Point Of View Of Judaism On Jesus Of Nazareth

One of the most important principles of Jewish faith is the affirmation of one and only God , without any intermediary or shareholder (shoutaf) . Jews who shared one or more of these beliefs, which of course the early Church , were ostracized by the Sages with Minaeans. For this reason, related issues, such as the historical existence of Jesus and other topics concerning his life are considered out of place in Judaism.

The belief that Jesus is God, part of the Trinity , the Messiah or a prophet of God is incompatible with traditional Jewish principles. The idea of the Jewish Messiah is different from the Christian Jesus, as Jews believe that Jesus did not fulfill the Jewish messianic prophecies that establish criteria for the coming of the Messiah . The authoritative texts of Judaism reject Jesus as God, divine being, an intermediary between God and man, Messiah or saint.

Belief in the Trinity, as well as many other Christian doctrines central , is also regarded as incompatible with Judaism.

Point of view of Judaism on Jesus General

indivisibility of God

In Judaism and in Islam, the idea of God as a duality or trinity is heretical , that is to say, is regarded as an incompatibility of strict monotheism and is thus equated with polytheism . According to the beliefs of Judaism, the Torah excludes a triune God ( Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one Lord". See also the Shema Israel ).

In A History of the Jews, Paul Johnson describes the schism between Jews and Christians, caused by a variation on this principle:

"To the question, Is Jesus God or man?, Christians answer: both. After year 70, their response has always been unanimous and increasingly emphatic. This has inevitably led to a break with Judaism . "

Fundamentally, Judaism believes that God as creator of time, space and matter, is timeless, and can not be born or die, or have a son. Judaism teaches that it is heretical to proclaim himself a man of God, or Party of God, or the real son of God. The Jerusalem Talmud ( Taanit 2:1) explicitly says: "if a man claims that he is God is a liar."

In the ^twelfth century , the famous Jewish scholar and thinker Moses Maimonides defined the central tenet of Judaism by writing: "God is One - He is not two nor more than two, only A, whose uniqueness is unique compared with .

Some Jewish scholars note that although Jesus used the phrase "my Father in heaven" (see the Our Father ), the current Jewish poetic expression may have been misinterpreted and taken literally .

Judaism's Perspective on the Messiah

The position of Judaism on the Messiah differs substantially from the Christian idea of the Messiah. According to Judaism, the principle of the Messiah is to bring the messianic age, a unique event. Each generation can have a potential messiah, but an alleged messiah who dies before completing his task (that is to say, to lead all Israel to walk in the path of Torah , to eliminate all breaches law, fight the wars of God, rebuild the Temple on its site, gather all the exiles of Israel) can not be the true Messiah. Maimonides states: "Because he failed in that and was killed, then it is definitely not the Messiah promised in the Torah ... and God has chosen only to test the crowds " .

Jews believe the Messiah will fulfill the Messianic prophecies of the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel ^{, , ,} . According to Isaiah, the Messiah is a descendant of King David via King Solomon . It is supposed to bring Jews to the Holy Land, to rebuild the Temple , to reign as king and bring an era of peace and understanding where knowledge of God fill the world , leading nations to recognize the harm that they did to Israel . Ezekiel says that the Messiah will deliver the Jews .

Therefore, each position of Judaism on Jesus is inherently influenced by the fact that Jesus lived while the Second Temple stood, and not when the Jews were exiled. He never reigned as a king, and there was no subsequent period of peace or great knowledge. Jesus died without finishing even without performing any of messianic missions, and instead, he promised her a newcomer on earth. Instead of being saved, the Jews were subsequently exiled from Israel. These discrepancies were noted by the Jewish philosophers, contemporaries of Jesus, and later identified by Ramban , who in 1263 remarked that Jesus was rejected as Messiah by the rabbis of his time .

Moreover, according to current beliefs of Judaism, the claims of Christians that Jesus is the true Messiah by the Hebrew Bible are based on a mistranslation of the Bible ^{, ,} and Jesus does not qualified to be the true Jewish Messiah.

Prophecy and Jesus

According to the Torah (Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and 18:18-22 ), the criteria for a person to be regarded as a prophet or speak for God, they are obedient to the God of Israel (and not another god), it does not represent God in a different way to that described in the Hebrew Scriptures, that it does not recommend changing the word of God, it does not claim that God changed his idea and now he wants things in contradiction with his eternal word made, otherwise she is talking about things pass .

