Jesus and Christians in the Talmud from "The Talmud Unmasked" by Justinas Bonaventure Pranaitis (Book Club)

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PART ONE 


THE TEACHING OF THE TALMUD 


CONCERNING CHRISTIANS 


FIRST we shall see what the Talmud teaches 
about Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity; 


and secondly, about his followers, the Christians. 


28 


CHAPTER I. 


JESUS CHRIST IN THE TALMUD 


Many passages in the Talmudic books treat of the birth, life, 
death and teachings of Jesus Christ. He is not always referred to 
by the same name, however, but is diversely called “That Man,” 
“A Certain One,” “The Carpenter’s Son,” “The One Who Was 


Hanged,” etc. 


Article I.— CONCERNING THE NAMES OF JESUS CHRIST 


1. The real name of Christ in Hebrew ts Jeschua Hanotsri—Jesus 
the Nazarene. He is called Notsri from the city of Nazareth in 
which he was ‘brought up. Thus in the Talmud Christians also are 


called Notsrim—Nazarenes, 

Since the word Jeschua means “Savior,” the name Jesus rarely 
occurs in Jewish books.’ It is almost always abbreviated to Jeschu, 
which is maliciously taken as if it were composed of the initial 
letters of the three words Immach SCHemo Vezikro—‘May his 
name and memory be blotted out.’ ? 


lex. gr. in Maiene teschua, fol. 66b 
2 cf. I. Buxtorf in Abbrev. Jeschu: “The Jews among themselves do not 


say Jeschu, but Isschu, so nearly corresponding to the words of this curse. 
When talking to a certain Jew about this some years ago he told me that it 
not only meant this, but also Jeschu Scheker (liar) Utoebah (and abomina- 
tion). Who would not be deeply horrified at this? This Jew lived at Frank- 
fort and at Hanover and had travelled all over the world. When he saw 
how this horrified me, his faith in Judaism began to weaken, for he was 
not adverse to the Christian faith and had often discussed it with me and 
Dr. Amando Polano. I also discovered here and there two other secret 
words from the Jewish Cabala which have to do with this name. It is well 
known that the Israelites are often warned in their sacred writings to shun 
the worship of Elohe Nekhar—strange gods or god. What does Elohe 
Nekhar really mean? By the numbering method of the Gammatria these 
letters equal 316, which taken together make the word Jeschu. This is found 


29 


2. In the Talmud Christ is called Otho Isch—That Man,’ z.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 the Sabbath.” 


3. Elsewhere he is simply called Peloni—“‘A Certain One.” In 
Chagigah, 4b, we read: 
“Mary ... the mother of a certain one, of whom it is 
related in Schabbath ...” (104b). 
That this Mary is none other than the mother of Jesus will be 
shown later. 


4. Out of contempt, Jesus is also called Naggar bar naggar—‘the 
carpenter son of a carpenter’ ;3 also Ben charsch etatm—‘the son of 
a wood worker.’ 


5. He is also called Talui — ‘the one who was hanged.’ Rabbi 
Samuel, the son of Meir, in the Hilch. Akum of Maimonides, refers 
to the fact that it was forbidden to take part in the Christian feats 
of Christmas and Faster because they were celebrated on account 
of him who was hanged. And Rabbi Aben Ezra, in a commentary 
on Genes. (XXVII, 39) also calls him Talu1, whose image the Em- 
peror Constantine reproduced on his banner, “. .. in the days of 
Constantine, who made a change of religion and placed the figure 
of the one who was hanged on his banner.” 


at the end of the book Abhkath Rokhel. They therefore teach that to dis- 
honor God by the worship of Elohe Nekhar is the same as to dishonor him 
by the worship of Jeschu. Behold the malice of the serpent! Antonius also 
found a marginal note in a book about the Jewish faith and religion. In a 
Jewish prayer book there is a certain prayer beginning with Alenu, ... For- 
merly the wording contained certain things which were afterwards deleted 
fer fear of the Christians, but the space remains vacant to warn children 
and adults that something is omitted there. The deleted words were ham- 
wmtischtachavim lehebhel vartk umttpallelim lelo toschia “Those who bow 
down exhibit vanity and foolishness and adore him who cannot save.” This 
18 generally said about idols, but is secretly meant for Jesus whose name 
is here signified by the letters... .” 


Scf. Abhodah Zarah, 50b. 


30 


Article Il. — THE LIFE OF CHRIST 


dl kes Talmud teaches that Jesus Christ was illegitimate and was 
conceived during menstruation; that he had the soul of Esau; 
that he was a fool, a conjurer, a seducer; that he was crucified, 
buried in hell and set up as an idol ever since by his followers. 


1. ILLEGITIMATE AND CONCEIVED DURING MENSTRUATION 


The following is narrated in the Tract Kallah, 1b (18b): 
“Once when the Elders were seated at the Gate, two 
young men passed by, one of whom had his head cov- 
ered, the other with his head bare. Rabbi Eliezer re- 
marked that the one in his bare head was illegitimate, a 
mamzer. Rabbi Jehoschua said that he was conceived 
during menstruation, ben niddah. Rabbi Akibah, how- 
ever, said that he was both. Whereupon the others asked 
Rabbi Akibah why he dared to contradict his colleagues. 
He answered that he could prove what he said. He went 
therefore to the boy’s mother whom he saw sitting in the 
market place selling vegetables and said to her: ‘My 
daughter, if you will answer truthfully what J am going 
to ask you, J promise that you will be saved in the next 
life.” She demanded that he would swear to keep his 
promise, and Rabbi Akibah did so — but with his lips 
only, for in his heart he invalidated his oath. Then he 
said: “Tell me, what kind of son is this of yours’? To 
which she replied: ‘The day I was married I was having 
menstruation, and because of this my husband left me. 
But an evil spirit came and slept with me and from this 
intercourse my son was born to me.’ Thus it was proved 
that this young man was not only illegitimate but also 
conceived during the menstruation of his mother. And 
when his questioners heard this they declared: ‘Great 
indeed was Rabbi Akibah when he corrected his Elders’! 
And they exclaimed: ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel 
who revealed his secret to Rabbi Akibah the son of 
Joseph’ ”! 

That the Jews understand this story to refer to Jesus and his 
mother, Mary, is clearly demonstrated in their book Toldath Jeschu 
— ‘The Generations of Jesus’ — where the birth of our Savior is 
narrated in almost the same words.* 


*cf. Synag. Jud. Chap. VIII, p.133. 


31 


Another story of this kind is narrated in Sanhedrin, 67a: 
“Of all who are guilty of death by the Law, he alone® 
is caught by a ruse. How is it done? They light a candle 
in an inner room and place witnesses in an adjoining 
room outside where they can see him and hear his voice, 
but where they cannot be seen by him. Then the one 
whom he tried to seduce says to him ‘Please repeat here 
privately what you told me before.’ If the seducer re- 
peats what he said, the other asks him ‘But how shall we 
leave our God who is in heaven and serve idols?’ If the 
seducer repents, then all is well. But if he says “This is 
our duty and it is right for us to do so,’ then the wit- 
nesses outside, who have heard him, bring him before the 
judge and stone him to death. This is what they did to 
the son of Stada in Lud, and they hanged him on the eve 
of the Passover. For this son of Stada was the son of 
Pandira. For Rabbi Chasda tells us that Pandira was 
the husband ® of Stada, his mother, and he lived during 
the time of Paphus the son of Jehuda. But his mother 
was stada, Mary of Magdala (a ladies’ hairdresser) 
who, as it is said in Pumbadita, deserted her husband.” 


The meaning of this is that this Mary was called Stada, that is, 
a prostitute, because, according to what was taught at Pumbadita, 
she left her husband and committed adultery. This is also recorded 
in the Jerusalem Talmud’ and by Maimonides.’ 


That the mention here is of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is veri- 
fied in the Tract Chagigah, 4b: 


“When Rabbi Bibhai was visited once by the Death 
Angel (the devil), the latter said to his assistant: ‘Go 
and bring to me Mary the hairdresser’ (that is, kill her). 
He went and brought Mary the children’s hairdresser— 
in place of the other Mary.” 
A marginal note explains this passage as follows: 

“This story of Mary the Ladies’ hairdresser happened 
under the Second Temple. She was the mother of 
Peloni, ‘that man,’ as he is called in the tract Schab- 
bath,” (fol. 104b). 


_5 namely, a seducer, who tries to seduce another to worship an idol and 
to join a false religion. 


_ §A marginal note says this son of Stada was called after his father, not 
his mother, although he was illegitimate. 


7 cf. Sanhedrin, chap. VII near the end, and Jebhammoth, the last chap. 


32 


In Schabbath the passage referred to says: 
“Rabbi Eliezer said to the Elders: ‘Did not the son of 
Stada practice Egyptian magic by cutting it into his 
flesh?’ They replied: ‘He was a fool, and we do not pay 
attention to what fools do. The son of Stada, Pandira’s 
son, etc.’”’ as above in Sanhedrin, 67a. 


This magic of the son of Stada is explained as follows in the 
book Beth Jacobh, fol. 127a: 


“The Magi, before they left Egypt, took special care not 
to put their magic in writing lest other peoples might 
come to learn it. But he devised a new way by which he 
inscribed it on his skin, or made cuts in his skin and in- 
serted it there and which, when the wounds healed up, 
did not show what they meant.’ ® 


Buxtorf® says: 
“There 1s little doubt who this Ben Stada was, or who 
the Jews understood him to be. Although the Rabbis in 
their additions to the Talmud try to hide their malice 
and say that it is not Jesus Christ, their deceit is plainly 
evident, and many things prove that they wrote and un- 
derstood all these things about him. In the first place, 
they also call him the son of Pandira. Jesus the Nazar- 
ene is thus called in other passages?® of the Talmud 
where express mention is made of Jesus the son of 
Pandira, St. John Damascene™ also, in his Genealogy 
of Christ, mentions Panthera and the Son of Panthera. 
“Secondly, this Stada is said to be Mary, and this 
Mary the mother of Peloni ‘that certain one,’ by which 
without doubt Jesus is meant. For in this way they 
were accustomed to cover up his name because they 
were afraid to mention it. If we had copies of the origi- 
nal manuscripts they would certainly prove this. And 
this also was the name of the mother of Jesus the 
Nazarene. 


8 This is treated at greater length in the book Toldath Jeschu, where it 
speaks of Jesus as a conjurer, as we shall see further on. It is also men- 
tioned in the Jerusalem Talmud in chap. 12. 


® cf. Lexicon. Jud. in verbo Jeschu. 
10 cf. The Jerusalem Talmud, Abhodah Zarah, ch.II, and Schabbath, ch. 


XIV, Beth Jacobh, 127a. 
11 Lib. 4 


33 


“Thirdly, he is called the Seducer of the People. The 
Gospels !* testify that Jesus was called this by the Jews, 
and their writings to this day are proof that they still 
call him by this name. 

“Fourthly, he is called ‘the one who was hanged,’ 
which clearly refers to the crucifixion of Christ, espe- 
cially since a reference to the time ‘on the eve of the 
Passover’ is added, which coincides with the time of the 
crucifixion of Jesus. In Sanhedrin (43a) they wrote as 
follows: 

‘On the eve of the Passover they hanged Jesus’ 

“Fifthly, as to what the Jerusalem Talmud says about 
the two disciples of the Elders who were sent as wit- 
nesses to spy on him, and who were afterwards brought 
forward as witnesses against him: This refers to the 
two ‘false witnesses’ of whom the [*vangelists Matthew ' 
and Luke*® make mention. 

“Sixthly, concerning what they say about the son of 
Stada that he practiced Egyptian magical arts by cutting 
into his flesh: the same accusation is made against Christ 
in their hostile book Toldoth Jescha. 

“Lastly, the time corresponds. For it is said that this 
son of Stada lived in the days of Paphus the son of 
Jehuda, who was a contemporary of Rabbi Akibah. 


Akibah, however, lived at the time of the Ascension of 
Christ, and for some time after. Mary is also said to 
have lived under the Second Temple. All this clearly 
proves that they secretly and blasphemously understand 
this son of Stada to be Jesus Christ the son of Mary. 


“Other circumstances may seem to contradict this. But 
that is nothing new in Jewish writings and is done on 
purpose so that Christians may not easily detect their 
trickery.” 7° 


12 cf. Matt. XX VII, 63 

13 cf, Sanhedrin, 107b 

14 Ch. XXVI, 60-61 

15 Ch, XX, 5 

16 There are Jews who themselves confess to this. For instance, in the 
book Sepher Juchasin (9b) : “The Rabbis have always deceived the Nazarenes 
by saying that the Jesus of whom the Talmud speaks is not the Jesus Christ 
of the Christians. They permit themselves this falsehood for the sake of 
eae in Rohling, Die Polemik und das Menschenopfer des Rabbinismus, 
ut supra. 





34 


2. Furthermore, “In the secret books, which are not permitted to 
fall easily into the hands of Christians, they say that the soul of 
Esau came into Christ, that he was therefore evil and that he was 
Esau himself.” ?” 


3. By some he is called a Foot and INSANE 
In Schabbath, 104b: 


“They, [the Elders] said to him [Eliezer]: ‘He was a 
fool, and no one pays attention to fools.’ ” 


4. A CoNjJURER AND A MAGICIAN 


In the infamous book Toldoth Jeschu, our Savior is blasphemed 
as follows: 


“And Jesus said: Did not Isaiah and David, my ances- 
tors, prophesy about me? The Lord said to me, thou art 
my son, today I have begotten thee, etc. Likewise in 
another place: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my 
right hand.** Now I ascend to my Father who is in 
heaven and will sit at his right hand, which you will see 
with your own eyes. But you, Judas, will never reach 
that high.2° Then Jesus pronounced the great name of 
God (IHVH) and continued to do so until a wind came 
and took him up between earth and sky. Judas also pro- 
nounced the name of God and he likewise was taken up 
by the wind. In this way they both floated around in the 
air to the amazement of the onlookers. Then Judas, again 
pronouncing the Divine Name, took hold of Jesus and 
pushed him down to earth. But Jesus tried to do the 
same to Judas and thus they fought together. And when 
Judas saw he could not win out over the works of Jesus 
he pissed on Jesus, and both thus being unclean they 
fell to earth; nor could they use the Divine name again 
until they had washed themselves.” 
Whether those who believe such devilish lies deserve greater 
hatred or pity, I cannot say.?? 


17 Synag. Judaica, p. 217; cf. also Buxtorf, Lexicon in verbo Jeschu. 

18 Ps. Il, 7. 

19 Ps, CX, 1. 

20 For it is related that Judas was a competitor of Jesus in the working 
of miracles. 

21 Wagenseil, Sota, p. 1049. 


35 


In another place in the same book it is related that in the house 
of the Sanctuary there was a stone which the Patriarch Jacob 
anointed with oil.22 On this stone were carved the tetragrammatic 
letters of the Name (IHVH),”* and if anyone could learn them he 
could destroy the world. They therefore decreed that no one must 
learn them, and they placed two dogs upon two iron columns before 
the Sanctuary so that if anyone should learn them the dogs would 
bark at him coming out and he would forget the letters through 
fear. Then it is related: “Jesus came and entered, learned the let- 
ters and wrote them down on parchment. Then he cut into the flesh 
of his thigh and inserted them there, and having pronounced the 
name, the wound healed.” *4 


5. IpOLATER 


In the Tract Sanhedrin (103a) the words of Psalm XCI, 10: 
‘No plague shall come near thy dwelling,’ are explained as follows: 


“That thou mayest never have a son or a disciple who 
will salt his food so much that he destroys his taste in 
public, like Jesus the Nazarene.” 


