The Talmud & Jesus Christ
(Important facts that every Christian should know about modern Talmudic Judaism-Zionism)
Since we are asked to embrace the teachings of the Talmud and various other writings and teachings of the Jewish people, we should start by inquiring as to what these teach about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I John 5: 10- 13
"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given us eternal life; and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life; and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."
From a Jewish article about Jesus we learn that the Talmud slanders our Savior, Jesus Christ.
"... the Jewish Encyclopœdia admits that Jewish legends concerning Jesus are found in the Talmud and Midrash and in " the life of Jesus ( Toledot Yeshu) that originated in the Middle Ages. It is the tendency of all these sources to belittle the person of Jesus by ascribing to Him illegitimate birth, magic, and a shameful death. " 1.
Upon scrutiny one also finds that Jesus is maligned as a false teacher:
"… He [Jesus] is referred to in the Talmud as Otho Isch- "That man," i.e. the one who is known to all. In the tract Abhodah Zarah, 6a, we read: "He is called a Christian who follows the false teachings of that man, who taught them to celebrate the feast on the first day of the Sabbath, that is, to worship on the first day after Sabbath…Talui, -"The one who was hanged"…" 2.
Many people believe that the name for Jesus in Hebrew is Jeschua or Yeshua. However, the complete,
"…name in Hebrew would be Jeschua Hanotsri--Jesus the Nazarene. He is called Notsri from the city of Nazareth… In the Talmud Christians are also called Notsrim. (Amongst other things). 'Since the word Jeschua means 'Savior,' the name Jesus rarely occurs in the Jewish books. It is almost always abbreviated to Jeschu…"3.
In the Talmud, the name "Jeschu [Ieschu]" can apparently be translated:
"…as if it were composed of the initial letters of the three words Immach SCHemo Vezikro-- (meaning)- -'May his name be blotted out.'" 4.
That translation could only be accomplished by the use of Gematria a tool of Kabbalists. Hebrew Roots proponents might say that these teachings are in the past. However, a review of various sources reveals the same or similar teachings.
The Talmud and Cabala teachings of the Toledot Yeshu-- (or Tolodoth Ieschu or Sepher Toldoth Jehoshua) represent various teachings regarding Christ, which may be shocking to many. A brief overview of these teachings refers to writings that quote the Talmud, (treatise Sabbath, folio 104, treatise Sanhedrim, folio 107, and Sota, folio 47) which presents this falsified account of Jesus:
"...the Toledot Yeshu relates with the most indecent details that Miriam, a hairdresser of Bethlehem,4. affianced to a young man named Jochanan, was seduced by a libertine, Joseph Panther or Pandira, and gave birth to a son whom she named Johosuah or Jeschu. According to the Talmudic authors of the Sota and the Sanhedrim, Jeschu was taken during his boyhood to Egypt, where he was initiated into the secrets doctrines of the priests, and on his return to Palestine gave himself up to the practice of magic. 5. The Toledot Yeshu, however, goes on to say that on reaching manhood, Jeschu learnt the secret of his illegitimacy, on account of which he was driven out of the Synagogue and took refuge for a time in Galilee."
"Now, there was in the Temple a stone on which was engraved the Tetragrammaton [YHWH] or Schem Hamphorasch, that is to say, the Ineffable Name of God; this stone had been found by King David when the foundations of the Temple were being prepared and was deposited by him in the Holy of Holies. Jeschu, knowing this, came from Galilee and, penetrating into the Holy of Holies, read the Ineffable name, which he transcribed on to a piece of whom parchment and concealed in an incision under his skin. By this means he was able to work miracles and to persuade the people that he was the son of God foretold by Isaiah. With the aid of Judas, the Sages of the Synagogue, succeeding in capturing Jeschu, who was then lead before the Great and Little Sanhedrim, by whom he was condemned to be stoned to death and finally hanged." Such is the story of Christ according to the Jewish Kabbalists ..." 5.
This false witness to the person of Jesus in the Talmud is also confirmed by Rev. I. B. Pranaitis in his online report, The Talmud Unmasked: The Secret Rabbinical Teachings Concerning Christians, and other sources" 6.
Another Jesus?