In addition, there are two kinds of "false prophets" recognized in the Hebrew Bible:

• one who claims to be a prophet in the name of idolatry ,
• one who proclaims himself a prophet in the name of the God of Israel, but says all the words or commandments ( mitzvot ) of God no longer apply, or makes false statements in the name of God .

As Judaism believes that God's word is true from all eternity, who said to speak for God but deviates from the Halacha , can not logically be inspired by divine authority ( Ezekiel himself was long contested, before that a comment does not show the correspondence between his words and the Torah). Deuteronomy 13:3 says simply: "you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams" ^{, ,} .

Even if someone who pretends to be a prophet, or may perform acts of supernatural portents, no prophet or dreamer can contradict the laws already established in the Bible ^, .

Consequently, any discrepancy with the principles adopted by the Hebrew Bible Jesus disqualifies him to be considered a prophet in Judaism. This view was adopted by the contemporaries of Jesus, and by the rabbinic tradition as described in the Talmud (Sotah 48b) "when Malachi died, the prophecy left Israel. . As Malachi lived several centuries before Jesus, it is clear that the rabbis of Talmudic times did not consider Jesus as a prophet inspired by God.

Jesus and salvation

Judaism does not believe that the salvation or repentance of sins can be obtained by the sacrifice of another person. ("The fathers shall not be condemned for their children, nor children their father convicted; Everyone should be condemned for his own sin") and instead focuses on the need for personal repentance .

In addition, Judaism focuses on understanding how to live a sanctified life according to the will of God in this world, rather than hope or methods of finding spiritual salvation in a future world. Judaism sees a divine obligation for Jews to live as a " chosen people "in full accord with the divine will, as a" light among nations "and not intended as the exclusive path to salvation or" the only way to God. " Instead, "all the Righteous Among the Nations has a share in the world to come. "Consequently, the implications of the Christian conception of Jesus diverges significantly from the Jewish perspective.

The life of Jesus

Although there is no special position of Judaism on Jesus, some rabbis have speculated on his life. Maimonides in his Epistle to Yemen writes that Jesus was a heretic who tried to remove the Torah. Shmuley Boteach Rabbi sees reason to believe that Jesus was a rabbi, based on some comments in the New Testament .

Texts of Judaism allowed mentioning Jesus

The Talmud and "Yeshua"

The name of Yeshua (or: Yeshua, Yeishu in Hebrew : ) appears in various works of classical rabbinic literature, including the Babylonian Talmud (written before the year 600), and the literature midrashic classic written between 200 and 700 AD.
Jewish scholars have debated the meaning of the name: it may be a variant of Yeshua, the Aramaic name of Jesus, some on believe it is an acronym for the Hebrew expression "yemach Shemo vezichro ( Hebrew: ) "May his name and memory be erased".
The epithet Notzri Ha, that was understood either as a person of Nazareth or belonging to a group called Notzrim (caretakers or watchmen), found in a few instances of the Talmud and some similarities between the stories of two characters (incentive apostasy, achieving miracles, tragic death), scholars have traditionally believed that these references to refer to Yeshua "Jesus Christ" of Christianity. However, other scholars have criticized this view: Yehiel of Paris , rabbi of the thirteenth century , wrote that Yeshua of rabbinic literature was a disciple of Yehoshua ben Perahia , prior to Jesus of Nazareth several centuries, and should not be confused with it . Rabbeinu Tam , Ramban and Jehiel Heilprin ( seventeenth century ) are also abundant in meaning. Jacob Emden wrote that the information contained in the manuscripts of Munich , in Florence and elsewhere, including Toledot Yeshu in order to support the identification, are late comments, written several centuries after the original drafting of the Talmud, citing contradictions between the events listed on Yeshua and the period of the life of Jesus , as well as differences between the accounts of Yeshua's death and that of Jesus , it also finds two different characters.

In all cases, references that identify specific individuals (real or not) are associated with acts or behavior seen as driving the Jews out of Judaism and become heretics or apostates (" Min "according to the Talmud). So whether Yeshua "Jesus" has historically been a sensitive issue because "Yeshua" is portrayed negatively, and negative portrayals of Jesus in Jewish literature can induce the anti-Jewish Christians, and used for propaganda against the Talmud.