To salt one’s food too much or to destroy one’s taste, 1s pro- 
verbially said of one who corrupts his morals or dishonors himself, 
or who falls into heresy and idolatry and openly preaches it to 
others. 


6. SEDUCER 
In the same book Sanhedrin (107b) we read: 


“Mar said: Jesus seduced, corrupted and destroyed 
Israel.” 


7. CRUCIFIED 


_ Finally as punishment for his crimes and impiety, he suffered an 
ignominious death by being hanged on a cross on the eve of the 
Passover (aS we have seen above). 


22 cf. Genesis, XXVIII. 


_ 23 No one knows how this august name of God is to be read. It is cer- 
tain, however, that it was not pronounced Jehovah, although it is thus com- 
monly pronounced. For the vowels of this tetragrammatum are the vowels 
of the name Adonai, and it is thus that the Jews read IHVH. Out of rever- 
ence, however, it is never written in their books, with the exception of 
Sacred Scripture, but only indicated by ”, or Haschem, the Name. 


24 Buxtorf. Lericon. 


36 


8. Buriep IN HELL 


The book Zohar, III, (282), tells us that Jesus died like a beast 
and was buried in that “dirt heap . . . where they throw the dead 
bodies of dogs and asses, and where the sons of Esau [the Chris- 
tians] and of Ismael [the Turks], also Jesus and Mahommad, un- 
circumcized and unclean like dead dogs, are buried.” ”° 


9. WoRSHIPPED AS Gop AFTER His DEAatH By His FOLLOWERS 


George E]. Edzard, in his book Avoda Sara, quotes the follow- 
ing words of the commentator on the Hilkoth Akum (V,3) of 
Maimonides: 


“In many passages of the Talmud mention is made of 
Jesus the Nazarene and of his disciples, and that the 
Gentiles believe that there is no other God besides him. 
In the book Chizzuk Emunah,® part I, ch. 36, we read: 
‘The Christians build up an argument from this [Zach- 
ary XII, 10] and say: Behold how the Prophet testified 
that in future ages the Jews would lament and weep 
because they crucified and killed the Messiah who was 
sent to them; and to prove that he meant Jesus the Naz- 
arene, possessing both the divine and human nature, they 
quote the words: And they looked upon him whom they 
transfixed and they wept over him as a mother over her 
first born child’ ” 


Maimonides attempts to prove how much Christians err in wor- 
shipping Jesus in his book Hilkoth Melakhim (1IX,4) :?7 


“Tf all the things he did had prospered, if he had rebuilt 
the Sanctuary in its place, and had gathered together the 
dispersed tribes of Israel, then he would certainly be the 


25 In the book Synag. Judatca, (Ch. III, p.75) is the following: ‘He who 
cuts himself off [namely, who does not believe blindly in the Rabbinical 
teachings] will suffer the tortures of the damned, as is decreed in the Tal- 
mudic law of punishment in the Tract de Repudus (Gitt. ¢.5.): He who 
despises the words of the wise men shall be cast into the dirt heap with the 
damned.” I shudder to repeat that they blasphemously narrate that our 
Savior Jesus Christ, whose name be forever blessed, suffered this penalty 
by being cast into Gehenna, although it is contrary to the traditions and 
teaching of the Fathers of the Church... 


26 cf. Wagens, Sota, p.69. 
27 Ibidem, p.346. 


Messiah. ... But if so far he has not done so and if he 
was killed, then it is clear he was not the Messiah whom 
the Law tells us to expect. He was similar to all the 
good and upright rulers of the House of David who 
died, and whom the Holy and Blessed Lord raised up for 
no other reason but to prove to many, as it is said (in 
Dan. X1,35): And some of them who understand shall 
fall, to try and to purge them and to make them white, 
even till the end of time, because the appoimted time is 
not yet. Daniel also prophesied about Jesus the Nazarene 
who thought he was the Christ, and who was put to 
death by the judgment of the Senate: (Dan.V.14): 
... and the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves 
to establish the vision; but they shall fail. What could 
be plainer? For all the Prophets said that the Christ 
would set Israel free, would bring it salvation, restore 
its dispersed peoples and confirm their laws. But he was 
the cause of the destruction of Israel and caused the rest 
of them to be dispersed and humiliated, so that the Law 
was changed and the greater part of the world was se- 
duced to worship another God. Truly no one can under- 
stand the designs of the Creator, nor are his ways our 
ways. For all that has been built up by Jesus the Nazar- 
ene, and by the Turks who came after him, tend only to 
prepare the way for the coming of Christ the King, and 
to prepare the whole world equally for the service of the 
Lord, as it is said: For then I shall give a clean mouth 
to all peoples that all may call upon the name of the 
Lord, and bow down tn unison before him.?® How is this 
being accomplished? Already the whole world is filled 
with the praise of Christ, the Law and the Command- 
ments, and his praises have spread to far distant lands 
and to peoples whose hearts and bodies are uncircum- 
cized. These discuss with one another about the Law 
that was destroyed—some saying that the commandments 
were once true, but have ceased to exist; others that 
there is a great mystery about it, that the Messiah-King 
has come and that their doctrine has revealed it. But 
when the Christ truly comes and is successful, and is 
raised up and exalted, then everything will be changed 
and these things will be shown to be false and vain.” 


28 Sophon, IIL9. 


37, 


38 


10. AwN Ipo. 


In the Tract Abhodah Zarah, (21a Toseph), we read: 


“It is of importance to inquire the reasons why men 
nowadays even sell and rent their houses to Gentiles. 
Some say this is legal because it is said in Tosephta: No 
one shall rent his house to a gentile either here [in the 
land of Israel] or elsewhere because it is known that he 
will bring an idol into it. It is nevertheless allowed to 
rent them stables, barns and lodging houses, even though 
it is known that they will bring idols into them. The 
reason is because a distinction can be made between a 
place into which an idol will be carried in order to leave 
it there permanently, and a place where it will not be 
left permanently, in which case it is allowed. And since 
the gentiles, among whom we now live, do not bring their 
idol into their homes to leave it there permanently, but 
only for a time—while someone is dead in the house or 
when someone is dying, nor do they even perform any 
religious rites there—it is therefore permitted to sell and 
rent them houses.” 


Rabbi Ascher, in his Commentary on Abhodah Zarah 
(83d) speaks not less clearly on this matter: 
“Today it is permitted to rent houses to Gentiles because 
they bring their idol into them only for a time, when 
somebody is sick.” And in the same place he says “Today 
they have a practice of incensing their idol.’” 


All this, and much more like it, proves beyond a doubt that 
when the Rabbis speak of the idols of the Gentiles among whom 
they lived at that time, when no idols were worshipped, they clearly 
meant the Christian “idol,” namely, the image of Christ on the 
crucifix and the Holy Communion. 


Note ABOUT THE CROSS 


In Jewish writings there is no directly corresponding word for 
the Christian Cross. The cross T on which those condemned to 
death were crucified, was called Tau by the Phoenicians and the 
Hebrews, and this name and sign for it was afterwards taken over 
into the alphabet of the Jews and of the Greeks and Romans. The 
Cross honored by the Christians, however, is called by the follow- 
ing names: 


39 


Tsurath Haattalui—the image of him who was hanged.” 
Elil—vanity, idol. 


Tselem—image. Hence the Crusaders in Jewish books are 
called Tsalmerim (ein Tsalmer ) 


4. Scheti Veerebh—warp and woof, which is taken from the 
textile art. 


5. Kokhabh— star; on account of the four rays emanating 
from it. 


6. Pesila—a sculpture, a carven idol. 

But wherever it is mentioned it is always in the sense of an idol 
or of something despicable, as can be seen from the following quo- 
tations: 


In Orach Chaum, 113,8: 
“If a Jew when praying should meet a Christian [Akum] 
carrying a star [a crucifix] in his hand, even 1f he has 
come to a place in his prayer where it is necessary to 
bow down to worship God in his heart, he must not do 
so lest he should seem to bow down before an image.” 


In lore Dea, 150,2: 


“Even if a Jew should get a splinter in his foot in front 
of an idol, or if he should drop his money before it, he 
must not stoop down to remove the splinter or to gather 
up his money lest he should seem to adore it. But he 
should either sit down or turn his back or his side to the 
idol and then remove the splinter.” 

But whenever it is not possible for a Jew to turn away like this, 

the following rule must be observed (in lore Dea, 3, Hagah): 

“It is not permitted to bow down or to remove one’s hat 
before princes or priests who wear a cross on their dress, 
as is their custom. Care must be taken, however, not to 
be noticed in failing to do so. For instance, one can 
throw some coins on the ground and stoop down to pick 
them up before they pass by. In this way it is permitted 
to bow down or to remove one’s hat before them.” 

A distinction is also made between a cross which is venerated 


28 Aben Ezra in Genes. XXVII, 39. 


40 


and a cross which is worn around the neck as a souvenir or as an 
ornament. The former is to be regarded as an idol, but not neces- 
sarily the latter. In Jore Dea, 141, 1, Hagah, it says: 

“The image of a cross, before which they bow down, is 

to be treated as an idol, and it is not to be used until it 

is destroyed. However, a ‘warp and woof’ if hung 

around the neck as a souvenir is not to be regarded as 

an idol and can be used.’ 

The sign of the cross made with the hand, by which Christians 

are wont to bless themselves, is called in Jewish “the moving of 
the fingers here and here” (hinc et hinc).*° 


Article II]. — The Teachings of Christ 


‘Le Seducer and Idolater could teach nothing but falsehood and 
heresy which was irrational and impossible to observe. 


1, FALSEHOOD 
In Abhodah Zarah (6a) it says: 
‘“‘A Nazarene is one who follows the false teachings of 


that man who taught them to worship on the first day of 
the Sabbath.” 


2. HERESY 


In the same book Abhodah Zar. (Ch. I, 17a Toseph) mention is 
made of the heresy of James. A little further on (27b) we learn 
that this James was none other than the disciple of Jesus: 


“,.. James Sekhanites, one of the disciples of Jesus, of 
whom we spoke in chapter 1.” 


But James taught, not his own doctrine, but that of Jesus. 


3. IMPOSSIBLE TO OBSERVE 
The author of Nizzachon** argues as follows on this point: 


“A written law of the Christians is: If a Jew strike you 
on one cheek, turn the other also to him and do not in 
any way return the blow.*? And ch. VI, v. 27 says: Love 
your enemies; do good to them who hate you; bless them 
who curse you and pray for those who do you harm; 


80 cf, Kad. Hakkem, 20a. 
81 cf. Wagens. Sota, p. 822 
82 A corruption of the text in Luke ch. VI, 29. 


41 


unto him who strikes you on one cheek offer him the 
other. To him who takes away thy cloak do not forbid 
him to take thy coat also, etc. The same is found in Mat- 
thew ch. V, v.39. But I have never seen any Christian 
keep this law, nor did Jesus himself behave as he taught 
others to do. For we find in John ch. XVIII, v. 22, that 
when someone struck him on the face, he did not turn 
the other cheek, but became angry on account of this one 
stroke and asked ‘Why do you strike me’? Likewise in 
the Acts of the Apostles, ch. XXITI, v. 3, we read: that 
when the High Priest ordered them that stood by to 
strike him on the mouth, Paul did not turn the other 
cheek; he cursed him saying ‘God shall smite thee thou 
whited wall, etc.’ This is contrary to their beliefs and 
destroys the foundation upon which their religion rests, 
for they boast that the law of Jesus is easy to observe. 
If Paul himself, who may be called the Dispenser of 
Jesus, could not observe the precept of Jesus, who among 
the others who believe in him can prove to me that he 
can do so?” 


The author, however, who had the Gospels and the Acts of the 
Apostles under his hand, could not have failed to understand in 
what sense Christ commanded his followers to turn the other cheek 
to him who would strike them, since in another place he com- 
manded his followers to cut off a hand or an arm, and to pluck out 
an eye if these should scandalize them. No one who has had the 
least acquaintance with Holy Scripture ever thought that these com- 
mands should be taken literally. Only deep malice and ignorance 
of the times in which Jesus lived can explain why the Jews, even 
to this day, use these passages to detract from the teachings of 
Jesus Christ.** 


83 cf. K. Lippe, Der Talmudjude vor dem Katholisch-protestantisch ortho- 
doxen Dretrichter-Kollegium, p. 16, 1884. 


42 


CHAPTER If 


THE CHRISTIANS 


A lite are three things to be considered in this chapter: 
1. The names by which Christians are called in the Talmud. 


2. What kind of people the Talmud pictures Christians to be. 
3. What the Talmud says about the religious worship of the 
Christians. 


Article I.— The Names Given to Christians in the Talmud 


A? in our languages Christians take their name from Christ, so in 
the language of the Talmud Christians are called Notsrim, from 
Jesus the Nazarene. But Christians are also called by the names 
used in the Talmud to designate all non-Jews: Abhodah Zarah, 
Akum, Obhde Eliim, Minim, Nokhrim, Edom, Amme Haarets, 
Goim, Apikorosim, Kuthrim. 


1. Abhodah Zarah—Strange worship, idolatry. The Talmudic 
Tract on Idolatry is thus entitled: Obhde Abhodah Zarah—Idol 
Worshippers. That Abhodah Zarah really means the cult of idols 
is clear from the Talmud itself: ‘Let Nimrod come and testify that 
Abraham was not a server of Abhodah Zarah,’ But in the days of 
Abraham there existed no strange cult either of the Turks or the 
Nazarenes, but only the worship of the true God and idolatry. In 
Schabbath (ibid. 82a), it says: 

“Rabbi Akibah says: How do we know that Abhodah 
Zarah, like an unclean woman, contaminates those who 
subscribe to it? Because Isaiah says: Thou shalt cast 
them away like a menstruation cloth; and shalt say unto 
wt, Get thee hence.” 
In the first part of this verse mention is made of idols made from 
gold and silver. 

The learned Maimonides also clearly demonstrates that the Jews 
regarded Christians as Abhodah Zarah. In Perusch (78c) he Says: 
“And be it known that Christian people who follow 
Jesus, although their teachings vary, are all worshippers 

of idols (Abhodah Zarah).” 


43 


2. Akum—This word is made up of the initial letters of the words 
Obhde Kokhabkim U Mazzaloth—worshippers of stars and planets. 
It was thus that the Jews formerly styled the Gentiles who lacked 
all knowledge of the true God. Now, however, the word Akum in 
Jewish books, especially in the Schulkhan Arukh, is applied to 
Christians. This is evident from numerous passages: 


In the Orach Chatim (113,8) those who use a cross are called 
Akum. In the Jore Dea (148, 5, 12), those who celebrate the feasts 
of Christmas and New Year, eight days afterwards, are called wor- 
shippers of the stars and planets: 


“Thus if a gift is sent to the 4kum, even in these times, 
on the eighth day after Christmas, which they call the 
New Year,” etc. 


