‘Pharisee’ as pejorative is offensive: rabbi

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This article was published 22/06/2019 (2388 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg got into trouble with American Jews a couple of months ago.

In an April interview with the Washington Post, Buttigieg — an Episcopalian and avowed Christian — accused U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence and other Republicans of being “Pharisees.”

What he meant was they are hypocrites — they don’t practise the values they preach.

“When you see someone, especially somebody who has such a dogmatic take on faith that they bring it into public life, being willing to attach themselves to this administration for the purposes of gaining power, it is alarmingly resonant with some New Testament themes, and not in a good way,” he said, noting “there’s an awful lot about Pharisees in there.”

As someone who grew up going to church, I understand where Buttigieg is coming from. In Sunday school and sermons, I was taught to see the Pharisees as harsh, judgmental and hypocritical.

But that’s not how Jews view the Pharisees, as the episode with Buttigieg soon showed. His comment prompted a number of Jews to write in defence of the ancient group, one of a number of Jewish sects that existed during the time of Jesus.

One critic was Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin of Temple Solel in Hollywood, Fla.

For Jews, he said, “‘Pharisee’ is a fighting word,” adding the way it was used by Buttigieg was “bigoted, and narrow, and dated, and painful.”

The history of its use in a derogatory way dates back 2,000 years, he said, noting it has come to mean “a kind of narrow, petty, rules-intoxicated religiosity. That is the way that the New Testament uses it, especially because the texts juxtapose Jesus with the Pharisees.”

But Jews view them differently. Pharisees, he said, laid the important groundwork for what Judaism has become today.

According to Salkin, the Pharisees and their spiritual descendants created the texts that have kept the Jewish faith alive over the centuries — things like the Mishnah, Judaism’s great law code; the Talmud, the interpretation of the Mishnah; various collections of interpretations of the Bible; and Jewish liturgy.

Because of the Pharisees, he said, “Judaism survived and grew.”

For Salkin, it is tragic they are mainly seen by many today “only through the bias of the New Testament. Clearly, the gospel writers wanted to separate themselves from Jewish custom and interpretation. But, because of that inner, political need, the Pharisees have been getting a bad rap.”

Worse, he added, using the word in that way can be a subtle doorway to anti-Judaism by Christians — reinforcing a view that the Jewish religion is only about laws and rules.

Salkin acknowledged that some Pharisees were, in fact, hypocrites — just like in any other religion.

In fact, ancient Jewish sources indicate Jews back then were critical of Pharisees who ostentatiously displayed their piety, knowledge, humility, generosity, purity or love for God. But others were deeply respected for how they loved God and delighted in God’s law.

So when someone acts hypocritically today, instead of calling them a “Pharisee,” Salkin suggested just calling it what it is: “religious hypocrisy.”

No other word is necessary, he noted.

Belle Jarniewski, executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, feels similarly about use of that word.

“The term ‘Pharisee’ has been typically used in a pejorative way to refer to a person who is hypocritical and/or dishonest,” she said.

“Given the pejorative use, I think it is high time that Christians and any others stop using the term… we Jews today are the descendants of the Pharisees, and the pejorative use of the term increases anti-Semitism.”

Buttigieg’s misstep is a reminder to be careful when it comes to the words we use. Words that sound normal and right in conversation for some religious groups can be seen as insensitive or offensive for members of others — words like “guru,” “karma,” “zen,” “jihad” or “pagan.”

As for Buttigieg, he will no longer use the word “Pharisee” to refer to those he deems religious hypocrites, a campaign official said.

“We appreciate the people who have reached out to educate us on this,” the campaign tweeted.

“While intended to highlight political hypocrisy, we listened and learned and won’t be using it going forward.”

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