In his email circulated article, "Some Disturbing Aspects of the So-called 'Hebrew Roots' Movement and Their Implications" Andrew Gould presents the Hebrew Roots doubtful view concerning the validity of the Gospel account of Jesus.
"…It has been widely accepted in "Hebrew Roots" circles that Jesus spoke Hebrew and that the Gospels were originally written in Hebrew. Most "Hebrew Roots" ministries have been influenced in this notion by the output of a body called the Jerusalem School Of Synoptic Research, [JSSR] and most especially due to the widespread influence of the book "Understanding The Difficult Words Of Jesus" published by David Bivin (Director of the JSSR) and his partner Roy Blizzard. in 1984 and reprinted in 1994 and 1995…" 7.
According to the JSSR, there is a more authentic Life of Jesus than the gospel accounts:
"… There was an original Hebrew 'Life of Jesus', from parts of which our canonical Greek Gospel Texts are mere compilations and translations. The individual words of the Greek texts that we have are standard Greek equivalents used to translate Hebrew documents into Greek, therefore we can retranslate back into Hebrew to discover what Jesus really said. Failure to appreciate the Hebraic origins of the Gospels has led to mistranslation, misinterpretation, spiritually damaging error and doctrinal confusion." 8.
Toledot Yeshu, with its various components, is one of the Hebrew or Jewish views of Jesus for those who rejected him as God come in the flesh. It has been established that the original manuscripts for the New Testament were composed in Greek. If one accepts Jewish thought regarding who Jesus was according to Judaic writings and teachings, then Jesus was not divine. It is also conveyed that He was not viewed as divine by his disciples, but was viewed as the human Messiah. This subject will be pursued in the next section on Jewish Thought.
Sir James Frazer, author of The Golden Bough, mentions that to cast doubts on the historical reality of Jesus, would be hardly less absurd than it would be to doubt Mohammed and so on. Other historians reiterate that the existence of Christ is an historic fact. However, Rene' Guenon,"who writes with inside knowledge" of Theosophy in Le Theosophisme (1921), cites a reference to the occultic Le Lotus of 1887 which states that Jesus Christ of the New Testament never existed, but the Jesus of the Talmud did exist:
"... Madam Blavatsky's writings, on the person of Christ, ... 'For me, Jesus Christ, that is to say the Man-God of the Christians, copy of the Avatars of all countries, of the Hindu Chrishna as of the Egyptian Horus, was never a historical personage.' Hence the story of His life was merely an allegory founded on the existence of the 'a personage named Jehoshua born at Lud.' But elsewhere she asserted that Jesus may have lived during the Christian era or a century earlier 'as the Sepher Toldoth Jehoshua indicates.'
"And Madame Blavatsky went on to say of the savants who deny the historical value of this legend, that they- 'either lie or talk nonsense. It is our Masters who affirm it. If the history of Jehoshua or Jesus Ben Pandera is false, then the whole of the Talmud, the whole of the Jewish canon law, is false. It was the disciple of Jehoshua ben Parachai, the fifth President of the Sanhedrin since Ezra, who re-wrote the Bible .... This story is much truer than that of the New Testament, of which history does not say a word." 9.
Is it possible that Jehoshua Ben Pandera of the Talmud, who was initiated into the secrets doctrines and gave himself up to the practice of magic, is Jehoshua or Yeshua or Jeschu whom the Hebrew Roots ministries worship?
The following is a portion of an e-mail exchange dated 1/28/99 between the writer and Uri Marcus of Nehemiah Trustee Covenant Fund:
Vicky Dillen: The name Jesus Christ is known world wide and synonymous with Christianity. That is a historical fact.
Uri Marcus: Today, yes. 200+ years ago it was synonymous with nothing. How naive you are of history...
Vicky Dillen: The Jewish people reject that Jesus Christ was divine and believe that He was not God come in the flesh. I believe on the other hand that He is all of that. Where do you stand Uri? In the Jewish belief or in what Christ himself said and what is taught in the New Testament?
Uri Marcus: I believe in the Jewish belief. But your definition is somewhat lacking. Doesn't look like you would understand it, since its already been explained, and it just goes right over your head.
From the La Science des Esprits, by the 19th century occultist, Eliphas Levi, we learn that the Cabalistic Toledot Yeshu and similar Talmudic teachings were purposely hidden from Christians.
