ORIGINALLY but one lecture on the Oberammergau Passion Play was contemplated by the author. Developing his subject, he found himself obliged, in justice to his theme, to make of the one lecture three. The widespread interest which the treatment of the subject awakened, and the keen desire of large audiences, and of a yet larger reading public-both of Jews and non-Jews-to hear and read more and more of a Rabbi's Impressions of that unique presentation of the gospel story of Christ's Passion at Oberammergau, not only changed the three lectures into six, not only exhausted two large pamphlet issues of them, but has also necessitated this new edition, supplemented by a number of chapters, which bear on the subject, and which throw additional light on the question discussed. But the great demand for these lectures is not the only reason for their issuance in book-form. They would have been delivered from the pulpit of the Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, even if no interest in them had been evinced, and they would have been issued in printed form, even if no one had shown a desire to peruse them. The discourses would have been obliged to create that interest, no matter how difficult the task, no matter how slow the progress. The Oberammergau Passion Play has made clear that there are falsehoods enacted and taught that must be uprooted, and that there are truths suppressed that must be brought to light, and given the widest publicity, if the Jew is to be spared further suffering, and if the Christian is to be saved from further wrong-doing against Israel.

Every ten years since 1634, the Bavarian village of Oberammergau has performed the world's most famous Passion Play, recounting the last days of Jesus Christ. In 2010, presenting the play for the 41st time, the village broke with tradition to offer a new interpretation for a post-millennial, international audience. Drawing on interviews with villagers and international responses, this collection of new essays provides an analysis of the play by scholars who attended. Topics include changes in response to charges of anti-Semitism, how the play defines the village, how the performance changes the audience, and a comparison of Oberammergau 2010 with American Passion Plays, Indian pilgrimage drama and other German Passion Plays.

The history of the Oberammergau Passion Play begins in 1633. In the midst of the Thirty Years' War, as plagues brought suffering and death for months on end, the people of Oberammergau vowed that they would stage the 'play of the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ' every ten years. It was at Pentecost in 1634 that they first fulfilled this promise. In 2022, the community will present the Passion Play for the 42nd time, an unrivalled feat of continuity. Almost half the residents of Oberammergau, more than 2000 participants, mount the life of Jesus of Nazareth in a five-hour performance on the imposing open-air stage of the Passion Play Theatre in southern Bavaria. With more than one hundred performances and half a million spectators it is the most successful amateur production in the world, and is included on UNESCO's register of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The official illustrated book documents Christian Stückl's new production of the Passion Play with set designs, costumes and tableaux vivants by Stefan Hageneier. It is the third Passion Play production that the two Oberammergau-born artists have staged together, one that sees them forging a connection with the present day, highlighting the pressing issues of asylum and integration. The rehearsals are captured by Icelandic cinematographer Birgit Guðjónsdóttir, and her moving andrichly detailed photographs reveal the enormous energy and emotional force of this unique event.