Folks, here is another possible way to sum up one of the threads of this thread, at least:

The lyrics can be heard as resonating with the slights, slurs, discrimination, and occasionally worse (consider the recent experience of Elie Wiesel) that remain a (not necessarily universal) part of the Jewish experience even in the modern English-speaking world. We have demonstrated that is not the only way to look at them, and not the best or most solidly grounded way to look at them, but we can't dismiss takes on the song some people have who are not part of this dialogue as mere perversity.

Various thoughtful people have noted the problem and taken some action on it, maybe by adroitly altering the lyrics, as the Revels producers have.

This happens from time to time with songs. Songwriters struggle to get across some key ideas in images that hearers can understand and embrace, and sometimes levels that they weren't focused on can have unintended consequences.