"…the Toledot Yeshu, or the Sepher Toldos Jeschu, described here as originating in the Middle Ages…belongs in a much earlier period. Eliphas Levi asserts that 'the Sepher Toldos, to which the Jews attribute a great antiquity and which they hid from the Christians with such precautions that this book was for a long while unfindable, is quoted for the first time by Raymond Martin of the Order of the Preaching Brothers… This book was evidently written by a Rabbi initiated into the mysteries of the Cabala 1.'" 10.
History reveals that The Talmud itself was put on trial and ordered to be burned, by King Louis IX in June of 1242, because of the various slanders against Christ, and Christianity. It was stated that The Talmud contained such things as it being acceptable to deceive a Christian without any scruple; that it was permitted to break a promise, and so on.
The stories contained in Toledot Yeshu and similar teachings were known in Jewish circles, but did not come into the hands of 'Gentiles' or 'Christians' until Raymond Martin translated the Toledot Yeshu into Latin. Later, Martin Luther summarized it in German under the name Schem Hamphorasch and his expose can be found in French in Gustave Brunet's, Evangiles Apocryphes. 11.
According to Geschichte der Juden, by Jewish historian Heinrich Graetz, the image of Jesus Christ is simply as an offshoot of Essenism and Jesus was just performing what any adept in the mysteries could do.
"…Thus the Jewish historian Graetz declares that Jesus simply appropriated to himself the essential features of Essenism, and that primitive Christianity was "nothing but an offshoot of Essenism"2" 12a.
Nesta Webster summarizes the Christ of the Talmud:
". . . So after representing Christ as a magician in the Toledot Yeshu and the Talmud, Jewish tradition seeks to explain His miraculous works as those of a mere healer-an idea that we shall find descending right through the secret societies to this day… if the miracles of Christ were simply due to a knowledge of natural laws and His doctrines were the outcome of a sect, the whole theory of His divine power and mission falls to the ground…" 12.
Many sources state that when the teachings regarding Jesus Christ in the Toledot Yeshu and other Jewish books were discovered in the early 1600's, there were serious repercussions. A Jewish synod in Poland in 1631, ordered the offending passages to be expunged, to be replaced by circles which the Rabbis were to fill in orally when giving instructions to young Jews. This is documented by P.L.B Drach:
"Drach, op.cit. I.168, 169. The text of this encyclical is given in Hebrew and also in translation, thus: " This is why we enjoin you, under the pain of excommunication major, to print nothing in future editions, whether of Mischna or of the Gemara, which relates whether for good or evil to the acts of Jesus the Nazarene, and to substitute instead a circle like this O, which will warn the Rabbis and schoolmasters to teach the young these passages only viva voce. By means of this precaution the savants amongst the Nazarenes will have no further pretext to attack us on this subject. Cf, Abbe'Chiarini, Le Talmud de Babylone, p. 45 (1831)." 13.
These passages are said to have been reinserted since then, although such offensive passages would not necessarily be in any English translations or newer editions. 14.
These then, are some of the Hebrew Roots - a significant part of which are the teachings and thought within the Talmud regarding our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Some might say, that the views presented from the past regarding Jesus Christ do not apply today, or have no effect on our studying Jewish tradition, teachings or thought within the Hebrew Roots movement. That perhaps, the above information is no longer taught. We must ask ourselves, then, what was and is today, Jewish thought regarding the Messiah, salvation, sin, the Son of God, and the divinity of Christ? Do these Jewish terms mean the same as what we think?
John 14:6
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Acts 4:10
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
In his volume, The Talmud, Joseph Barclay confirmed the writings of Drach, a talmudist turned Catholic whose writings were never refuted by Jews, that Jesus was a sorcerer:
" … Abominable calumnies on Christ and Christianity occur not only in the Cabala but in the earlier editions of the Talmud. In these, says Barclay - "Our Lord and savior is "that one", "such an one", "a fool", "the leper", "the deceiver of Israel", etc. Efforts are made to prove that He is the son of Joseph Pandira before His marriage with Mary. His miracles are attributed to sorcery the secret of which He brought in a slit in His flesh out of Egypt. He is said had been first stoned and then hanged on the eve of the Passover. His disciples are called heretics and opprobious names. They are accused of immoral practices, and the New Testament is called a sinful book. The references to these subjects manifest the most bitter aversion and hatred." 15.