While some rabbis and historians argue that there is no relationship between Yeshua and Jesus, others argue the opposite: Judah Halevi and Ramban consider that references to Yeshua actually relate to Jesus and , based on it, conclude that Jesus had lived 130 years before the date reported by Christians, therefore contradicting stories about the chronology of the life of Jesus reported in the Gospels , for others, Yeshua a literary device used by the rabbis to discuss their relations with the early Christians.

Examples

The first references to "Yeshua" are found in texts not censored the Babylonian Talmud and the Tosefta. The papal bull written in 1554 censored the Talmud and other Jewish texts, resulting in the removal of all references to Yeshua. No known manuscript of the Jerusalem Talmud does not mention the name of Yeshua, although a translation (Herford) has added to the Avodah Zara 2:2 to match the text similar Tosefta Houllin 2:22. All subsequent uses of the word Yeshua comes from these early references.

In the manuscripts of the Talmud of Munich in 1342 , in Paris and the Jewish Theological Seminary, the term Ha Notzri is added to the last mention of Yeshu in Sanhedrin 107b and Sotah 47a as well as occurrences in Sanhedrin 43a, Sanhedrin 103a, Berachot Avodah Zarah 17b and 16b-17a. Gil Student , Zindler and McKinsey note that Ha Notzri not found in other manuscripts partial pre-censorship, such as manuscripts of Florence , Hamburg and Karlsruhe where the passages in question.

Although Notzri not appear in the Tosefta, at the time of the development of the Babylonian Talmud, Notzri became the standard Hebrew word for Christians and Yeshua Ha-Notzri became the conventional expression for "Jesus Nazarene "in Hebrew. For example, in 1180 , the word Yeshua Ha Notzri is at Maimonides : Mishneh Torah (11:4 Hilkhot Melachim, uncensored version). The word literally means Ha Notzri the Nazarene (who was born in Nazareth), but the reference to Maimonides makes clear to the Jesus of the Christians.

The paucity of references to Jesus in the Talmud can be explained by:

• censorship intensive Talmud during the medieval in Europe , the Jewish texts are often placed in the " Index Librorum Prohibitorum "(" List of banned books, published by the Catholic Church) and the passages deemed offensive to the Church redacted. In 1559 , the Talmud was placed entirely on the list by Pope Paul IV.
• self-censorship to avoid the wrath of the authorities, Christian or other, sitting in the Land of Israel (eg, Hanukkah was not, despite its importance, mentioned only briefly, in addition to a discussion about the lighting of lights Shabbat, probably because it commemorates the spiritual side of a Jewish military victory over the pagan Greco-Syrian government).
• that the Mishnah , which forms the skeleton of the Talmud, was written at a time when Christians were still only a sect among others , numerous enough, classified among Minaeans with Gnostic sects, and those whose divergence vis--vis the self-righteousness was not part of the movement of the Sadducees or Samaritanism.
  • Given the growing importance of Christians, the term MYN became at a later time virtually synonymous with some seeing it as an acronym for Maaminei beYeshou haNotzri (believers in Jesus the Nazarene). Due to the adage of Rav Nahman in the name of Rava bar Avouha, "There is no minimum among the Gentiles , that is to say that the name can not apply that 'to Jews or converted to Judaism, many people who see behind every statement a reference to the Minim (Judeo-) Christian.
• the final version of the Babylonian Talmud, completed in Babylon , where Christianity had not yet the same impact as around the Mediterranean basin , and was not considered significant particulirmeent.

Jesus according to Maimonides

Maimonides

Epistle to Yemen

Moses Maimonides was frequently consulted by Jews persecuted by Christians and Muslims are converting to these new times or die. In the Epistle to Yemen written around 1172 , in response to Rabbi Jacob ben Nethanel, head of the Jewish community in Yemen , he had written during a campaign of forced conversion to Islam, triggered to 1165 by Abd al- -Nabi ibn Mahdi, helped in his task by a new convert, Maimonides mentions Jesus (and Paul of Tarsus ) as a model for those who tried to destroy Judaism by the controversies:

"The first to adopt this plan "

An illuminated proclaiming himself the Messiah in these troubled times, calling for a syncretism Judeo-Muslim, Maimonides mentions Jesus again:

