The ancient rabbinic text is clear about the punishment for those who twisted sacred law and misled the people of Israel.<\/p>\n\n
Offenders would be stoned and then hung by their hands from two pieces of wood connected to form a \u201cT.\u201d The Talmud once included this example from the Sanhedrin.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cOn the eve of Passover they hung Jesus of Nazareth,\u201d said the passage, which was censored in the 16th century to evade the wrath of Christians. \u201cThe herald went out before him for 40 days saying, \u2018Jesus goes forth to be stoned, because he has practiced magic, enticed and led astray Israel. Anyone who knows anything in his favor, let him come and declare concerning him.\u2019 And they found nothing in his favor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
If armies of Jewish and Christian scholars insist on arguing about Mel Gibson\u2019s explosive movie \u201cThe Passion of the Christ,\u201d it would help if they were candid and started dealing with the hard passages in Jewish texts as well as the Christian scriptures.<\/p>\n\n
At least, that\u2019s what David Klinghoffer thinks.<\/p>\n\n
The Orthodox Jewish writer \u2014 whose forthcoming book is entitled \u201cWhy the Jews Rejected Christ\u201d \u2014 believes these lines from the Talmud are as troubling as any included in the Christian Gospels. They are as disturbing as any image Gibson might include in his controversial epic.<\/p>\n\n
The Talmudic text seems clear. Jesus clashed with Jewish leaders, debating them on the meaning of their laws. They hated him. Many wanted him dead.<\/p>\n\n
It is possible, said Klinghoffer, to interpret these documents as saying that Jesus\u2019 fate rested entirely with the Jewish court. The use of language such as \u201centiced and led astray\u201d indicated that Jesus may have been charged with leading his fellow Jews to worship false gods.<\/p>\n\n
There are more details in this confusing drama. Writing in 12th-century Egypt, the great Jewish sage Maimonides summed up the ancient texts.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cJesus of Nazareth,\u201d he proclaims, in his Letter to Yemen, \u201d \u2026 impelled people to believe that he was a prophet sent by God to clarify perplexities in the Torah, and that he was the Messiah that was predicted by each and every seer. He interpreted the Torah and its precepts in such a fashion as to lead to their total annulment, to the abolition of all its commandments and to the violation of its prohibitions.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe sages, of blessed memory, having become aware of his plans before his reputation spread among our people, meted out fitting punishment to him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Is that it? What role did the Romans play?<\/p>\n\n
In terms of historic fact, stressed Klinghoffer, it\u2019s almost impossible to find definitive answers for such questions. But the purpose of the Jewish oral traditions that led to the Talmud was to convey religious belief, not necessarily historical facts.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cIf you really must ask, \u2018Who is responsible for the death of Jesus?\u2019, then you can only conclude that both the Gospels and the Talmud agree that the Jewish leaders did not have the power to execute him,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cDid they influence the event? The religious texts suggest that they did, the historic texts suggest that they did not. It\u2019s hard to know. \u2026 But if Gibson is an anti-Semite, then to be consistent you would have to say that so was Maimonides.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Obviously, Klinghoffer is not spreading this information in order to fan the flames of hatred. His goal, he said, is to provoke Jewish leaders in cities such as New York and Los Angeles to strive harder to understand the views of traditional Protestants and Catholics. And it\u2019s time for liberal Christians to spend as much time talking with Orthodox Jews as with liberal Jews.<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s time to everyone to be more honest, he said.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see anything that is to be gained for Judaism by going out of our way to antagonize a Mel Gibson or to antagonize as many traditional Christians as we possibly can. I think we have been yelling \u2018Fire!\u2019 in a crowded theater,\u201d said Klinghoffer.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cTo put it another way, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s very wise for a few Jewish leaders to try to tell millions of Christians what they are supposed to believe. Would we want some Christians to try to edit our scriptures and to tell us what we should believe?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The ancient rabbinic text is clear about the punishment for those who twisted sacred law and misled the people of Israel. Offenders would be stoned and then hung by their hands from two pieces of wood connected to form a \u201cT.\u201d The Talmud once included this example from the Sanhedrin. \u201cOn the eve of Passover […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[64,437,1538,1542,642],"class_list":["post-1267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anti-semitism","tag-holy-week","tag-judaism","tag-movies","tag-passion"],"yoast_head":"\n