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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