3. Obhde Elim — Servers of idols. This name has the same 
meaning as Akum. Non-Jews are frequently called by this name. 
In the Orach Chaim, for example (215,5), it says: 

“A blessing should not be pronounced over incense 

which belongs to the servers of idols.” | 
But at the time when the Schulkhan Arukh was written there were 
no worshippers of the stars and planets (Akum); there were no 
‘servers of idols’ among those who lived with the Jews. Thus, for 
example, the author of the Commentary on the Schulkhan Arukh 
(entitled Magen Abraham), Rabbi Calissensis who died in Poland 
in 1775, in note 8, on No. 244 of the Orach Chaiim (where it is al- 
lowed to finish a work on the Sabbath with the help of an Akum) 
says: “Here in our city the question is raised about the price of 
hiring worshippers of the stars and planets who sweep the public 
streets when they work on the Sabbath.” *4 


4. Minim—Heretics. In the Talmud those who possess books 
called the Gospels are heretics. Thus in Schabbath (116a) it says: 
“Rabbi Meir calls the books of the Minim Aven Gilaion 
[iniquitous volumes] because they call them Gospels.”’ 


5. Edom—Edomites. Rabbi Aben Ezra, when he speaks about 
the Emperor Constantine who changed his religion and placed the 
image of him who was hanged on his banner, adds: 

“Rome therefore is called the Kingdom of the Edomites.” 
And Rabbi Bechai, in his Kad Hakkemach (fol. 20a, on Isaiah, ch. 
LXVI, 17) writes: 


84 cf. Ecker, Judensp. p. 17. 


44 


“They are called Edomites who move their fingers ‘here 
and here’”’ (who make the sign of the cross), 


Likewise Rabbi Bechai, commenting on the words of Isaiah (loc. 
cit.), “those who eat the flesh of swine” adds: “These are the 
Edomites.” Rabbi Kimchi, however, calls them “Christians.” And 
Rabbi Abarbinel, in his work Maschima Ieschua (36d) says: “The 
Nazarenes are Romans, the sons of Edom.” 


6. Goit—Race, or people. The Jews also call a man a Goi—a gen- 
tile; they call a gentile woman a Goiah. Sometimes, but very rarely, 
Israelites are called by this name.*® It is mostly applied to non- 
Jews, or idolaters. In Jewish books which treat of Idolatry,°* wor- 
shippers of idols are often called by this single word Goi. For this 
reason, in more recent editions of the Talmud? the use of the 
word Goi is purposely avoided and other words for non-Jews are 
substituted. 


It is well known that in the Jewish language, the Jews call 
Christians among whom they live, Goim. Nor do the Jews deny 
this. Sometimes in their popular magazines they say that this word 
means nothing harmful or evil.*® But the contrary can be seen in 
their books written in the Hebrew language. For instance, in Cho- 
schen Hammischpat (34,22), the name Goi is used in a depraved 
sense : 


“Traitors and Epicureans and Apostates are worse than 
Goiwm” 


7. Nokhrim—strangers, foreigners. This name is used for all 
who are not Jews, and therefore for Christians. 


8. Amme Haarets—People of the earth, idiots. There are some 
who say*® that people of other races are not meant by this, but 
only crude and uneducated people. There are passages, however, 
which leave no doubt about the matter. In the Holy Scripture, 
Book of Esra, ch. X, 2, we read: We have sinned agaimst our God, 
and have taken strange wives [nokhrioth] of the people of the 
earth, That people of the earth denotes idolaters is clear from 
Zohar, I, 25a: “The People of the earth—Obhde Abhodah Zarah, 
idolaters,”’ ¢° 


85 ex.gr. Genes. XII,2; Exod. XIX, 6; Isaiah, 1,4. 

86 cf. Abhodah Zarah, and Hilkoth Akum of Maimonides. 

87 cf. The Warsaw edition of 1863. 

88 cf. Jsraelita, No. 48, 1891. 

88 cf. Franz Delitzsch, Schachmatt den Blutluhnern, 1883, p. 41. 


40 Buxtorf is therefore correct (Lexicon, col. 1626) by translating Amme 
haarets as ‘gentiles,’ which displeases Prof. Delitzsch. 


45 


9. Basar Vedam—Flesh and blood; carnal men who are destined 
to perdition and who can have no communion with God. That 
Christians are flesh and blood, is proved from the prayer book: 

“Whoever meets a wise and educated Christian can say: 
Blessed art thou O Lord, King of the Universe, who dis- 
penseth of thy wisdom to Flesh and Blood,” etc. 


Likewise in another prayer, in which they ask God soon to restore 
the kingdom of David and to send Elias and the Messiah, etc., they 
ask him to take away their poverty so that they will have no need 
to accept gifts from “flesh and blood,” nor to trade with them, nor 
to seek wages from them.*} 


10. Apitkorosim—Epicureans. All are called by this name who do 
not observe God’s precepts, as well as all those, even Jews them- 
selves, who express private judgments in matters of faith.t? How 
much more, therefore, Christians! 


11. Kuthtm—Samaritans. But since there are no longer any Samar- 
itans, and since there are many references in recent Jewish books 
to Samaritans, who can doubt that this does not mean the Chris- 
tians? 

Furthermore, in this matter of naming those who are not Jews, 
it is to be particularly noted that Jewish writings apply these names 
indiscriminately and promiscuously when they speak of. the same 
thing, and almost in the same words, For instance, in the Tract 
Abhodah Zarah (25b) the word Goi is employed, but in the Schul- 
khan Arukh (lore Dea 153,2) Akum is used. Kerithuth (6b) uses 
Goim; Jebhammoth (61a) uses Akum; Abhodah Zar. (2a) uses 
Obhde Elilim; Thoseph uses Goim and Obhde Ab., Choschen Ham 
(Venetian ed.) uses Kuthi; (Slav, ed.) Akum. And many more 
instances could be quoted. 

Maimonides in his book on Idolatry indiscriminately calls all the 
following idolaters: Goim, Akum, Obhde Kokhabhim, Obhde Eli- 
lim, etc. 


41 cf. Synag. Jud. C. XII, p. 257 and 263. 

42 The Jews of Warsaw showed an example of this when, in 1892, they 
denounced the editor of the newspaper Hatsefirah because he dared to say 
that everything in the Talmud was not of the same religious value nor of 
‘the same authority. 


46 


Article I]. — What the Talmud Teaches About Christians 


BN the preceding chapter we saw what the Jews think of the 

Founder of the Christian religion, and how much they despise 
his name. This being so, it would not be expected that they would 
have any better opinion about those who follow Jesus the Nazarene. 
In fact, nothing more abominable can be imagined than what they 
have to say about Christians. They say that they are idolaters, the 
worst kind of people, much worse than the Turks, murderers, forni- 
cators, impure animals, like dirt, unworthy to be called men, beasts 
in human form, worthy of the name of beasts, cows, asses, pigs, 
dogs, worse than dogs; that they propagate after the manner of 
beasts, that they have a diabolic origin, that their souls come from 
the devil and return to the devil in hell after death; and that even 
the body of a dead Christian is nothing different from that of an 
animal. 


1, IDOLATERS 

Since Christians follow the teachings of that man, whom the 
Jews regard as a Seducer and an Idolater, and since they worship 
him as God, it clearly follows that they merit the name of idolaters, 
in no way different from those among whom the Jews lived before 
the birth of Christ, and whom they taught should be exterminated 
by every possible means. 


This is best demonstrated by the names they give to Christians, 
and by the unmistakable words of Maimonides which prove that all 
who bear the name of Christian are idolaters.4#2, And anyone who 
examines Jewish books which speak of the ‘Worshippers of the 
Stars and Planets,” “Epicureans,”’ “Samaritans,” etc., cannot but 
conclude that these idolaters are none other than Christians. The 
Turks are always called “Ismaelites,” never idolaters. 


2. CHRISTIANS WorSE THAN THE TURKS 


Maimonides in Hilkhoth Maakhaloth (ch. TX) says: 
“Tt is not permitted to drink the wine of a stranger who 
becomes a convert,*? that is, one who accepts the seven 


42a Vide Infra, ch.J]J, p.42 

43 There are two kinds of Jewish converts: some are called Gere 
Tsedekh, converts to justice, who embrace the Jewish religion and accept 
the whole law of Moses, not for external reasons only, but for the glory of 
God and for the sake of true religion; others are called Gere Toschabh, 
convert strangers, who are neither circumcized nor baptized, and who observe 
only certain laws, namely those given to the sons of Noah, which are: (1) 


47 


precepts of Noah, but it is permitted to gain some benefit 
from it. It is allowed to leave wine alone with him, but 
not to place it before him. The same is permitted in the 
case of all gentiles who are not idolaters, such as the 
Turks [Ismaelites]. A Jew, however, is not permitted 
to drink their wine, although he may use it to his own 
advantage. All the best known Rabbis agree on this. But 
since Christians are idolaters, it is not allowed even to 
use their wine to advantage.” 


3. MURDERERS 


In Abhodah Zarah (22a) it says: 


A Jew must not associate himself with gentiles because 
they are given to the shedding of blood.” 


Likewise in Jore Dea (153,2): 
“An Israelite must not associate himself with the Akum 
[Christians] because they are given to the shedding of 
blood.” 
In the Abhodah Zarah (25b) it says: 


“The Rabbis taught: If a Got joins an Israelite on the 
road, he [the Jew] should walk on his right side.*4 Rabbi 
Ismael, the son of Rabbi Jochanan the nephew of 
Beruka, says: if he carries a sword, let the Jew walk on 
his right side.*® If the Goz carries a stick, the Jew should 
walk on his left side.*® If he is climbing a hill or de- 
scending a steep incline, the Jew must not go in front 
with the Goi behind, but the Jew must go behind and the 
Got in front, nor must he stoop down in front of him 
for fear the Goi might crack his skull. And if he should 
ask the Jew how far he is going, he should pretend he is 
going a long way, as Jacob our Father said to the im- 
pious Esau: Until I come to my Lord in Sew (Gen. 
XXXII, 14-17), but it adds: Jacob set out for Sukoth.” 


Justice; (2) Praise of God; (3) Shunning idolatry; (4) about fornication; 
(5) the shedding of blood; (6) Rape; (7) not touching an animal’s organ. 
Vide, Sanhed, 56a. 

44 So that if the Gentile should raise his hand to strike him, the Jew can 
more quickly ward off the blow with his right hand. 

45 So that the Jew’s right hand be nearer to the Gentile’s sword, and if 
he tries to draw it, the Jew can obstruct his right hand. 

46 So that the Jew be nearer the Gentile’s right hand which holds the 
stick, and so may be able to grasp it quickly with his left hand. 


48 


In Orach Chaum (20,2) it says: 
“Do not sell your overcoat (Talith) with the fringes to 
an Akum, lest he should join up with a Jew on the road 
and kill him. It is also forbidden to exchange or lend 
your overcoat with a Gentile, except for a short time 
and when there is nothing to be feared from him.” 


4, ForNICATORS 
In the Abhodah Zarah (15b) it says: 

“Animals of the masculine sex must not be left in the 
barns of the Gentiles with their men, nor animals of the 
feminine sex with their women; much less must animals 
of the feminine sex be left with their men, and of the 
masculine sex with their women. Nor must sheep be left 
to the care of their shepherds; nor must any intercourse 
be had with them; nor must children be given into their 
care to learn to read or to learn a trade.” 


In the same tract a little farther on (22a) it is explained why 
animals must not be allowed in the barns of Gentiles, and why Jews 
are not permitted to have sexual intercourse with them: 
“Animals must not be allowed to go near the Goin, 
because they are suspected of having intercourse with 
them. Nor must women cohabit with them because they 
are over-sexed.” 
In fol. 22b of the same book the reason is given why animals espe- 
cially of the feminine sex must be kept away from their women: 
“... because when Gentile men come to their neighbors’ 
houses to commit adultery with their wives and do not 
find them at home, they fornicate with the sheep in the 
barns instead. And sometimes even when their neighbors’ 
wives ate at home, they prefer to fornicate with the 
animals; for they love the sheep of the Israelites more 
than their own women.” 


It is for the same reason that animals are not to be entrusted to 
Goi shepherds, nor children to their educators. 


9. UNCLEAN 
The Talmud gives two reasons why the Goim are unclean: be- 
cause they eat unclean things, and because they themselves have not 
been cleansed (from original sin) on Mount Sinai. In Schabbath, 
(145b) it says: 
“Why are the Goim unclean? Because they eat abom- 


inable things and animals that crawl on their belly.” 


Likewise in Abhodah Zarah, 22b: 
“Why are the Goim unclean? Because they were not 
present at Mount Sinai. For when the serpent entered 
into Eve he infused her with uncleanness. But the Jews 
were cleansed from this when they stood on Mount 
Sinai; the Goim, however, who were not on Mount Sinai, 
were not cleansed.” 


6. CoMPARED To DUNG 
‘When ten persons are praying together in one place and 
they say Kaddisch, or Kedoschah, anyone, even though 
he does not belong there, may respond Amen. There are 
some, however, who say that no dung or Akum must 
be present.” 
In lore Dea, (198 48) Hagah, it says: 

“When Jewish women come out of a bath they must 
take care to meet a friend first, and not something un- 
clean or a Christian. For if so, a woman, if she wants 
to keep holy, should go back and bathe again.” 


It is worthy of note that the following list of unclean things is 


given in Biur Hetib, a commentary on the Schulchan Arukh: 


“A woman must wash herself again if she sees any un- 
clean thing, such as a dog, an ass, or People of the 
Earth; a Christian (Aku) a camel,*”? a pig, a horse, 
and a leper.” 


7. Not Like Men, But BEAsts 
In Kerithuth (6b p. 78) it says: 

“The teaching of the Rabbis is: He who pours oil over 
a Goi, and over dead bodies is freed from punishment. 
This is true for an animal because it is not a man.*® But 
how can it be said that by pouring oil over a Goi one is 
freed from punishment, since a Got is also aman? But 
this is not true, for it is written: Ye are my flock, the 
flock of my pasture are men (Ezecmel, XXXIV, 31). 
You are thus called men, but the Goim are not called 
men.” 


In the Tract Makkoth (7b) he is said to be guilty of killing 
“except when, if intending to kill an animal he kills a man by mis- 


take, or intending to kill a Goi, he kills an Israelite.” 


47 In the Vilna ed. of 1873, camel is omitted, since there are no camels 


there; but People of the Earth, and Akum are included. 
48 The same holds for the dead body of any man, 


50 


In Orach Chatim (225, 10) it says: 
“He who sees beautiful creatures, even though it be an 
Akum or an animal, let him say ‘Blessed art thou Our 
Lord God, King of the Universe, who hast placed such 
things on the earth!’ ” 


8. THry DIFFER ONLY IN Form From BEasTS 
In Midrasch Talpioth (fol, 225d) it says: 

“God created them in the form of men for the glory of 
Israel. But Akum were created for the sole end of min- 
istering unto them [the Jews] day and night. Nor can 
they ever be relieved from this service. It is becoming 
to the son of a king [an Israelite] that animals in their 
natural form, and animals in the form of human beings 
should minister unto him.” 