Jewish and Christian Terms
Knowing that there is much diversity of thought inside Judaism with four [some say three, under different terms] basic groups: Orthodoxy, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism, it is difficult to present their respective ideas as being in agreement with one another. However, there are some underlying beliefs that appear to remain constant and accepted by most Jews regarding Christ, the Messiah, salvation, sin, and so on.
Jesus and Messiah
Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein, considered a Conservative Jew, explains some of today's thinking pertaining to "The Differences between Judaism and Christianity":
In "THE JEWISH VIEW OF JESUS", Dr. Epstein gives Jesus credit for being a good teacher, but not God:
"To Christians, the central tenet of their religion is the belief that Jesus is the Son of God, part of the trinity, the savior of souls who is the messiah. He is God's revelation through flesh. Jesus was, in Christian terms, God incarnate, God in the flesh who came to Earth to absorb the sins of humans and therefore free from sin those who accepted his divinity. To Jews, whatever wonderful teacher and storyteller Jesus may have been, he was just a human, not the son of God (except in the metaphorical sense in which all humans are children of God). In the Jewish view, Jesus cannot save souls; only God can. Jesus did not, in the Jewish view, rise from the dead." 16.
The "Jews for Judaism" web site explains Jesus as a false prophet predicted in the Old Testament.
"…Jesus the Nazarene, who imagined that he would be messiah and was killed, is alluded to in the book of Daniel, as it is said, `And the sons of the transgressors among thy people will rise, in order to establish a vision, and will stumble' (Dan. 11:14). Can there be a greater stumbling then this? All the prophets said that messiah will be a redeemer and a savior to the Israelites, will bring together their outcasts, and will strengthen their obedience to the Divine precepts, but he (Jesus) caused destruction by the sword to Israel, the dispersion of those left, and their humiliation. He changed the law, and misled many people to worship a being beside G-D…." 17.
Rabbi Hyam Maccoby, in Revolution in Judaea, written in 1973 and still proclaimed accurate today, defines the Jewish view of Messiah as an anointed one, and angel or king, but not divine:
"The title "Messiah' (Greek-Christos) was not a divine title among the Jews. It simply means ' anointed'. It was given to two Jewish officials, King and the High Priest… every Jewish king of the house of David was known as Messiah, or Christ…" 18.
"The 'Son of Man', was not a Messiah. He was an angel identified with the Guardian Angel of Israel, with Metatron, with the angel who guided the Children of Israel in the wilderness…" 19.
"…There is hardly any reference in the Prophetic writings of the Old Testament to the Messiah as a person. There is no splendid shining figure judging mankind, sitting at the right-hand of God and coming very near to eclipsing God Himself by His glory." 20.
"Messiah…in Jewish eyes, belonged to royalty, not divinity. Even the title 'Son of God" was to Jews (but not to the Gnostics) a human title applied at various times in the Hebrew Scriptures to Kings such as King David…"Son of Man" also was not a divine title…far better known as a mode of address to a prophet…to mean simply 'human being'." 21.
The Jews for Judaism web site explains the historical "Jewish Belief in Messiah," from the Mishna (Torah) by Maimonides:
"... In his monumental work Mishneh Torah, Maimonides (1135-1204) spelled out the fundamental Jewish concept of the messiah as it was handed down to us, generation after generation, from the time of the prophets…"
"…from the Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim XI - XII. The King Messiah will in some future time come, restore the kingdom of David to its former power, build the Temple, bring together the scattered of Israel, and all the ancient laws will again be in force. Sacrifices will be offered, and years of release and Jubilees will be kept as prescribed in the Torah. Whoever does not believe in him, or does not hope for his coming, shows a lack of faith not only in the prophets, but also in the Torah…" 22.
Many Jews have believed there would be many Messiahs. At the time of Christ, Hyam Maccoby states:
"… Any leader who succeeded in driving out the Romans and setting up an independent Jewish state would have little difficulty in being recognized as the Messiah. His very success would prove his claim. Thus Bar Kochba was recognized as the Messiah by Rabbi Akiva even though there was no evidence of his descent from David." 23.
