Sunday, January 2, 2011

Talmud - Myths and Misquotes

In the 1950s, anti-Semitic author Mrs. Lyrl Van Hyning published a book Key To The Mystery and a racist periodical Woman's Voice, presenting a large and controversial wave of fabricated quotes from The Talmud.








Mrs Van Hyning and other notable anti-Semites such as Nesta Webster, Benjamin H. Freedman and Rev. Gerald L.K. Smith based most of their claims on those produced by Rev. Another source is from the, Ku Klux Klan organizer, Wesley Swift's 1939 translation entitled The Talmud Unmasked.
The fabricated quotes have surfaced in certain parts of the white nationalist community and among certain Christians.

Examples of fabricated/mistranslated quotes of the Talmud
1. "Jesus was a bastard born of adultery." (Yebamoth 49b).
"Mary was a whore: Jesus (Balaam) was an evil man." (Sanhedrin 106a).
2. "Jesus was a magician and a fool. Mary was an adulteress". (Shabbath 104b).
3. "Christians are allied with Hell, and Christianity is worse than incest". (Abodah Zarah 17a).
4. "WHEN MESSIAH COMES HE WILL DESTROY THE CHRISTIANS". (Sanhedrin 99a).
5. "Those who read the Gospels are doomed to Hell". (Sanhedrin 90a, 100b).
6. "A heretic Gentile you may kill outright with your own hands." - (Talmud, Abodah Zara, 4b.)
7. "It is the law to kill anyone who denies the Torah. The Christians belong to the denying ones of the Torah." (- Coschen hamischpat 425 Hagah 425. 5)
8. "Every Jew, who spills the blood of the godless (goi), is doing the same as making a sacrifice to God." (Talmud, Bammidber raba c 21 & Jalkut 772.)
9. "It is permitted to take the body and the life of a Gentile." (Sepher ikkarim III c 25)
10. "Jesus is in hell where His punishment is "boiling in hot semen." (Talmud: Gittin 57a)
11. "To communicate anything to a goy about our religious relations would be equal to the killing of all Jews, for if the goyim knew what we teach about them they would kill us openly." (Libbre David: 37)

The Schindler's List's Talmud quote:
"He who saves a single life, saves an entire world."

An article by revisionist Michael A Hoffman II claims that Steven Spielberg falsified a quote from the Talmud in the end of his move Schindler's List.[6]

The quote in question is; "He who saves a single life, saves an entire world." Hoffman however, claims that it's false and that the real quote only referr to jews.

Maimonides (aka RamBam), one of the most influental Rabbis ever, lived during the 11th century and wrote the codification of jewish law, Mishneh Torah, did write and cite the Jerusalem (Yerushalmi) Talmud as he understood the "he who saves" as inclusive of all people.

Rambam/Maimonides gave for the Yerushalmi version, in Hilkhot Sanhedrin 12:3, but also cites the Bavli version briefly in Hilkhot Rotzea`h 1:6. Hameiri also based his own commentary on the Yerushalmi version which illustrates the quote "Whoever destroys the life of a single human being [nefesh a`hat mi-bnei adam] ... it is as if he had destroyed an entire world and whoever preserves the life of a single human being ... it is as if he had preserved an entire world", by pointing out that Cain's murder of Abel eliminated all of his victim's descendents in one big, fell swoop. And we know at least that Abel, like Adam were not Jewish

So it's not hard to grasp what the main idea behind the quote was, as it makes sense that if you remove the father before he's begotten, you remove all of his possible offsprings in one go, hence if you therefor saved a father it is to be likened with saving of a world of people.

Now this humanistic version was not however always completely universally accepted by some of the later commentators, the A`haronim. In MaHaRSh'A, for example, in Hidushei Agadot on Sanhedrin.37a, stays with Version 2, which only includes jews and a few rabbis out of their reverence. Though the Mishnah and Maimonides personally based the dictum on Adam being the father of all mankind and thus the essentials of this quote means thus. Most followers of Judaism has understood the quote in this light. Like any people in general, believe that which appeals most to their own vanity, or lack thereof, it has very little to do with religious essentials. And, thus in conclusion, Hoffman wasn't correct on his accusation on Spielberg nor the Talmud here either.


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