We can quote here also what is said in Orach Chatim, 57,6a: 


“If pigs are to be pitied when they suffer from disease, 
because their intestines are similar to ours, how much 
more should the Akum be pitied when thus afflicted.*® 


9, ANIMALS 
In Zohar, 11, (64b) it says: 
“, .. People who worship idols, and who are called cow 
and ass, as it is written: I have a cow and an ass...” 


Rabbi Bechai, in his book Kad Hakkemach, ch. I, beginning 
with the word Geulah—redemption—referring to Psalm 80, v. 13: 


The boar out of the wood doth waste it, says: 

“The letter ain is dropped [suspended] the same as these 
worshippers are followers of him who was suspended.” 

Buxtorf (Lex.) says: 
“By wild pig the author here means the Christians who 
eat pork and, like pigs, have destroyed the vineyard of 
Israel, the City of Jerusalem, and who believe in the 
‘suspended’ Christ. Else the letter ain is dropped in this 
word because they, as worshippers of Christ who was 
hanged, are also dropped.” 

Rabbi Edels, in commenting on Kethuboth (110b) says: 
“The Psalmist compares the Akum to the unclean beast 
in the woods.” 


49 In Taantth (21b) it says: “How much more the Nokhrim since they 


are similar to Israelites,”’ 


10. Worse THan ANIMALS 


51 


Rabbi Schelomo Iarchi (Raschi), famous Jewish commentator, 
explaining the law of Moses (Deuter. XIV, 21) forbidding the eat- 
ing of meat of wounded animals, but which must be given to the 
‘stranger in thy gates,’ or which, according to Exodus (XXII, 30) 


is to be thrown to the dogs, has this to say: 

“_.. for he is like a dog. Are we to take the word ‘dog’ 
here literally? By no means. For the text in speaking 
of dead bodies says, Or thou mayest sell it to an alien. 
This applies much more to the meat of wounded animals, 
for which it is permitted to accept payment. Why there- 
fore does the Scripture say it may be thrown to ‘dogs?’ 
In order to teach you that a dog is to be more respected 
than the Nokhri.” 


11. Turey PrRopaGATe LIKE BEASTS 


In the Sanhedrin (74b) Tosephoth, it says: 

“The sexual intercourse of a Got is lke to that of a 

beast.’’ 

And in Kethuboth (3b) it says: 

“The seed of a Got is worth the same as that of a beast.” 
Hence it is to be inferred that Christian marriage is not true 
riage. 

In Kidduschim (68a), it says: 

“... How do we know this? Rabbi Huna says: You can 

read: Remain here with the ass, that is, with a people 

like an ass. Hence it appears that they are not capable 
of contracting marriage.” 
And in Eben Haezer (44,8): 

“If a Jew enters into marriage with an Akum (Chris- 

tian), or with his servant, the marriage is null. For they 

are not capable of entering into matrimony. Likewise if 
an Akum or a servant enter into matrimony with a Jew, 
the marriage is null.” 

In Zohar (II, 64b) it says: 

“Rabbi Abba says: If only idolaters alone had sexual in- 
tercourse, the world would not continue to exist. Hence 
we are taught that a Jew should not give way to those 
infamous robbers. For if these propagate in greater 
numbers, it will be impossible for us to continue to exist 
because of them. For they give birth to sucklings the 
same as dogs.” 


mar- 


52 


12. CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL 
In Zohar (1,28b) we read: 
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the 
field, etc. (Genes. III, 1.) ‘More subtle’ that is towards 
evil; ‘than all the beasts’ that is, the idolatrous people of 
the earth. For they are the children of the ancient ser- 
pent which seduced Eve.” °° 


The best argument used by the Jews to prove that Christians 
are of the race of the devil is the fact that they are uncircumcized. 
The foreskin of non-Jews prevents them from being called the 
children of the Most High God. For by circumcision the name of 
God—Schaddai— is completed in the flesh of a circumcized Jew. 
The form of the letter /sch is in his nostrils, the letter Daleth in his 
(bent) arm, and ain appears in his sexual organ by circumcision, 
In non-circumcized gentiles, therefore, such as Christians, there are 
only the two letters, Jsch and Daleth, which make the word Sched, 
which means devil. They are, therefore, children of the Sched, 


the devil.54 


13. Tue Souts oF CHRISTIANS ARE Evin anp UNCLEAN 


The teaching of the Jews is that God created two natures, one 
good and the other evil, or one nature with two sides, one clean and 
the other unclean. From the unclean side, called Keliphah—trind, or 
scabby crust—the souls of Christians are said to have come. 


In Zohar (I, 131a) it says: 
“Tdolatrous people, however, since they exist, befoul the 
world, because their souls come out of the unclean side.” 


And in Emek Hammelech (23d) it says: 
“The souls of the impious come from Keliphah, which 
is death and the shadow of death.” 


Zohar (1,46b, 47a) goes on to show that this unclean side is the 
left side, from which the souls of Christians come: 


6° This ancient serpent, the parent of Christians, that is, the devil in the 
form of a serpent, is called Sammael (cf. Targum [obi, XXVIII, 7). Rabbi 
Maimonides writes in More (Bk. II, ch. 30) that Sammael took the form of 
a serpent and seduced Eve. He is also called the ‘Angel of Death,’ and ‘the 
Head of the assembly of evil ones.’ Debbarim Rabba (208c) calls him “Sam- 
mael the impious one, “the prince of all devils.’ Rabbi Bechai (in Mikkets) 
calls him “The Impious Sammael, the Prince of Rome.” 


51 cf. Sanhedrin Jud. p. 88. 


53 


“And he created every living thing, that is, the Israelites, 
because they are the children of the Most High God, and 
their holy souls come out from Him. But where do the 
souls of the idolatrous gentiles come from? Rabbi 
Eliezer says: from the left side, which makes their souls 
unclean. They are therefore all unclean and they pollute 
all who come in contact with them.” 


14. AFTER DEATH THEY Go Down To HELL 


The Elders teach that Abraham sits at the gate of Gehenna and 
prevents any circumcized person from entering there; but that all 
the uncircumcized go down into hell. 

In Rosch Haschanach (17a) it says: 

“Heretics and Epicureans and Traitors go down into 
hell.” 


15. Tue Fate oF DeEap CHRISTIANS 


The bodies of Christians after death are called by the odious 
name of Pegarim, which is the word used in Holy Scripture for 
the dead bodies of the damned and of animals, but never for the 
pious dead who are called Metim. Thus the Schulchan Arukh or- 
ders that a dead Christian must be spoken of in the same way as a 
dead animal. 


In lore Dea (377,1) it says: 
“Condolences must not be offered to anyone on account 
of the death of his servants or handmaidens. All that 
may be said is ‘May God restore your lost one, the same 
as we say to a man who has lost a cow or an ass.’”’ 
Nor must Christians be avoided for seven days after they have 
buried someone, as the law of Moses commands, since they are not 
men; for the burial of an animal does not pollute one. 
In Jebhammoth (61a) it says: 
“The Nokhrim are not rendered unclean by a burial. 
For it is said: Ye are my sheep, the sheep of my pas- 
ture; ye are men. You are thus called men, but not the 
Nokhrim.” 


54 


Article III. — About Christian Rites and Worship 


pas Christians are regarded by the Jews as idolaters, all their 
forms of worship are idolatrous. Their priests are called priests 
of Baal; their temples are called houses of lies and idolatry, and 
everything they contain, such as chalices, statues and books, are 
regarded as made for the serving of idols; their prayers, both 
private and public, are sinful and offensive to God; and their fes- 
tivals are called days of evil. 

1. Priests 


The Talmud speaks of priests, the ministers of Christian wor- 
ship, as idolatrous and belonging to the god Baal. They are also 
called Komarim—Soothsayers; and also Galachim, the shaved, he- 
cause they shave their heads, particularly the monks. 


In Abhodah Zarah (14b) Toseph, it says: 


“It is forbidden to sell the books of the prophets to the 
soothsayers, since they may use them for their evil wor- 
ship in their idolatrous temples. Those who do so sin 
against the law which forbids us to place an obstacle in 
the way of a blind person. It is also forbidden to sell 
them to a Christian who is not shaved, for he is sure to 
give or sell them to one of them who is shaved.” 
2. CHRISTIAN CHURCHES 
A place of Christian worship is called (1) Beth Tiflah, a house 
of vanity and foolishness, in place of Beth Tefilah, a house of 


prayer; (2) Beth Abhodah Zarah, a House of Idolatry; (3) Beth 
Hatturaph Schel Letsim, a House of Evil Laughter.” 


In Abhodah Zarah (78) the Perusch of Maimonides, it says: 
“Be it known to you that it is beyond a doubt forbidden 
by law to pass through a Christian city in which there is 
a house of vanity, that is, a house of idolatry; much 
more to live therein. But we today, as a punishment for 
our sins, are subject to them, and are forced to live in 
their countries, as it was foretold in Deuteronomy (IV, 
28): And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s 
hands, of wood and stone. ... Thus if it is allowed as 
predicted to pass around a Christian city, much more so 
must we pass around an idolatrous temple; nor is it al- 
lowed us even to look inside and above all to enter in.” 

& 


52 Wagenseil (in Sota, p. 497) says that Buxtorf, in translating the word 
Tiflah as foolishness or vanity, did not go far enough. For this name which 
is applied to a Christian church really means a brothel or whorehouse. 

83 cf, Sepher Zerubbabel, Constantinople edit. 


35 


A Jew is forbidden not only to enter a Christian church, but 
even to go near it, except under certain circumstances. 


In Jore Dea (142,10) it says: 


“It is forbidden to stand in the shadow of a house of 
idolatry, whether from the inside or the outside, for a 
distance of four cubits from the front door. It is not 
forbidden, however, to stand under the shadow of the 
back of a church. Nor is the shadow forbidden us if the 
church stands in a place where formerly there was a 
public road, which was taken from the community and 
the house of idolatry built upon it. For the road is still 
there. But if the house of idolatry existed before the 
road, it is not permitted to pass before it. There are 
some who say that it is forbidden to pass there in any 
case.” 


Neither is a Jew allowed to listen to, or admire the beautiful 
music of the churches. In Jore Dea (142,15) it says: 


“It is forbidden to listen to the music of idolatrous wor- 

ship, and to examine the statues of their idols; for even 

by looking at them one can be influenced by the evil of 

idolatry. But one can look who does not intend to be 

so affected.” 

Likewise a Jew is not allowed to have a house near a church; 

nor is he allowed to rebuild a house which has been destroyed in 
such a place. In lore Dea (143, 1) it says: 


“Tf a house near an idolatrous temple belonging to the 

Akum falls down, it must not be rebuilt. A Jew must 

remove it a certain distance away if he wishes to rebuild 

it. But he must fill up the vacant space between his 

house and the church with bushes and rubbish so that 

the space will not be used to extend the idolatrous 

temple.” 

Here may be added what a certain Rabbi Kelomimus said about 

a Christian church (in the book Nizzachon) ** to the Emperor 
Henry III, who gave him permission to speak his opinion freely 
about the Basilica which he had recently built at Spires: 

“After the Emperor Henry JII, a very wicked man, had 

completed the building of that “Abyss,” *> he sent for 


54 cf. Wagensel, Sota, p.498. 
55 This is how he calls this famous church. The German word is Thum, 
_and by a play on the word he calls it Tehom, which means abyss. 


56 


Rabbi Kelominus and said to him: ‘I want to ask you, 
how does this Basilica which I have built compare with 
the magnificence of Solomon’s Temple, about which so 
many volumes have been written?’ He replied: ‘My 
Lord, if you will permit me to speak freely, and if you 
will swear to me that you will let me go unharmed, | will 
tell you the truth about it.’ The Emperor answered: ‘I 
give you my word as a lover of the truth and as an Em- 
peror, that no harm shall come to you.’ Then the Jew 
said: ‘If you gathered together all you have spent so far, 
and added to it all the silver and gold in your treasury, 
it would not suffice even to pay the workmen and crafts- 
men that Solomon employed; for it is written (Chron. 
II, Ch. 2): And Solomon told out threescore and ten 
thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand 
to hew in the mountains, and three thousand and six 
hundred to oversee them. Eight years were spent in the 
building of the Temple, much more than you have spent 
in building this Tehom [abyss]. And when Solomon had 
finished his Temple, see what the Scripture says about 
it: The priests could not stand to minister by reason of 
the cloud; for the glory of God had filled the House of 
the Lord (Chron, II, Ch. 5,14). But if someone loaded 
an ass with putrid garbage and led it into this abyss of 
yours, no one would notice the difference!’ The Em- 
peror Henry then replied: ‘Were it not that ] have sworn 
to let you go unharmed, I would order your head cut 


off.’ ”’ 


3. CHALICES 
Chalices used in the Sacrifice of the mass are spoken of as ves- 
sels in which filth is offered up to the idol. Moses Kozzensis, in 
Hilkoth Abhodah Zarah (10b) says: 
“A Jew who buys chalices of the Goi, which are broken 
and thrown away, is not permitted to sell them again to 
them, because their priest of Baal will use them in the 
worship of the idol.” 


4. Booxs 

The Talmud calls the books of the Christians Minim— 
heretical books — Siphre Debeth Abidan — Books of the House 
of Perdition.*°* The Talmud in particular speaks of the books of the 
Gospels. Thus in Schabbath (116a) Toseph: 


56 This is what Jews call a Christian school. 


57 


“Rabbi Meir calls heretical books Aaven Gilaion (vol- 
umes of iniquity) because they call them Gospels.” 
And Rabbi Jochanan calls these books Aavon Gilaion, evil books. 
The Schulchan Arukh, Crakow edition, gives this name as Aven 
Niktabh al Haggilaion—iniquity written in a book. 
Buxtorf says: “In the Arukh there is a note Scheker Niktabh 
al Gilaion, which means, a lie written in a book.” 

_ All the Talmudists agree that the books of the Christians should 
be destroyed. They differ only as to what should be done with the 
names of God contained in them. In Schabbath (116a) it says: 

“The Glossaries of our own books and the books of the 
heretics are not to be saved from the flames, if they 
should catch fire on the Sabbath day. Rabbi Jose, how- 
ever, says: ‘On festival days the divine names should be 
torn out of the books of the Christians and hidden away ; 
what remains must be given to the flames.’ But Rabbi 
Tarphon says: ‘In order that I may be remembered by 
my children, if those books should ever fall into my 
hands I would burn them together with the divine names 
contained therein. For if one is chased by an assassin, 
or by a serpent, it would be better to take refuge in a 
pagan temple than in one of theirs; because the Chris- 
tians knowingly resist the truth, whereas the pagans do 
so unknowingly.” 


9. PRAYERS 

Christian prayers are called, not Tefillah, but Tiflah. They 
change the point and insert /od, which makes it read to mean sin, 
foolishness and transgression. 


6. CHRISTIAN FESTIVALS 


Christian festivals, especially Sunday, are called /om Ed—day 
of destruction, perdition, misfortune or calamity. They are also 
simply called Jom Notsri—Christian Days. The word Fd rightly 
interpreted means misfortune or calamity, as appears from the Ge- 
marah and the Glossaries of Maimonides in Abhodah Zarah (2a): 

“The word Edehem means the festivals of the Chris- 
tians, since it is written (in Deuter. XXXII, 35): the 
day of their calamity.” 