"You know that Christians have falsely attributed wonderful powers Jesus the Nazarene, his bones are reduced to dust, such as the resurrection and other miracles. Even if we had admitted because of their arguments, we could not be convinced by their arguments that Jesus is the Messiah. Because we can make a thousand proofs of Scripture, it can not be the same from their point of view. Indeed, who would like to assume wrongly that rank without wanting to make himself an object of derision ? "

In the Mishna Torah

In his Mishneh Torah, he wants final codification of Jewish law, he wrote, referring to Jesus:

"Even Jesus the Nazarene who imagined that he would be Messiah and was killed by the court, was already prophesied by Daniel. As was said, "And the members of the proscribed of your nation will have to make a vision (prophetic). And they failed" (Daniel 11.14). Because, is there a greater stumbling block than this? And talked all the prophets, the Messiah will redeem Israel and save them and gather all their exiles and fortify their commands. And it led the nations to destroy Israel by sword and scattered and humiliated his people, he changed the Torah, and that the majority of the world wrong by worshiping a god beside God. "

Nevertheless, Maimonides recognizes him, and Muhammad, the merit of having prepared humanity to honor the God of Israel:

"And all the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth and Mohammed the Ishmaelites who came after him, has only one reason for redress of our way to the King Messiah, and to restore everyone to serve God together. As stated: "For when I will turn to nations give them a pure language so that they may all call upon the name of God and serve God shoulder against shoulder like one shoulder." ( Zephaniah 3:9 ). See how the world is already filled with the substance of the Messiah, the substance of the Torah and the substance of the commandments! And these things are spreading to the faraway islands and among many nations uncircumcised of heart. (Hilkhot Melachim 11:10-12). "

The disputation of Barcelona Ramban

In 1263 , Ramban , Rabbi of Gerona and later chief rabbi of Catalonia , was ordered by King Jacques I of Aragon to take part in the disputation public with Pablo Christiani , a Jewish convert to Catholicism.

Christiani drove the Jews from Provence to abandon Judaism and convert to Christianity. Relying on the reserves that his opponent would have to keep it, for fear of hurting the Christian leaders, Pablo assured the king that he can prove the truth of Christianity from the Talmud and other rabbinic writings. Nahmanides submits to the king's orders, but says that he guarantees complete freedom of expression. For four days, during the dispute in Barcelona from 20 to 24 July 1263 , the debate with Pablo Christiani in the presence of the king, court and many ecclesiastical dignitaries.

The topics are:

1. Is the Messiah appeared?
2. Is the Messiah foretold by the prophets must be regarded as divine or as a man born of human parents?
3. Are the Jews or Christians are in possession of true faith?

Christiani argues, based on several passages aggadic , the wise Pharisees believed that the Messiah had lived during the Talmudic period, and that they obviously believed that the Messiah was Jesus accordingly. Christiani Nahmanides opposes by asserting that his interpretations are themselves nonsense; the rabbis could not imply that Jesus was the Messiah, while opposing it explicitly as such. Ramban continues by providing the context of the texts cited as evidence by Christiani, and shows they can be understood differently and more clear that this exhibitor Christiani. In addition, Nahmanides shows from many sources, biblical and Talmudic Jewish faith that is contrary to traditional assumptions Christiani.

Ramban goes on to show that the Biblical prophets regarded the future messiah as a human person made of flesh and blood and not as a deity as the Christians see Jesus. He noted their promise of a reign of universal peace and justice has not been answered. On the contrary, since the appearance of Jesus, the world is full of violence and injustice, and that among all nations, Christians are the most bellicose.

He also asserts that questions concerning the Messiah are of less dogmatic importance for Jews than imagined by most Christians. The reason given by him for this bold statement is that it is more meritorious for the Jews to observe the precepts under a Christian government, being in exile and suffering humiliation and injustice, that the reign of the Messiah, when each necessarily act in accordance with the Act.

See also

• Anti-Trinitarianism
• Dabru Emet
• Judeo-Christian disputations
• Disputation of Tortosa
• Jewish historiography of the New Testament
• Relations between Judaism and Christianity
• Shalom Ben-Chorin
• Replacement theology

References

• (In) This article is partially or entirely from the article in English entitled " Judaism's view of Jesus "(see the list of authors )

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