Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Rabbi Gilbert S. Rosenthal ...

"Jewish Views Of Other Faiths"

Adapted from the Jesuit publication, America, May 19, 2008.

"Over 5,800 pages long, the Talmud is a vast sea of learning that contains the opinions of thousands of rabbis, many of whom are not even named, on a variety of subjects, including law, lore, history, theology, ethics and many other topics.

"The Talmud does not represent authoritative law or theology or liturgy.

"There are perhaps four references to Jesus -- all badly garbled, all written at least a century or two after his death.

"It is not at all clear if Jesus of Nazareth is even the intended subject of those citations.

"In 1240, when Rabbi Yehiel of Paris had to defend the Talmud in a public disputation, he maitained that another man named Jesus, who lived a century before Jesus of Nazareth, was the subject of references in the Talmud.

"Jesus, after all, was the Greek name for Joshua, a common name at the time.

"In fact, Rabbi Yehiel argued, there was reference to another Jesus in the New Testament itself.

"But even if Jesus of Nazareth was the intended subject of some of these troubling passages, they reflect the opinion of one man, not the consensus of Jewish thought then or now.

"Interestingly, the Talmud (Shabbat 116a-b) quotes only one passage from the New Testament, Mt 5:17 I come not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it....."

For me, anyway, this whole article is a fascinating read.


Rabbi Rosenthal is one first - class scholar, you may be sure!!

You may be able to access it by clicking on this website, I'm not sure, o.k? O.K.!

Good luck ..... :)

www.americamagazine.org

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