Was the actor who potrayed Jesus in Passion of the Christ Jewish ?

[PhilA]

Or was he perhaps one of Mel Gibson's anti-Semetic mates ?
I asked my step son and his friends why they were going to see tthe movie since they were not religious. They just replied that they wanted to see Jesus get beated up and tortured for two hours and get nailed to a cross.

 

[star]

i heard at the time the movie was made,
that the actor who played Christ received a lightning strike but survived it.
it was in the papers.