The Bible, the Talmud, and the New Testament. Elijah Zvi Soloveitchik
was the disciple of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai; according to Pirkei Avot 2:8, “Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai had five disciples,” and Rabbi Eliezer is listed as one of them. And in the days of Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, the Temple was destroyed, as we find in BT Giṭṭin 56a–b.
Now see, from the destruction of the Temple to Rabbi Akiva is three generations—Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, Rabbi Eliezer, and Rabbi Akiva. Thus, how can it be possible that Ben Stada, the son of Miriam, is the same as Yeshua, their messiah? Was not Pappos ben Yehudah her husband, the one who was imprisoned with Rabbi Akiva? Rabbi Akiva lived three generations after the destruction of the Temple, and Yeshua their messiah was born seventy years before the destruction. Plus, nowhere is it written that Ben Stada’s name was Yeshua.
It is also written in the Talmud (BT Sanhedrin 67a) that what occurred with Ben Stada happened in the city of Lod, and Yeshua, their messiah, was killed in Jerusalem. We also find in the Gemara, in BT Avodah Zarah 17a, that Rabbi Eliezer told this story:
Once, while I was walking in the upper market of Tzippori, I found one of the disciples of Yeshua of Nazareth, and his name was Yakov of Kefar Seḥanya. He said to me: “It is written in your Torah, You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the payment of a dog into the house of YHWH your God to fulfill an oath (Deuteronomy 23:19). What can you do with it? Can you use it to build the bathroom facilities for the high priest [in the room that he resides in within the Temple during the seven days preceding Yom Kippur]?” I did not say anything to him. He said to me: “This is what Yeshua of Nazareth taught me: ‘From the fee of a prostitute they were collected, and from the fee of a prostitute shall they return’ (Micah 1:7).” This word pleased me.
Now, honored reader, you can see that I have shown you a few passages in the Talmud where a Yeshua “of Nazareth” is mentioned, and each and every one of them lived in different time periods. The Yeshua who was the disciple of Yehoshua ben Perachyah lived about two hundred years before the destruction of the Temple; and Yeshua, their messiah, was born seventy years before the destruction. We have already discussed the passage of Ben Stada, who lived three generations after the destruction of the Temple.
Now, for the wise person, it is easy to perceive that Yeshua, their messiah, is the one mentioned in BT Avodah Zarah. Notice what was written there, that Rabbi Eliezer—who was the disciple of Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, in whose lifetime the Temple was destroyed—spoke with Yakov of Kefar Seḥanya; this is Yakov the shaliaḥ, the one mentioned in the New Testament, who was the disciple of Yeshua of Nazareth. I will not deny that it appears that, according to the Talmud, there was a dispute between the two sects, for Rabbi Eliezer was from the sect of the Pharisees and Yeshua of Nazareth was from the sect of the Essenes. Nevertheless, they did not reveal their dispute in this passage, and Rabbi Eliezer was fond of the teachings of Yeshua and even said, “This word pleases me.”
Nowhere in the Talmud is anything evil spoken about this Yeshua, Yeshua of Nazareth. Along with this, I will show you from Roman history and from the Talmud that the hand of the Jews was not against Yeshua and that they did not cause the death of Yeshua, their messiah; rather, it was Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. I will show this in another location.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon anyone who loves truth and peace, especially those who teach and lead the many, to inform their Christian brothers that they are mistaken in this matter. It is incumbent upon them to eradicate and uproot their baseless hatred that is concealed in their hearts toward our Jewish brothers.25
2 They said, “Where is the king of the Yehudim who was born? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to bow down to him.”
Where is the king of the Yehudim?—the wise men were stargazers, as it is written: “We have seen his star in the east.” The stargazers were very wise and were not mistaken about all things entirely, as it is said: Let them stand up and save you now, the scanners of heaven, the stargazers, who announce month by month what will come upon you (Isaiah 47:13). And it is said in the midrash (Vayeshev, chap. 5): “‘That which will’ and not ‘all that which will.’” This means that they do not see everything completely. Thus, the stargazers saw that he was born but not where he was born; hence, they ask, “Where is the king of the Jews?”26
3 When King Hordos heard their words, he was disturbed, and all of Yerushalayim along with him.
Was disturbed—for Herod was a servant of a Hasmonean king, as we find in BT Bava Batra 3b. And the king promoted him above all the commanders, for he was successful in battle. Afterward, he killed his benefactor and appointed himself as king. Therefore, when he heard that the king of the Jews was born, he feared that he would be overthrown. For this is what King Solomon said: A servant who is pampered in his youth will come to a bad end (Proverbs 29:21).27
4 So he assembled all the leading priests and scholars of the people and inquired of them, saying, “Where will the mashiaḥ be born?”
5 They told him, “In Beit-Leḥem of Yehudah, for this is how it was written by the prophet:
In Beit-Leḥem of Yehudah—we find in the Jerusalem Talmud, in Berakhot 2:4:
Rabbi Yudan ben Rabbi Ibbo said: “A Jew was working his field, and his ox began to bellow. An Arab passerby heard the voice of the animal and said: ‘Jew! Jew! Unharness your ox; he is announcing that the Sanctuary will be destroyed!’ [meaning: since the Temple was about to be destroyed, he needed to stop his work and pray for it to be spared. The Arab understood that the animal was alerting the Jew about this.] The ox bellowed a second time, and the Arab said: ‘Jew! Jew! Harness your ox to the plow again, for he is announcing that King Messiah is about to be born.’—‘What is his name?’—‘Menachem.’—‘And his father’s name?’—‘Hezekiah.’—‘Where will he be born?’—‘In the city of the king, in Bethlehem of Judaea.’”
6 ‘You, O Beit-Leḥem of the land of Yehudah, are not least among the chiefs of Yehudah, for from you will go forth a ruler who will shepherd my people Yisra’el.’”
And you Beit-Leḥem of the land of Yehudah—this verse comes from Micah 5:1, where it says: And you, Bethlehem, Ephrat, smallest of all the thousands of Judah, from you will go forth a ruler for me in Israel. I do not know who made this translation error—whether it was the Frenchman who translated it from the Greek, or whether it was the person who originally translated it into Greek from the Hebrew. We stipulate in chapter 16 that Mattai was written in Hebrew.28
7 Then Hordos summoned the magi secretly and questioned them to find out the time when the star was seen.
The time—for he knew he would need to search for the children that were born during that time and after. His intention was to kill the boy, which we know from his actions and from the plot he devised in verse 16 of this chapter.29
8 He sent them to Beit-Leḥem, saying, “Go. Thoroughly search out the matter of the boy. When you have found him, tell me, so that I may go and bow down to him, too.”
Thoroughly search out—he intended to deceive them.
9 When they heard the words of the king, they departed. And the star they had seen in the east moved in front of them until it came and stood still over the place where the child was!
10 They saw the star, and they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 They came into the house and found the child with Miriam, his mother. They fell upon their faces and bowed down to him. Then they opened their treasuries and presented to him a gift of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 They were commanded in a dream not to return to Hordos, so they departed to their land by a different route.
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