From the Jewish Guardian of 1924, we read that the great messianic prophecy, Isaiah 53, refers to the sufferings of Israel, rather than Christ:
"… an article in the Jewish Press,… according to the teaching of the "Liberal Jewish Synagogue," the beautiful passages in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah concerning " the Man of Sorrows acquainted with grief, "usually supposed by Christians to relate to the promised Messiah, are interpreted to modern Jewish youth as relating to Israel and signifying that Israel's " sufferings were caused by the sins of other nations," who thus "escaped the suffering they deserved." Consequently, "Israel was offered for the sake of the whole world.2. " 24.
Messiah and Peace
According to Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein, current Jewish teaching excludes Jesus because it is unanimously believed that the Messiah will bring peace:
"Jesus is not seen as the messiah. In the Jewish view, the messiah is a human being who will usher in an era of peace. We can tell the messiah by looking at the world and seeing if it is at peace. From the Jewish view, this clearly did not happen when Jesus was on Earth or anytime after his death." 25.
Hyam Maccoby considers Jesus to be a rebel, but misrepresented by the gospel accounts out of fear of reprisals by Rome:
"…Jesus was executed as a rebel, against Rome, not as a blasphemer against the Jewish religion, and that the Gospel's misrepresentations on this point are politically motivated--I regard as strongly established…" 26.
Hyam Maccoby, author, is considered a classical scholar and Rabbi of Reform Judaism, and has in recent years been director of the library at the Leo Baeck College of Judaistics in London. His books appear to present accepted ideas regarding Christ, Christianity and the New Testament and the Jewish thought. Clarifying the various Jewish thought and Christian misconceptions redefines Jesus' mission:
"…The phrase 'the kingdom of God'…meant the reign of God (not His heavenly territory) and referred to a projected return to a Jewish system of theocracy…" 27.
"….He [Jesus] had campaigned among 'the lost sheep of Israel', calling them to repentance, because he felt that the coming of God's Kingdom was being held back by Israel's sin's. Pharisee writings often stress that God's promises to Israel are not automatically fulfilled; they depend on Israel's worthiness and co-operation ... " 28.
"…Jesus' mission as a prophet was exclusively directed towards the Jews, not towards the Gentiles. The idea that Jesus rejected the Jews and transferred the Old Testament 'promises' to the Gentiles was a later invention of the Gentile-Christian Church…" 29.
"… Some believed that the Messiah would inaugurate a new era for the whole world; that the nations of the world would acknowledge the One God and his Temple in Jerusalem; that the Jews would be revered as the chosen priests of the One God; and that an era of world peace would begin when, in the words of Isaiah's wonderful internationalist vision, the swords would be beaten into plowshares and the wolf would lie down with lamb. Some, however, did not believe that the coming of the Messiah would necessarily bring about an era of international peace. There might be many Messiahs - many more sorrows and comfortings, defeats and victories - for the Jewish people before that happened. After all, there had been Messiahs before and none had brought everlasting peace. The vision of Isaiah was acknowledged by every Pharisee, as the word of God but it was not necessarily attached to the expectation of the coming Messiah who would defeat the Romans." 30.
In The Traditions of the Jews, from the Talmud (treatises Baba Bathra folio 74b, Pesachim folio 32, Bekhoroth folio 57 and Massektoth Ta'anith folio 31), J.P Stehaln presents a glorious scenario of the Messianic era - without Jesus Christ as the Messiah:
"… when the Messianic era arrives. After the return of the Jews from all nations and parts of the world… the Messiah, we are told in the Talmud, will entertain them at a gorgeous banquet, where they will be seated at tables and regaled with wine from Adam's wine-cellar. The first course is to consist of a roasted ox named Behemoth, so immense that every day it eats up the grass upon a thousand hills; the second of a monstrous fish Leviathan; the third of a female Leviathan boiled and pickled; the fourth of a gigantic roast fowl known as Barjuchne, of which the egg alone was so enormous that when it fell out of the nest it crushed three hundred tall cedars and the white overflowed threescore villages. This course is to be followed up by "the most splendid and pompous Dessert," that can be procured, including fruit from the Tree of Life and "the Pomegranates of Eden which are preserved for the Just."
"At the end of the banquet "God will entertain the company at a ball"; He Himself will sit in the midst of them, and everyone will point Him out with his finger, saying: "Behold, this is our God: we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." 31. |