Maimonides also says in Abhodah Zarah (78c): 

“The word Edehem means the foolishness of their fes- 
tivals. It is the name for their despicable feast days 
which do not merit the name of Moedim, for they are 
really vain and evil.” 


58 


Bartenora also writes: 
“The word Edehem is the name for their ignomnious 
festivals and solemnities.” 
The marginal notes of Tosephoth also give this name to Christian 
festivals. Thus in Abhodah Zarah (6a): 


“The Day of Evil, that is the Christian Day, is forbidden 
to us as well as all their other feast days.” 


Some Christian festivals are mentioned by name, such as the 
feast of Christmas and Easter. Moses Mikkozzi,°’ referring to the 


above text of Abhodah Zarah, says: 


“Rabbi Sammuel declares, in the name of Solomon 
Jarchi, that in particular the festivals of Christmas and 
Easter, which are their principal evil days and the foun- 
dation of their religion, are forbidden to us.” 


Maimonides, in Hilkoth Akum (ch. IX) has the same: 


“Sammuel repeats the words of Rabbi Sal. Iarchi which 
forbid us particularly to celebrate the feasts of Christmas 
and Easter, which are celebrated on account of him who 
was hanged.” 


Furthermore, indications of the impiety of the Jews are to be 
found in the names which they give to these Christian festivals: 
For, in place of using Tav in the word Nithal, they often write Tet 
and call it Nital for the Latin word Natalis, the Feast of the Na- 
tivity. They make it appear as if this word were from the root 
Natal which connotes extermination or destruction. Likewise they 
refuse to use the word Paschal (Pesach) for the Christian feast of 
Easter. They substitute Koph for Phe and insert the letter iod and 
call it Ketsach or Kesach. Both pronunciations have an evil mean- 
ing. Ketsach is from the root Katsah, meaning to amputate or cut 
off from, and Kesach is from the root Kesa, meaning wood or a 
gallows. This is done because the feast of Easter is celebrated by 
Christians in memory of Christ—the one who was hanged—who 
was put to death and who rose again from the dead. 


6y «:f. G. Edzard, ut supra. 


PART TWO 


PRECEPTS OF THE TALMUD 
CONCERNING CHRISTIANS 


From what has been shown thus far, it is clear 
that, according to the teaching of the Talmud, 
Christians are idolaters and hateful to Jews. As a 
consequence, every Jew who wishes to please God 
has a duty to observe all the precepts which were 
given to the Fathers of their race when they lived 
in the Holy Land concerning the idolatrous gentiles, 
both those who lived amongst them and those in 
nearby countries. 

A Jew is therefore required (1) To avoid Chris- 
tians; (2) To do all he can to exterminate them. 


59 


CHAPTER I 


CHRISTIANS MUST BE AVOIDED 


EWS are required to avoid all contact with Christians for four 

reasons: (1) Because they are not worthy to share in the Jewish 

way of life; (2) Because they are unclean; (3) Because they are 
idolaters; (4) Because they are murderers. 


Article I. — Christians Must Be Avoided—Because They Are 
Unworthy to Share Jewish Customs 


AJEW , by the fact that he belongs to the chosen people and is 
circumcized, possesses so great a dignity that no one, not even 
an angel, can share equality with him.’ In fact, he is considered 
almost the equal of God. “He who strikes an Israelite” says Rabbi 
Chanina ‘acts as if he slaps the face of God’s Divine Majesty.” ? 


A Jew is always considered good, in spite of certain sins which he 
may commit; nor can his sins contaminate him, any more than dirt 
contaminates the kernel in a nut, but only soils its shell.* A Jew 
alone is looked upon as a man; the whole world is his and all 
things should serve him, especially “animals which have the form 
of men.” 4 

Thus it is plain that they regard all contact with Christians as 
contaminating, and as detracting from their dignity. They are 


1 cf. Chullin, 91b 

2 cf. Sanhedrin, 58b 

8 cf. Chagigah, 15b 

¢ “Thus on the Sabbath day Jews celebrate with wine, meats, fish and 
all the delicacies made for men; for them it is a full holiday; they abstain 
from all kinds of work and will not lift a finger to do anything that has the 
appearance of labor or that involves work of any kind. Thus if there is 
need to light a fire in winter, to light or blow out a candle, to cook or heat 
food, or to milk cows, they employ poor Christians to do such work. Hence 
they glory in the fact that they are masters and Christians are their servants 
who must minister to them while they rest at their ease. Christian rulers 
should see to it that this should be stopped and that others should not 
minister to Jews in this way on their Sabbath and other festivals. And it 
must be admitted that we, to the detriment of our Christian liberty, aid 
them too much in upholding their superstition to avoid all kinds of work 
on the Sabbath.” Buxtorf in Synag. Jud. p. 382. 


61 


therefore required to keep as far away as possible from all who 
live and act as Christians do.’ 


1. A Jew Must Nor SALuTE A CHRISTIAN 
In Gittin (62a) it says: 
“A Jew must not enter the home of a Nokhri on a feast 
day to offer him greetings. However, if he meets him 
on the street, he may offer him a greeting, but curtly and 
with head bowed.” 


2. A Jew Must Not REtTurRN THE GREETING OF A CHRISTIAN 
In Jore Dea (148,10) it says: 
“A Jew must not return the greeting of a Christian by 
bowing before him. It is good, therefore, to salute him 
first and so avoid having to answer him back if the 
Akum salutes him first.” ® 
Rabbi Kohana says that when a Jew salutes a Christian he 
should say “Peace to my Lord,” but intend this for his own Rabbi. 
For the Tosephoth says: “For his heart was turned towards his own 
Rabbi.” 


3. A Jew Must Not Go Brrore A CHRISTIAN JUDGE 

In Choschen Hammischpat (26,1) it says: 
“A Jew is not permitted to bring his case before Akum 
judges, even if the matter is judged by the decisions of 
Jewish law, and even if both parties agree to abide by 
such decisions. He who does so is impious and similar 
to one who calumniates and blasphemes, and who raises 
his hand against the Law given us by Moses, our great 
law-giver. Hagah says ‘The Bethin has the power to 
excommunicate such a one until he release his Jewish 
brother from the hands of the Gentile.’ ” 


4. A CHRISTIAN CANNoT Br USED as A WITNESS 
In Choschen Ham. (34,19) it says: 
“A Got or a servant is not capable of acting as a wit- 
ness.” 


5 “They are diligently warned not to have any contact with Christians, 
not to play with their children, nor to eat or drink with them, nor to have 
anything to do with them socially. And parents tell their children the con- 
versation of Christians is so horrible and vicious that they conceive an im- 
placable hatred of Christians from their very cradle.” Ibidem, ch. VII, p. 136. 


6 Urbanity is therefore not the reason why Jews appear so amiable in 
bowing down so humbly before Christians. 


62 


5. A Jew Cannot Eat Curistian Foop 


In Jore Dea (112,1) it says: 
“The Elders forbade the eating of the bread of the 
Akum, lest we would seem to be familiar with them.” 
And in Abhodah Zarah (35b) it says: 
“The following things belonging to the Gown are for- 
bidden: Milk which a Goi takes from a cow, in the ab- 
sence of a Jew;” also their bread, etc.” 


6. A Jew Must Never Act 1n Any Way LIKE A CHRISTIAN 
In Jore Dea (178,1) it says: 


“It is not permitted to imitate the customs of the Akum, 
nor to act like them. Nor is it permitted to wear clothes 
like the Akum, nor to comb the hair as they do... 
neither must Jews build houses that look like temples of 
the Akum.”’ 

Since, however, it 1s not possible to observe all these rules in 
every place, the Hagah says that they can be overlooked to a certain 
extent when, for instance, it is to the advantage of a Jew to do so; 
for example, if a Jew would profit by a trade which requires a cer- 
tain kind of dress. 


Article II. — Christians Are to Be Avoided— 
Because They Are Unclean 


ie is not known how often Jews must wash and purify them- 
selves, nor how much they must study to avoid everything which 
might render them unclean. The Talmud teaches, however, that 
Christians are people whose touch alone makes things unclean. In 
Abhodah Zarah (72b) it says: 

“A certain man was pouring wine from one jar into 

another by means of a tube, when a Goi came along and 

touched the tube with his hand. As a result all the wine 

(in both jars) had to be thrown away.” 

Every vessel, therefore, must be washed which comes into the 

possession of a Jew from a Christian, although it has never been in 
use. In Jore Dea (120,1) it says: 


se “For fear he would nix the milk of swine or of some other unclean 
animal with it” — Surenhusius Mischnah Ab. Zar. p.6. 


“Tf a Jew buys a vessel for use at table from an Akum, 
whether it is made of metal, glass or lead, even if it 1s 
new, he must wash it in a Mikvah {a large basin], or in 
a cistern which holds forty quarts of water.” 


* bd aK x * 


Article III. — Christians Are to Be Avoided— 
Because They Are Idolaters 


1. LEST a Jew be the occasion of sin to the idolatrous Chris- 

tians, according to the precept in Levit. XIX,14: Do not put a 
stumbling-block before the blind—he must avoid all contact with 
them on the days when they worship their gods. In Abhodah Zarah 


(2a) it says: 
“For three days before their idolatrous festivals it is not 
permitted to buy or sell them anything. It is also for- 
bidden to give or take any help from them, to change 
any money with them, to pay them back any debts or 
allow them to pay back debts.” 
In the Abhodah Zarah, 78c (the Perusch of Maimonides, fol. 


8) it says: 

“All the festivals of the followers of Jesus are forbid- 
den, and we must conduct ourselves towards them as we 
would towards idolaters. The first day of the week is 
their principal feast, and it is therefore forbidden to do 
any business whatsoever with those who believe in Jesus 
on their Sabbath. We must observe the same rules on 
their Sabbath as we do on the feastdays of idolaters, as 
the Talmud teaches.” 


2. A Jew Must Nor Usk ANYTHING WHICH PERTAINS TO THE 
WorsHIP OF CHRISTIANS 
In Jore Dea (139,1) it says: 
“It is forbidden to have anything to do with idols and 
everything that is used in their form of worship, whether 
they are made by the Akum or by Jews.” 
It 1s FoRBIDDEN To SELL To CHRISTIANS ANYTHING CONNECTED 
With THEIR JDoLarRous WorsHIP 
The Abhodah Zarah (14b, Toseph) says: 
“It is always forbidden to sell incense to an idolatrous 
priest, for it is evident that when he asks for it he wants 


oO 


64 


it for no other purpose but to offer it before his idol. 
Anyone, therefore, who would sell it to him sins against 
the precept which forbids us to place a stumbling-block 
before the blind. It is also forbidden to sell candles to 
gentiles for their Feast of Candles. Candles however 
may be sold to them on other days. Neither is it per- 
mitted to sell a chalice to a gentile which a Jew has 
bought after a Got has broken it and thrown it away. 
It may only be sold again to a gentile after it has been 
completely made over. For after it has been broken just 
once it can be used still to hold the wine which is offered 
in honor of their idol.” Then follows the prohibition as 
to the selling of books to Christian priests, as we have 
seen above. Even the work of binding such books is 
forbidden to a Jew. In Jore Dea, (139,15) it says: 

“It is forbidden to bind the books of the Akum, with 
the exception of law books. It may be done, however, if 
refusal to do so should cause enmity, but only after 
every effort has been made to refuse such work.” 


Likewise in Jore Dea (151,1, Hagah) : 
“Tt is not permitted to sell water to an Akum if it is 
known that it will be made into Baptismal water.” 


Mention is also made of many other things which it is forbidden 
to sell to Christians, such as: cloth from which priestly vestments 
and banners may be made; paper and ink which may be used for 
writing books pertaining to their divine worship. It is forbidden to 
sell, or even to rent, houses to Christians which will be used by 
them as places of worship. Nowadays, however, Jews trade with 
Christians, especially on Christian feast days, and also sell them 
houses knowing full well that certain Sacraments will be adminis- 
tered therein, such as Baptism, Holy Communion and Extreme 
Unction. The Talmud can give no reason for this, and in the Ab- 
hodah Zarah (2a, Toseph) it says: 

“It is difficult to say by what right Jews nowadays trade 
with the Goim on their (evil) feast days. For although 
many of them commit all kinds of licentious acts and 
perversions on their feast days in honor of saints which 
they do not look upon as gods, yet every week they 
celebrate the Day of the Nazarene |Sunday] which has 
always been forbidden to us.” 


Bartenora, however, in his commentary on Abhodah Zarah (1,2, 
fol. 7b) says: 


65 


“Since, while we are in captivity, we cannot live without 
trading with them, and we depend upon them for our 
food and we must fear them, it is only forbidden to 
trade with them on their feast days.§ Furthermore, it 1s 
permitted nowadays to trade with them even on the 
actual day of their feasts, because the Rabbis are con- 
vinced that they do not worship their idols just because 
they trade with us. And what is forbidden in this book 
must be taken as applying directly to idolatry.” 

Rabbi Tam,® however, contends that the Mischnah only forbids 
the selling of things to idolaters which will be used by them in the 
worship of idols, since they rejoice and worship their idols because 
they obtain the things necessary for that worship. He explains it 
thus (in Abhodah Zarah, 2a, Toseph) : 


“No one should wonder at this custom of ours. For, 
although we look upon them as idolaters, they can only 
offer up what they buy for money. Hence, our gain and 
their joy is not the reason for this prohibition, for they 
have enough money for these things, even if we did not 
trade with them.” 


4. Tuts Prouipition Dors Not ApPLy To ATHEISTS 
In Jore Dea (148,5) it says: 
“It is only permitted to send a gift to an Akum on one 
of their feast days if it is known that he does not believe 
in idols and does not worship them.” 


Maimonides has the same in Hilkhoth Akum (1X,2): 
“It is also wrong to send a gift to a Got on their feast 
days unless it is certain that he does not believe in the 
worship of Christian idols, and does not serve them.” 


x * * * *x 


Article IV. —- Christians Are to Be Avoided—Because They Are Evil 


@ iar is nothing that Jews are more convinced of than the 
harm which Christians can do to the children of Israel. Because 
of this, the rulers of the Chosen People have always instructed 
them not to accept any help from Christians who will always resort 
to murder, and to other crimes, whenever they cannot otherwise 
obtain their evil ends. Thus, a Jew must not employ a Christian as 
a nurse, or as a teacher for his children, or as a doctor, a barber or 
an obstetrician. 


8 Although Rabbi Ischmael says it is forbidden to trade with them for 
three days before their feast days. 


® One of the authors of the Tosephoth, died in 1170. 


