pressure from Jewish organizations and passed on

will be kicking themselves, while Newmarket Films will laugh all the way to the bank. Theater owners are going to love this film.

Two,

will become famous as the most serious and substantive Biblical movie ever made. It will be one of the most talked-about entertainment events in history; it is currently on the cover of

and

.

My third prediction is that the faith of millions of Christians will become more fervent as

uplifts and inspires them.

will propel vast numbers of unreligious Americans to embrace Christianity. The movie will one day be seen as a harbinger of America's third great religious reawakening.

Those Jewish organizations that have squandered both time and money futilely protesting

ostensibly in order to prevent pogroms in Pittsburgh, can hardly be proud of their performance. They failed at everything they attempted. They were hoping to ruin Gibson rather than enrich him. They were hoping to suppress

rather than promote it. Finally, they were hoping to help Jews rather than harm them.

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