66 


1. Notas a NuRSE 
In Jore Dea (81,7, Hagah) it says: 
“A child must not be nursed by a Nokhri, if an Israelite 
can be had; for the milk of the Nokhrith hardens the 
heart of a child and builds up an evil nature in him.” 
2. Nor as A TEACHER 
In lore Dea (153, 1, Hagah) it says: 
“A child must not be given to the Akum to learn man- 
ners, literature or the arts, for they will lead him into 
heresy.” 
3. Nor as a Docror 
In lore Dea (155,1) it says: 
“When a Jew is wounded in any way, even so gravely 
that he would have to violate the Sabbath in having a 
doctor, he must not employ the services of a Christian 
(Akum) doctor who 1s not known to everyone in the 
neighborhood ; for we must guard against the spilling of 
blood. Even when it is not known if the patient will 
live or die, such a doctor must not be allowed to attend 
him. If, however, he ts sure to die, then such a doctor 
may attend him, since an extra hour of life is not much 
to lose. If the Akum insists that a certain medicine is 
good, you may believe him, but be sure not to buy it from 
him. There are some who say that this holds only when 
the Akum offer help free, and that it can be accepted 
every time it is paid for. But it can be taken for granted 
that they would not harm a Jew just for the sake of a 
matter of money.” 
In Pesachim (25a) it says: 
“Rabbi Jochanan says: medical help can be accepted 
from all except idolaters, fornicators and murderers.” 
4. Notas A BARBER 
In lore Dea (156,1) it says: 
“You must not be shaven by an Akum unless your 
Jewish friends are with you. There are some who say 
that it is not permitted to be shaved by an Akum even 
when others are present, unless you can see yourself in 
a mirror.” ?° 


10 This does not refer to the shaving of beards, but only of the locks of 
hair on the neck. For, a Jew who shaves his beard commits five sins, be- 
Se its five (star- shaped) points —-cf. Maimonides in Hslkhoth Akum, 
XH, 5. 


5. Not as AN OBSTETRICIAN 
In Abhodah Zarah (26a) it says: 

“Our Rabbis have passed it down to us, that a foreign 
woman must never be allowed to act as midwife at the 
birth of a child of Israel, because they are given to the 
shedding of blood. The Elders say, however, that a 
foreign woman may perform this task provided there 
are other Jewish women present, but never alone. Rabbi 
Meir, however, says that it is not allowed even when 
others are present. For they often crush the soft head 
of the child with their hand and kill it; and they can do 
this without being noticed by those who are present.” 


67 


68 


CHAPTER II. 


CHRISTIANS MUST BE EXTERMINATED 


HE followers of “that man,’ whose name 1s taken by the Jews 

to mean “May his name and memory be blotted out,” are not 
otherwise to be regarded than as people whom it would be good to 
get rid of. They are called Romans and tyrants who hold captive 
the children of Israel, and by their destruction the Jews would be 
freed from this Fourth Captivity. Every Jew is therefore bound to 
do all he can to destroy that impious kingdom of the Edomites 
(Rome) which rules the whole world. Since, however, it is not 
always and everywhere possible to effect this extermination of 
Christians, the Talmud orders that they should be attacked at least 
indirectly, namely: by injuring them in every possible way, and by 
thus lessening their power, help towards their ultimate destruction. 
Wherever it is possible a Jew should kill Christians, and do so 
without mercy. 


Article I. — HARM MUST BE DONE TO CHRISTIANS 


JEW is commanded to harm Christians wherever he can, both 

indirectly by not helping them in any way, and also directly 

by wrecking their plans and projects; neither must he save a Chris- 
tian who is in danger of death. 


I. GOOD MUST NOT BE DONE TO CHRISTIANS 
In Zohar (1,25b) it says: 
“Those who do good to the Akum ... will not rise 
from the dead.” 
At times it is permitted to do good to Christians, but only in order 
to help Israel, namely, for the sake of peace and to hide hatred of 
them. Maimonides in Hilkhoth Akum (X,6) says: 
“Needy Gentiles may be helped as well as needy Jews, 
for the sake of peace...” 


In Iore Dea (148,12 Hagah) it says: 


“Therefore if you enter a town and find them celebrat- 
ing a feast, you may pretend to rejoice with them in 
order to hide your hatred. Those, however, who care 
about the salvation of their souls should keep away 
from such celebrations. You should make it known 
that it is a hateful thing to rejoice with them, if you 
can do so without incurring their enmity.” 


1. Iris Nor PERMITTED TO PRAISE A CHRISTIAN 
In Abhodah Zarah (20,a, Toseph) it says: 
“Do not say anything in praise of them, lest it be said: 
How good that Gos 1s!’ ? 
In this way they explain the words of Deuteronomy (VII,2) ... 
and thou shalt show no mercy unto them [Gorm], as cited in the 
(remarah. Rabbi S. larchi explains this Bible passage as follows: 
“Do not pay them any compliments ; for it is forbidden 
to say: how good that Goz 1s.” 
In Jore Dea (151, 14) it says: 
“No one is allowed to praise them or to say how good 
an Akum is. How much less to praise what they do 
or to recount anything about them which would re- 
dound to their glory. If, however, while praising them 
you intend to give glory to God, namely, because he 
has created comely creatures, then it is allowed to 
do so.” 


2. A Jew Not ALLowep To MENTION THE THINGS WHICH 


CHRISTIANS USE For THEIR IDOLATROUS WoRSHIP 


In Hilkhoth Akum (V,12) it says: 


‘Tt 1s also forbidden to make mention of the 4kum, 
for it is written (Exodus XXIII, 13):... and make 
no mention of other gods.” 


3. Terr Ipots Must Be Spoken oF WiTH CONTEMPT 
In Jore Dea (146,15) it says: 


“Their idols must be destroyed, or called by con- 
temptuous names.” 





1 Maimonides (in Htlk. Akum X,5) adds: “Moreover, you should seer 
opportunity to mix with them and find out about their evil doings.” 


70 


Ibidem, (147,5): 
“It is permitted to deride idols, and it is forbidden to 
say to a Got: May your God help you, or I hope you 
will succeed.” 

Rabbi Bechai, explaining the text of Deuteronomy about hating 

idolatry, says: 
“The Scripture teaches us to hate idols and to call 
them by ignominious names. Thus, if the name of a 
church is Bethgalia—“house of magnificence,” it 
should be called Bethkaria—an insignificant house, a 
pigs’ house, a latrine. For this word karia denotes a 
low-down, slum place.” 

In numerous places ignominious names are given by the Jews 
to Christian things. It will not be out of place to list a few of these 
names which they give to things and persons which are held holy 
and dear by Christians, as follows: 

JESUS is ignominiously called Jeschu—which means, May his 
name and memory be blotted out. His proper name in Hebrew is 
Jeschua, which means Salvation. 

MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS, is called Charia—dung, 
excrement (German Dreck). In Hebrew her proper name is 
Miriam. 

CHRISTIAN SAINTS, the word for which in Hebrew is Ke- 
doschim, are called Kededchim (cinaedos)—feminine men (Fair- 
ies). Women saints are called Kedeschoth, Whores. 


SUNDAY is called the day of calamity. 


FEAST OF CHRISTMAS is called Nital, denoting extermina- 
tion. 

EASTER is not called by the proper word Pesach (Passover), 
but Ketsach, meaning a cutting down; or Kesach, a Gallows. 

A CHRISTIAN CHURCH is not called Beth Hattefillah, 
House of Prayer, but Beth Hattiflah, a House of Vanity, a House 
of Evil. 

THE GOSPEL BOOKS are called Aavon Gilaion, Books of 
Iniquity. 

CHRISTIAN SACRIFICES are called Dung Offerings. In the 
Jerusalem Talmud (fol.13b) the following occurs: 

“He who sees them mezabbelim (excrementing—sacri- 
ficing) before their idol, let him say (Exod. XXII, 
20): He that sacrificeth unto an idol shall be utterly 
destroyed.” 


71 


Rabbi Iarchi (referring to Num. XXV,3) teaches that the Gentiles 
actually honor their God by excrementing before him. 

A CHRISTIAN GIRL who works for Jews on their sabbath 1s 
called Schaw-wesschicksel, Sabbath Dirt. 


4. A Jew 1s Not ALLoweEp To Give GIFTS TO CHRISTIANS 
In Hilkhoth Akum (X,5) it says: 
“It is forbidden to give gifts to the Gorm. But it is 
permitted to give them to a convert who lives among 
the Jews; for it is said: To the traveller who stops in 
your cities, give it to him to eat, or sell it to a Gentile, 
that is sell it, not give it.” 
In lore Dea (151, 11) it says: 
“Tt is forbidden to give free gifts to the Akum with 
whom a Jew may not treat familiarly.” 
The Talmud, however, allows a Jew to give gifts to Gentiles 
who are known to him and from whom he has hope of getting 
something in return. 


5. A JEW 1s ForBIDDEN To SELL His Farm To CHRISTIANS 
In lore Dea (334,43) it says: 
“In 24 cases a Jew must be repudiated, namely .. . 8. 
Anyone who sells his farm to the 4kum must be sent 
into exile — unless he undertakes to make up for all 
the harm that follows as a consequence of having the 
Akum live near the Jews.” 


6. It 1s FoRBIDDEN To TEACH A TRADE TO CHRISTIANS 
In Jore Dea (154, 2) it says: 
“It is not permitted to teach any trade to the Akum” 


1K 5 * *K * 


II. HARM MUST BE DONE TO THE WORK OF CHRIS- 
TIANS 


Since the Goim minister to Jews like beasts of burden, they be- 
long to a Jew together with his life and all his faculties: 


“The life of a Got and all his physical powers belong 

to a Jew.” (A. Rohl. Die Polem. p.20) 
It is an axiom of the Rabbis that a Jew may take anything that 
belongs to Christians for any reason whatsoever, even by fraud; 
nor can such be called robbery since it is merely taking what belongs 
to him. 


72 


In Babha Bathra (54b) it says: 
‘All things pertaining to the Goim are like a desert; 
the first person to come along and take them can claim 
them for his own.” 


1, Curistians Must Not Be Toxtp IF THEY Pay Too Mucxu 
TO A JEW 
In Choschen Hammischpat (183,7) it says: 


“If you send a messenger to collect money from an 
Akum and the Akwm pays too much, the messenger 
may keep the difference. But if the messenger does 
not know about it, then you may keep it all yourself.” 


2. Lost Property oF CHRISTIANS Must Not Bre RETURNED TO 
THEM 
In Choschen Ham. (266,1) it says: 


‘A Jew may keep anything he finds which belongs to 
the Akum, for it is written: Return to thy brethren 
what 1s lost (Deuter.XX1I,3). For he who returns 
lost property [to Christians] sins against the Law by 
increasing the power of the transgressors of the Law. 
It is praiseworthy, however, to return lost property if 
it is done to honor the name of God, namely, if by so 
doing Christians will praise the Jews and look upon 
them as honorable people.” 


3. CHRISTIANS May BE DEFRAUDED 
In Babha Kama (113b) it says: 
“It 1s permitted to deceive a Got.” 
And in Choschen Ham, (156,5. Hagah) it says: 


“Tf a Jew is doing good business with an Akum it is 
not allowed to other Jews, in certain places, to come 
and do business with the same Akum. In other places, 
however, it is different, where another Jew is allowed 
to go to the same Akum, lead him on, do business 
with him and to deceive him and take his money. For 
the wealth of the Akum is to be regarded as common 
property and belongs to the first who can get it. There 
are some, however, who say that this should not be 
done.” 


In Choschen Ham. (183,7 Hagah) it says: 


“Tf a Jew is doing business with an Akum and a fel- 
low Israelite comes along and defrauds the Akum, 


73 


either by false measure, weight or number, he must 
divide his profit with his fellow Israelite, since both 
had a part in the deal, and also in order to help him 
along.” 


4. A Jew May PreTeNp HE 1s a Curisti1an To DECEIVE CurIs- 
TIANS 


In Jore Dea (157,2. Hagah) it says: 
“Tf a Jew is able to deceive them [idolaters] by pre- 
tending he is a worshipper of the stars, he may 
do so.” ? 


5. A Jew 1s ALLowED To Practice Usury ON CHRISTIANS 
In Abhodah Zarah (54a) it says: 


“It is allowed to take usury from Apostates* who fall 
into idolatry.” 


And in Jore Dea (159,1) it says: 


“It is permitted, according to the Torah, to lend money 
to an Akum with usury. Some of the Elders, however, 
deny this except in a case of life and death. Nowadays 
it is permitted for any reason.” 


* * * * * 
III. CHRISTIANS TO BE HARMED IN LEGAL MATTERS 


1. A JEw May Lie anp PERJURE HIMSELF TO CONDEMN A 
CHRISTIAN 


In Babha Kama (113a) it says: 


“Our teaching is as follows: When a Jew and a Got 
come into court, absolve the Jew, if you can, according 
to the laws of Israel. If the Goz wins, tell him that 1s 
what our laws require. If, however, the Jew can be 
absolved according to the gentile law, absolve him and 
say it is due to our laws. If this cannot be done pro- 
ceed callously against the Got, as Rabbi Ischmael ad- 
vises. Rabbi Akibha, however, holds that you cannot 
act fraudulently lest you profane the Name of God, 
and have a Jew committed for perjury.” 


2 This text is also found in the Vilna edition of 1873. 
3 The Jews call Baptism Schomed, and an apostate baptized Jew, a 
Meschummad. 


74 


A marginal note, however, explains this qualification of Rabbi 
Akibha as follows: 
“The name of God is not profaned when it is not 
known by the Goi that the Jew has lied.” 
And further on, the Babha Kama (113b) says: 
“The name of God is not profaned when, for example, 
a Jew lies to a Got by saying: ‘I gave something to 
your father, but he is dead; you must return it to me,’ 
as long as the Got does not know that you are lying.” 
2. A Jew May Peryure HIMSELF WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE 
In Kallah (1b, p.18) it says: 
“She (the mother of the mamzer) said to him, ‘Swear 
to me.’ And Rabbi Akibha swore with his lips, but in 
his heart he invalidated his oath.” ¢ 
A similar text is found in Schabbuoth Hagahoth of Rabbi Ascher 
(6d): 
“If the magistrate of a city compels Jews to swear 
that they will not escape from the city nor take any- 
thing out of it, they may swear falsely by saying to 
themselves that they will not escape today, nor take 
anything out of the city today only.” 


x * * * *« 


IV. CHRISTIANS MUST BE HARMED IN THINGS 
NECESSARY FOR LIFE 


Jews must spare no means in fighting the tyrants who hold them 
in this Fourth Captivity in order to set themselves free. They must 
fight Christians with astuteness and do nothing to prevent evil from 
happening to them: their sick must not be cared for, Christian 
women in childbirth must not be helped, nor must they be saved 
when in danger of death. 


1, A Jew Must ALways Try To DECEIVE CHRISTIANS 
In Zohar (I, 160a) it says: 
“Rabbi Jehuda said to him [Rabbi Chezkia]: ‘He is 
to be praised who is able to free himself from the ene- 
mies of Israel, and the just are much to be praised 
who get free from them and fight against them.’ Rabbi 
Chezkia asked, ‘How must we fight against them?’ 


4 cf. supra, p.30 


75 


Rabbi Jehuda said, ‘By wise counsel thou shalt war 
against them’ (Proverbs, ch. 24, 6). By what kind of 
war? The kind of war that every son of man must 
fight against his enemies, which Jacob used against 
Esau — by deceit and trickery whenever possible. They 
must be fought against without ceasing, until proper 
order be restored. Thus it is with satisfaction that I 
say we should free ourselves from them and rule over 
them.” 


2. A Sick Curistian Must Not Be AIDeD 
In Jore Dea (158,1) it says: 


“The Akum are not to be cured, even for money, un- 
less it would incur their enmity.” 


3. A CHRISTIAN WoMAN IN CHILDBIRTH Must Not BE HELPED 
In Orach Chatim (330,2) it says: 
“No help is to be given to an Akum woman in labor 
on the sabbath, even in a small way, for the Sabbath 
must not be violated.” 


4. A CHRISTIAN IN DANGER oF DEAatH Must Not Br HELPED 
In Choschen Ham. (425,5) it says: 


“If you see a heretic, who does not believe in the 
Torah, fall into a well in which there is a ladder, hurry 
at once and take it away and say to him ‘T have to go 
and take my son down from a roof; I will bring the 
ladder back to you at once’ or something else. The 
Kuthaei, however, who are not our enemies, who take 
care of the sheep of the Israelites, are not to be killed 
directly, but they must not be saved from death.” 


And in Jore Dea (158,1) it says: 


“The Akum who are not enemies of ours must not be 
killed directly, nevertheless they must not be saved 
from danger of death. For example, if you see one of 
them fall into the sea, do not pull him out unless he 
promises to give you money.” 


76 


Maimonides in Hilkhoth Akum X, 1. 


x5) soxow omy ond s1ON 
Sayy 12 ANT OX 459 pon 
xO "DD yD ON TIN DD 
me mind nm inxs aby 
wom wiaxdS Ssx poy 
po NON AD RYDE 

sonbop poy mwiy Nw 


Non licet misereri eorum; quia di- 
citur: «Ne misereberis eorum»'), 
Idcirco, st quis viderit Akum per- 
euntem, vel aquis demersum, le 
opem-ferat, Si eum morti proxi- 
mum viderit, ne eripiat morti. 
Attamen manu sua enm perdere, 
praecipitem in puteum dare, vel 
siquid huic simile, nefas est, quia 
nobiscum bellum non gerit. 


Maimonides, in Hilkhoth Akum (X,1) says: 


‘Do not have any pity for them, for it is said (Deuter. 
VII,2): Show no mercy unto them. Therefore, if you 
see an Akum in difficulty or drowning, do not go to his 
help. And if he is in danger of death, do not save him 
from death. But it is not right to kill him by your own 
hand by shoving them into a well or in some other 
way, Since they are not at war with us.” 


77 


Article Il. — CHRISTIANS ARE TO BE KILLED 


ASTLY, the Talmud commands that Christians are to be killed 
without mercy. In the Abhodah Zarah (26b) it says: 
“Heretics, traitors and apostates are to be thrown into 
a well and not rescued.” 
And in Choschen Hammischpat (388,10) it says: 
“A spy is to be killed, even in our days, wherever he 
is found. He may be killed even before he confesses. 
And even if he admits that he only intended to do 
harm to somebody, and if the harm which he intended 
is not very great, it is sufficient to have him condemned 
to death. He must be warned, however, not to confess 
to this. But if he impudently says ‘No, I will confess 
it!’ then he must be killed, and the sooner the better. 
If there is no time to warn him, it is not necessary to 
do so. There are some who say that a traitor is to be 
put to death only when it is impossible to get rid of 
him by mutilating him, that is, by cutting out his 
tongue or his eyes, but if this can be done he must not 
be killed, since he is not any worse than others who 
persecute us.” 
And in Choschen Hamm. again (388,15) it says: 
“If it can be proved that someone has betrayed Israel 
three times, or has given the money of Israelites to the 
Akum, a way must be found after prudent considera- 
tion to wipe him off the face of the earth.” 


x a * a * 
Quinimo, ipsum studium Legis Tudaeorum mortis poenam me- 
retur. 
Sanhedrin 59 a: 
sun POIYw 1 PIM AIT AWN R. Tochanan dicit: Goi scrutans 
aris SI legem, reus est mortis. 


Even a Christian who is found studying the Law of Israel merits 
death. In Sanhedrin (59a) it says: | 
“Rabbi Jochanan says: A Got who pries into the Law 
is guilty of death.” 


78 


ff. Occidendi sunt Baptisma suscipientes Iudaei 


Hilkhoth Akum X, 2: 


comp Sox r)"Sy5 N35 Haec dicta sunt*) de idololatris. 


=ay5 Syn PoIIDDNT Sed Israelitarum illos, qui a reli- 
gione desciverint, vel Epikurei 
“NS “TY ma) TS PIN evaserint, trucidare, atque ad 
brs prels px me Ses amy inferos usque persequi iubemur. 
Quippe affligunt Israelem, popu- 

TANS Dy DN prot lumque a Deo avertunt. 


II. BAPTIZED JEWS ARE TO BE PUT TO DEATH 
In Hilkhoth Akum (X,2) it says: 
“These things [supra] are intended for idolaters. But 
Israelites also, who lapse from their religion and be- 
come epicureans, are to be killed, and we must perse- 
cute them to the end. For they afflict Israel and turn 
the people from God.” 


And in Jore Dea (158,2 Hagah) it says: 
“Renegades who turn to the pleasures of the Akum, 
and who become contaminated with them by worship- 
ping stars and planets as they do, are to be killed.” 

Likewise in Choschen. Hamm. (425,5) it says: 
“Jews who become epicureans, who take to the wor- 
ship of stars and planets and sin maliciously; also 
those who eat the flesh of wounded animals, or who 
dress in vain clothes, deserve the name of epicureans ; 
likewise those who deny the Torah and the Prophets 
of Israel —- the law is that all those should be killed; 
and those who have the power of life and death should 
have them killed; and if this cannot be done, they 
should be led to their death by deceptive methods.” 


Qui sint isti abnegantes Legem, clare demonstrat R. Maimon in 


Hilkhoth teschubhah III, 8°). 

ns psn jn wow 
DY TTT PRY INT 
man YBN INN pIOp wER 
DD Mk MW TDN DN DAN 
(3) MNS ID TT ey 
TN NI WITS IIT 
=p genoa ome Sysw 


Tres sunt classes negantium To- 
rah: 1. Qui dicunt non a Deo da- 
tam esse Torah, aut (non a Deo) 
salten unum eius versum, saltem 
verbum unum, sed (tenent) Moy- 
sen a seipso hoc dixisse, omnis 
(qui ita dicit) abnegat Legem. 
2. Qui abiiciunt eius explicatio- 
nem, quae dicitur Torah oralis 
(Mischnah), neque agnoscunt eius 


79 


doctores, quemadmodum (fecerunt) 


“INA = yrs) pris }a2 Tsadok’) et Baithos‘). 3. Qui di- 


Rabbi Maimonides, in Hilkhoth Teschubhah (III,8), gives the list 

of those who are considered as denying the Law: 
“There are three classes of people who deny the Law 
of the Torah: (1) Those who say that the Torah was 
not given by God, at least one verse or one word of 
it, and who say that it was all the work of Moses; (2) 
Those who reject the explanation of the Torah, name- 
ly, the Oral Law of the Mischnah, and do not recog- 
nize the authority of the Doctors of the Law, like the 
followers of Tsadok (Sadducees) and Baithos; (3) 
Those who say that God changed the Law for another 
New Law, and that the Torah no longer has any value, 
although they do not deny that it was given by God, 
as the Christians and the Turks believe. All of these 
deny the Law of the Torah.” 


§0 


II. CHRISTIANS ARE TO BE KILLED BECAUSE THEY 
ARE TYRANTS 


In Zohar (1,25a) it says: 
“The People of the Earth are idolaters, and it has been 
written about them: Let them be wiped off the face of 
the earth. Destroy the memory of the Amalekites. 
They are with us still in this Fourth Captivity, namely, 
the Princes [of Rome] . . . who are really Amala- 
kites.” 


1. THeEse Princes ARE To BE KILLepD [Irst 
For if they are allowed to live, the hope of the liberation of 
the Jews is in vain, and their prayers for release from this Fourth 
Captivity are of no avail. In Zohar (1,219b) it says: 
“Tt is certain that our captivity will last until the 
princes of the gentiles who worship idols are de- 
stroyed.” 
And again in Zohar (11,19a) it says: 
“Rabbi Jehuda said: Come and see how it is; how the 
princes have assumed power over Israel and the Is- 
raelites make no outcry. But their rejoicing is heard 
when the prince falls. It 1s written that: the King of 
the Egyptians died and soon the children of Israel 
were released from captivity ; they cried out and their 
voice ascended to God.” 


2. THE PRINCEDOM WuoseE Cuter CITy 1s RoME IS THE ONE TO 

Be Hatep Most oF Ati By THE JEWS 

They call it the Kingdom of Esau, and of the Edomites, the 
Kingdom of Pride, the Wicked Kingdom, Impious Rome. The 
Turkish Empire is called the Kingdom of the Ismaelites which they 
do not wish to destroy. The Kingdom of Rome, however, must be 
exterminated, because when corrupt Rome is destroyed, salvation 
and freedom will come to God’s Chosen People.® 


5 cf. Synag. Jud. ch. X, p.212. 


81 


R. David Kimchi scribit diserte in Obadiam*): 


f29MS CNS MONY 1S Quidquid dixerunt Prophetae de 


’ +49 . vastatione Edom in ultimis diebus, 
ah 9 Been ene eee id de Roma intellexerunt, ut ex- 


NWS MYO'S “PY IO5 MON plicavi in Iesaia in versu «Accedite 


sinnw> o> mew> ov op gentes ad audiendum»*), Etenim, 
i on ; quando vastabitur Roma, erit re- 
nw POR Pn °ey demptio Israelitarum. 


Rabbi David Kimchi writes as follows in Obadiam: 

“What the Prophets foretold about the destruction of 
Edom in the last days was intended for Rome, as 
Isaiah explains (ch.34,1): Come near, ye nations, to 
hear... For when Rome is destroyed, Israel shall be 
redeemed.” 

Rabbi Abraham also, in his book Tseror Hammor, section Schof- 

lim, says the same: | 
“Immediately after Rome is destroyed we shall be 
redeemed.” | 


82 


IV. LASTLY, ALL CHRISTIANS, INCLUDING THE BEST 
OF THEM, ARE TO BE KILLED 


— 113 — 


Abhodah zarah 26 b. Tosephoth: 


WVU Ws Optimus inter Goim occidi 
meretur. 
Multoties haec phrasis repetita occurrit in diversis libris Iudaeo- 
rum, licet non iisdem verbis. V.g.: R. Sal. Iarchi in Exodi cap. XIV, 
v. 7 editionis Anstelodamicnsis ') dicit: 


In Abhodah Zarah (26b, Tosephoth) it says: 
“Even the best of the Gotm should be killed” 
The Schulchan Arukh, after the words of Jore Dea (158,1), that 
those of the Akum who do no harm to Jews are not to be killed, 
namely those who do not wage war against Israel, thus explains 
the word Milchameah — war: 
“But in time of war the Akum are to be killed, for it 


is written: ‘The good among the Akum deserve to be 
killed, etc.’ ” 


* * * 


V. A JEW WHO KILLS A CHRISTIAN COMMITS NO 


SIN, BUT OFFERS AN ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE TO 
GOD 


V. Indaeus occidens Christianum non peccat, sed offerre 
dicitur Deo acceptabile sacrificium. 


Sepher Or Israel 177b.*):. 
manny mon FY VOSA Dele vitam Kliphoth et occide ea; 
bors spo poy syn oN) gratus enim cris Divinae Maiestati 


sicut ille, qui offert oblatum in- 


ANB? PB censi. 


In Sepher Or Israel (177b) it says: 


“Take the life of the Kliphoth and kill them, and you 


will please God the same as one who offers incense to 
Him.” 


83 


And in Jalkut Simoni (245c. n. 772) it says: 
“Everyone who sheds the blood of the impious is as 
acceptable to God as he who offers a sacrifice to God.” 


VI. AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE AT 
JERUSALEM, THE ONLY SACRIFICE NECESSARY 
IS THE EXTERMINATION OF CHRISTIANS 


In Zohar (III,227b) the Good Pastor says: 
“The only sacrifice required is that we remove the 
unclean from amongst us.” 
Zohar (II, 43a), explaining the precept of Moses about the redemp- 
tion of the first-born of an ass by offering a lamb, says: 
“The ass means the non-Jew, who is to be redeemed 
by the offering of a lamb, which is the dispersed sheep 
of Israel. But if he refuses to be redeemed, then break 
his skull... . They should be taken out of the book of 
the living, for it is said about them: He who sins 
against me, I shall take out of the book of life.” 


VII. THOSE WHO KILL CHRISTIANS SHALL HAVE A 

HIGH PLACE IN HEAVEN 

In Zohar (1,38b, and 39a) it says: 
“In the palaces of the fourth heaven are those who 
lamented over Sion and Jerusalem, and all those who 
destroyed idolatrous nations . . . and those who killed 
off people who worship idols are clothed in purple 
garments so that they may be recognized and hon- 
ored.” 


VII. JEWS MUST NEVER CEASE TO EXTERMINATE 
THE GOIM; THEY MUST NEVER LEAVE THEM 
IN PEACE AND NEVER SUBMIT TO THEM 
In Hilkhoth Akum (X,1) it says: 
“Do not eat with idolaters, nor permit them to wor- 


ship their idols; for it is written: Make no covenant 
with them, nor show mercy unto them (Deuter. ch.7, 
2). Either turn them away from their idols or kill 
them.” 

Ibidem (X,7): 
“In places where Jews are strong, no idolater must be 
allowed to remain...” 


84 


IX. ALL JEWS ARE OBLIGED TO UNITE TOGETHER 
TO DESTROY TRAITORS AMONGST THEM 


In Choschen Hamm. (338,16) it says: 
“All the inhabitants of a city are obliged to contribute 
to the expense of killing a traitor, even those who 
have to pay other taxes.” 

X. NO FESTIVAL, NO MATTER HOW SOLEMN, MUST 

PREVENT THE BEHEADING OF A CHRISTIAN 

In Pesachim (49b) it says: 
Rabbi Eliezer said: It is permitted to cut off the head 
of an ‘idiot’ [one of the People of the Earth] on the 
feast of the Atonement when it falls on the Sabbath.® 
His disciples said to him: Rabbi, you should rather 
say to sacrifice. But he replied: By no means, for it 
is necessary to pray while sacrificing, and there is no 
need of prayers when you behead someone.’ 


XI. THE ONE OBJECT OF ALL THE ACTIONS AND 
PRAYERS OF THE JEWS SHOULD BE TO DESTROY 
THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION 

Thus the Jews picture their Messiah and Liberator whom they 
expect, as a persecutor who will inflict great calamities upon non- 

Jews. The Talmud lists three great evils which will come upon the 

world when the Messiah comes. In Schabbath (118a) it says: 
“Whoever eats three meals on the Sabbath shall be 
saved from the three evils: from the punishments of 
the Messiah, from the pain of hell and from the war 
of Magog; for it is written: Behold, I shall send you 
Elias the Prophet before the coming of the ‘Day’ of 
the Lord, etc.” 

XII. IN THEIR PRAYERS THE JEWS SIGH FOR THE 
COMING OF THE REVENGEFUL MESSIAH, ES- 
PECIALLY ON THE EVE OF THE PASSOVER: 
“Pour out thy anger upon the nations that know thee 
not, and upon the kingdoms which do not invoke thy 
name; Pour out thy indignation upon them, and let 
thy wrathful anger take hold of them; Persecute and 
sailed them in anger from under the heavens of the 
Lor a? 7 


6 No day more holy than this could be imagined. | 
t cf. Sanhedrin, chap. VII near the end, and Jebhammoth, the last chap. 


85 


They also pray as follows: 


“How long will thy strength remain captive and thy 
beauty lie under the hand of the oppressor? O Goa! 
Show forth thy strength and thy zeal against our ene- 
mies; break their strength and let them be con- 
founded...” 
And again: 

“Cut off the hope of the unjust; let all heretics perish 
at once; root out, break up and destroy the Proud 
Kingdom; hasten to make all peoples subject m our 
days.” 


% * sd 


At that very same time, on Good Friday, that “Prince of the 
Proud Empire” of Rome, the Pope, prays, and orders everyone in 
the world to pray for all “heretics” and those who are “‘lost,” as 
follows: 


“Let us pray for the perfidious Jews: that the Lord 
our God may take away the veil from their hearts, that 
they may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord. 


“Ommipotent and Eternal God, who dost not even 
exclude Jewish perfidy from thy mercy: hear our pray- 
ers which we offer for the blindness of that people, 
that, having recognized the light of thy truth, which is 
Christ, they may come out of their darkness, Through 
Jesus Christ our Lord...” 


86 


HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THY TABERNACLES, 
O JACOB, AND THY TENTS, O ISRAEL! 
(Num. 24, 5) 


87 


EPILOGUE 


Kinp READER: In this work I have quoted from only a 
very few of the Talmudic books which refer to the Chris- 
tians. For the sake of brevity, and to spare your sensitive 
soul, I omitted many others which could have been in- 
cluded. These texts, however, which I have quoted should 
be sufficient to demonstrate how false are the statements 
of the Jews when they claim that there is nothing in the 
Talmud which teaches hatred and enmity for Christians. 

If it revolted you, Christian reader, to study the hor- 
rible blasphemies in this book, do not vent your anger on 
me. I did not state in the beginning that I was going to 
narrate something pleasant, but merely to show you what 
the Talmud really teaches about Christians, and I do not 
think I could have done so in a more suitable way. 


I realize, however, that, since the truth does not please 
everyone, there are many who will become my enemies for 
thus having borne witness to the truth. And I have been 
reminded of this, both by the laws of the Talmud itself 
which threatens death to “traitors,” and more so, by the 
warnings of those who have had experience of the actions 
which Jews take against those who make known things 
which are not favorable to them. They all foretold that I 
would perish at the hands of the Jews. In trying to pre- 
vent me from going ahead with my work, some begged me 
to remember the fate of Professor Charini, who was sud- 
denly killed after he had undertaken to translate the Tal- 
mud into the vernacular. Others reminded me of the fate 
of the monk Didacus of Vilna, a convert from Judaism, 
who was cruelly murdered; others of those who had been 


88 


persecuted for having revealed secrets of the Jewish re- 
ligion. Still others warned me of the danger to those dear 
tome. “Wszak ciebie zydzi zabija” * was repeated to me 
hundreds of times. 

The book you now hold in your hand is the best proof 
that I did not heed these warnings of my friends. I con- 
sidered it unworthy of me to keep silent just for the sake 
of my own personal safety while the conflict rages between 
the two camps of “Semites” and “Anti-Semites,” both of 
which claim they are fighting for the truth, while I know 
that the whole truth is not to be found in either camp. 

But whatever befalls me because of what I have done, 
I shall gladly suffer it. I am prepared to lay down my 
life — 


THAT I MAY BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 
(John 18, 37) 


I. B. PRANAITIS 
x * £ & * 
* “But the Jews will kill you” — Polish translation. — E.N.S. 
(It is sadly significant to recall with regard to the above, 
that Father Pranattis actually met his death as he foretold 


at the hands of his enemies during the Bolshevik rcvolu- 


tion. — E. N.S.) 


APPENDIX * 


HOW THE POPES TREATED THE JEWS 


Pope Innocent III decreed as follows: 


‘‘As Cain was a wanderer and an outcast, not to be killed 
by anyone but marked with the sign of fear on his fore- 
head, so the Jews .. . against whom the voice of the 
blood of Christ cries out . . . although they are not to be 
killed they must always be dispersed as wanderers upon 
the face of the earth.” ? 

“Although Christian piety tolerates the Jews . . . whose 
own fault commits them to perpetual slavery... and al- 
lows them to continue with us (even though the Moors 
will not tolerate them), they must not be allowed to re- 
main ungrateful to us in such a way as to repay us with 
contumely for favors and contempt for our familiarity. 
They are admitted to our familiarity only through our 
mercy; but they are to us dangerous as the insect in the 
apple, as the serpent in the breast * * * Since, therefore, 
they have already begun to gnaw like the rat, and to stink 
like the serpent, it is to our shame that the fire in our 
breast which is being eaten into by them, does not con- 
sume them * * * As they are reprobate slaves of the 
Lord, in whose death they evilly conspired (at least by 
the effect of the deed), let them acknowledge themselves 
as slaves of those whom the death of Christ has made 
free.” ? 


89 


Under this same Pope, Innocent ITI, the Fourth Lateran Coun- 


cil, in 1215, adopted canons Nos. 67-70, decreeing the Roman Cath- 
olic attitude towards the Jews: ? 





1 Migne, Patrologia, CCXV, 1291. 
2 [bid., p. 694. 
3 cf. Binius, Conctha Generalta, Vol. II, Tom. 3, p. 695. 


*Anpendix supplied by the editor.—48.N:S. 


90 


The first is financial, containing protective measures for Chris- 
tians against the rapacity of Jews as userers. Only Jews were per- 
mitted to lend money at interest. 

The second decrees that all Jews be distinguished for all time 
from Christians by color of dress and distinctive badge. 

The third forbids Jews to have Christians as nurses, tutors, and 
domestic servants and forbids Christians to cohabit with Jews and 
Jewesses. Legal marriage with them was impossible. 

The fourth forbids the acceptance of legal testimony of Jews 
against Christians and orders preference for the testimony of a 
Christian against a Jew. An order is also added that all in authority 
in Church and State must watch continually lest converted and 
baptized Jews continue to practice the rites of their former faith. 

A few years later Pope Innocent III reiterates and confirms 
these edicts of the Lateran Council as follows: 


“TO THE KING OF FRANCE THAT HE MUST CRUSH 
THE INSOLENCE OF THE JEWS RESIDING IN HIS 
KINGDOM, 


“Although it be not displeasing to the Lord, but rather 
acceptable to Him, that the Jewish Dispersion should 
live and serve under Christian princes * * * they greatly 
offend in the sight of God’s Divine Majesty who prefer 
the offspring of the Crucifiers before those who are the 
heirs of Christ. * * * It has come to our knowledge that 
in the kingdom of France Jews have so much liberty that, 
under a species of usury — by which they not only extort 
interest, but interest from interest —- they obtain control 
of the goods of the churches and the possessions of the 
Christians. * * * Furthermore, although it was decreed 
in the Lateran Council that Jews be not permitted to have 
Christian servants in their homes, either as tutors for 
their children or for domestic service, or for any reason 
whatsoever, they still persist in having Christians as 
servants and nurses, with whom they commit abomina- 
tions of a kind which it rather becomes you to punish 
than us to explain. And again, although the same Council 
laid it down that the testimony of Christians against 
Jews is to be admitted, even when the former use Jewish 
witnesses against Christians, and decreed that in a case 
of this kind anyone who would prefer Jews before Chris- 
tians is to be condemned as anathema, yet up to the 
present time things are so carried on in the kingdom of 


91 


France that the testimony of Christians against Jews 1s 
not believed, whereas Jews are admitted as witnesses 
against Christians. And at times, when they to whom 
Jews have loaned money with usury produce Christian 
witnesses about the facts of payment, THE DEED 
WHICH THE CHRISTIAN DEBTOR THROUGH 
NEGLIGENCE INDISCREETLY LEFT WITH 
THEM IS BELIEVED RATHER THAN THE WIT- 
NESSES WHOM THEY BRING FORWARD. On 
Good Friday also, contrary to the law of old, they walk 
through the streets and public squares, and meeting 
Christians who everywhere according to custom go to 
adore the Crucifix, they deride them and strive to prevent 
them from this duty of adoration. We warn and exhort 
Your Serene Majesty in the Lord (adding the remission 
of your sins) that you force the Jews from their pre- 
sumption * * * and see to it that due punishment be 
meted out to all such blasphemers, and that an easy par- 
don be not given to delinquents.‘ 

In 1567, Pope Pius V revoked the small concession, granted to 
Jews by Pius IV, enabling them to possess immovable preperty up 
to the value of 1,500 gold ducats. He ordered the Jews to sell all 
their properties to Christians. Two years later he ordered all Jews 
expelled from the States of the Church: 


“By authority of these present Letters, We order that 
each and every Jew of both sexes in Our Temporal Do- 
minions, and in all the cities, lands, places and baronies 
subject to them, shall depart completely out of the con- 
fines thereof within the space of three months after the 
present Letters shall have been made public. They shall 
be despoiled of all their goods, and be prosecuted accord- 
ing to the due process of law. They shall become bonds- 
men of the Roman Church, and shall be subjected to 
perpetual servitude. And the said Church shall claim the 
same right over them as other dominions over their slaves 
and bondsmen.°® 


In 1244, Pope Innocent IV also ordered the burning of Jewish 
books. He exhorted the King of France as follows: 


“Our dear Son, the Chancellor of Paris, and the Doc- 
tors, before the clergy and people, publicly bummed by fire 


4 Migne, op.ctt., CCX V, 501. 
5 Bull. Rom. Pont., VII, 741. 


92 


the aforesaid books (The Talmud) with all their ap- 
pendices. We beg and beseech your Celestial Majesty in 
the Lord Jesus, that, having begun laudably and piously 
to prosecute those who perpetuate these detestable ex- 
cesses, that you continue with due severity. And that you 
command throughout your whole kingdom that the afore- 
said books with all their glossaries, already condemned 
by the Doctors, be committed to the flames. Firmly pro- 
hibiting Jews from having Christians as servants and 
nurses. * * *& 
Pope Gregory IX sent the following to the archbishops of Ger- 
many: 

“The Jews, who are admitted to our acquaintance only 
through our mercy, should never forget their yoke of 
perpetual slavery, which they bear through their own 
fault. In the Council of Toledo it was decreed that Jews 
of both sexes, and for all time, should be distinguished 
from others by their mode of dress. We therefore com- 
mand that each and every one of you to have all the 
excesses of the Jews completely repressed, lest they | 
should presume to raise their necks from the yoke of 
servitude in contumely of the Redeemer; forbidding 
them to discuss in any way concerning their faith or 
rites with Christians. In this matter calling to your aid 
the help of the civil power, inflicting upon Christians, 


who offer opposition, due ecclesiastical punishment 
xe wT 


Pope Eugenius IV, in 1442, issued the following decree: 
“We decree and order that from now on, and for all 
time, Christians shall not eat or drink with Jews; nor 
admit them to feasts, nor cohabit with them, nor bathe 
with them. Christians shall not allow Jews to hold civil 
honors over Christians, or to exercise public offices in 
the State. Jews cannot be merchants, Tax Collectors, or 
agents in the buying and selling of the produce and goods 
of Christians, nor their Procurators, Computers or Law- 
yers in matrimonial matters, nor Obstetricians; nor can 
they have association or partnership with Christians. No 
Christian can leave or bequeath anything in his last Will 


6 Bull. Rom. Pont., TV, 509. 
7 Bull. Rom. Pont., Ill, 497. 


93 


and Testament to Jews or their congregations. Jews are 
prohibited from erecting new synagogues. They are 
obliged to pay annually a tenth part of their goods and 
holdings. Against them Christians can testify, but the 
testimony of Jews against Christians in no case is of any 
value. All and every single Jew, of whatever sex and 
age, must everywhere wear the distinct dress and known 
marks by which they can be evidently distinguished from 
Christians. They cannot live among Christians, but in a 
certain street, separated and segregated from Christians, 
and outside which they cannot under any pretext have 
houses * * *’® | 
In 1555, Pope Paul IV reiterated these restrictions against the 
Jews and added some new ones. He ordered Jews to pay an annual 
amount for every synagogue, “even those that have been demol- 
ished,” and said: “Jews can only engage themselves in the work of 
street-sweepers and rag-pickers, and cannot be produce merchants 
or in things necessary for human use.® For contravening these 


regulations Jews are to be punished “as rebels and criminals Jaesae 
majestatis ret (high treason), held as outlaws by all Christian peo- 
ple, by the judgment of our Vicars, Deputies and Magistrates * * *” 

The present attitude of the Roman Catholic Church toward the 
Jew, as well as that of Mussolini, is of much interest for the latter 
has revived the age-old disabilities of the Church against the Jews. 
All Jewish literature is forbidden and no book by a foreign Jew can 
be translated into Italian. No play by a foreign Jew can be pro- 
duced. No Jew is allowed to broadcast over the radio. Jewish pro- 
fessors are barred from Italian universities and textbooks of 114 
Jewish writers have been withdrawn from the schools. Jews have 
been expelled from all administrative posts. Marriage is again il- 
legal between Jews and Christians. A third anti-Semitic newspaper, 
Giornalissimo, has joined forces with the already existing anti-Jew- 
ish Regime Fascista and Il Tevere. 

The Vatican’s semiofficial organ, L’Osservatore Romano, of Au- 
gust 13, 1938, in an article headed “The Jews and the Vatican 
Council” (1870) speaks of the Catholic Church’s PROTECTIVE 
measures for Jews, and then goes on to say: 

“But —in order to set things straight — by this it was 
not intended that Jews should be allowed to abuse the 
hospitality of Christian countries. Along with these pro- 


® Bull. Rom, Pont., V. 67. 
® Bull Rom. Pont., V1, 499. 


94 


tective ordinances, there existed restrictive and precau- 
tionary decrees with regard to them. The civil power 
was in accord with the Church in this, since, as Delassus 
says, ‘they both had the same interest in preventing the 
nations from being invaded by the Jewish element and 
thereby losing control of society.’ But if Christians were 
forbidden to force Jews to embrace the Catholic religion, 
to disturb their synagogues, their Sabbath and their fes- 
tivals, the Jews, on the other hand, were forbidden to 
hold public office, civil or military; and this prohibition 
extended even to the children of converted Jews. The 
precautionary decrees concerned the professions, educa- 
tion, and business positions.” 7° 


(For a fuller treatment of these decrees of the Popes against the 
Jews, see article m “The Social Frontier,” Columbia University, 


Nov., 1938, entitled: Is Catholicism Antt-Semitic?) 


10 cf. Il Messagero, Rome, August 17, 1938; La Gazzetta del Messzogi- 
orno, Bari, August 18, 1938; Corniere della Sera and others. All have the 


same caption: “How the Popes Treated the Jews.” 

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