The Talmud Unmasked (Latin: Christianus in Talmud Iudaeorum: sive, Rabbinicae doctrinae Christiani secreta. English: The secret rabbinical teachings concerning Christians) is a book published in 1892 by Justinas Bonaventure Pranaitis (1861–1917). The book is a collection of purported quotations from the Talmud and Zohar that are claimed to demonstrate that Judaism despises non-Jews and promotes the murder or injury of non-Jews in some instances. Pranaitis drew on the earlier works of Jakob Ecker and August Rohling.[1]

The Talmud Unmasked

Scholars classify "The Talmud Unmasked" as an anti-semitic and anti-Talmudic work, comparable to "Der Talmud Jude" by August Rohling (1871) and "The Traditions of the Jews" by Johann Eisenmenger (1700). [1][2] [3]

Presentation of the book

The Talmud Unmasked is a collection of purported quotes from the Talmud, the Zohar and other Jewish texts that are claimed to demonstrate that:

  1. Jews do not regard non-Jews as human beings
  2. the Talmud contains blasphemies against Jesus and offensive passages about Christians
  3. Judaism despises non-Jews
  4. the Talmud urges Jews to do a variety of harms to Christians, such as murder and theft, and teaches that each death of a Christian serves as a substitute for the Temple sacrifices, which would then hasten the arrival of the Jewish messiah.[1]
"By means of numerous citations in Hebrew and Latin translations, he sought to demonstrate that the Talmud obliged Jews to injure Christians in multifarious ways, and to work for their elimination. Pranaitis drew on the works of the German anti-Talmudists Jakob Ecker and August Rohling. The book received the imprimatur of the [Catholic] church and was published by the press of the Academy of Sciences."
"According to Pranaitis, the Talmud urged Jews to murder Christians, as each death of a Christian serving as a substitute for the Temple sacrifices, would hasten the arrival of the Jewish messiah. The Talmudic and Torah prohibitions about consuming blood were circumvented, according to Pranaitis, by boiling the blood."

Structure and themes

A portion of the book's outline is as follows:[4]

Chapter I. Christians are to be Avoided
Art. 1. Christians Unworthy to Associate with Jews
Art. 2. Christians are Unclean
Art. 3. Christians are Idolaters
Art. 4. Christians are Evil
Chapter II. Christians are to be Exterminated
Art. 1. Christians to be Harmed Indirectly
1. By not helping them
2. By interfering in their work
3. By deceit in legal matters
4. By harming them in things necessary for life
Art. 2. Christians to be Harmed Directly
1. Renegades to be killed
2. Apostates
3. Princes especially the Prince of Rome (the Pope) to be exterminated
4. All Christians to be killed
5. Killing a Christian is an acceptable sacrifice to God
6. Heaven promised to those who kill Christians
7. A Christian may be beheaded on the most solemn festivals
8. The Messiah expected will be revengeful
9. Jewish prayers against Christians
10. Christian prayers for the Jews

Accuracy and fabrication

Pranaitis could not read Aramaic (the primary language of the Talmud),[5] and probably used works by August Rohling and others as his sources.[citation needed][relevant?]

The book includes numerous quotations from the Talmud and the Zohar.[6] His ignorance of some simple Talmudic Aramaic concepts and definitions, such as "hullin", was demonstrated during the Menahem Mendel Beilis blood libel case in which he testified as a "Talmud expert".[7][8]

Use by apocalyptic cults

Jeffrey Kaplan describes how the book was used by cults to support apocalyptic theories, particular relating to the end-of-times.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Levy, Richard (2005). Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO Ltd. p. 564. ISBN 978-1851094394. Pranaitis drew on the works of the German anti-Talmudists Jakob Ecker and August Rohling. […] Today, [The Talmud Unmasked] is still being distributed by extreme right-wing and clerical circles and can be accessed from a number of antisemitic websites.
  2. ^ Harris, Constance (2009). The Way Jews Lived: Five Hundred Years of Printed Words and Images. McFarland & Co. p. 255. ISBN 9780786434404.
  3. ^ Fiordo (1987). "The Keegstra Case: The Anti-Semitic Argument in Modern Day Alberta Schools". In van Eemeren, Frans H. (ed.). Argumentation: Analysis and Practices: Proceedings (Studies of Argumentation in Pragmaties and Discourse Analysis, Vol 3b). Foris Pubns USA. p. 299. ISBN 978 9067653206.
  4. ^ Taken from Pranaitis, Justinis, The Talmud Unmasked: The Secret Rabbinical Teachings Concerning Christians, from the English translation online
  5. ^ Afran, Bruce; Garber, Robert (2004). Jews on Trial. KTAV. pp. 87–88. ISBN 9780881258684.
  6. ^ a b Kaplan, Jeffrey, Radical religion in America: millenarian movements from the far right to the children of Noah, Syracuse University Press, 1997, pp 119–120:
    Kaplan quotes Pranaitis, p 83: "VII. Those who Kill Christians Shall Have a High Place in Heaven in Zohar (I, 38b, and 39a) it says: 'In the places of the fourth heaven are those who lamented over Sion and Jerusalem, and all those who destroyed idolatrous nations ... and those who killed off people who worship idols are clothed in purple garments so that they may be recognised and honored" ... VIII. Jews must never cease to Exterminate the Goim; they must never leave them in peace and never submit to them.... In Hilkoth Akum (X, 1) it says: 'Do not eat with idolaters, nor permit them to worship their idols; for it is written: Make not covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them (Deut. ch 7), … Either turn them away from their idols or kill them' .... In Zhohar (I,25) it says: 'The People of the Earth are idolaters, and it has been written about them: Let them be wiped off the face of the earth. Destroy the memory of the Amalekites. They are with us still in the Fourth Captivity, namely, the Princes [of Rome] . . . who are really Amalekites."
  7. ^ Blood Accusation: The Strange History of the Beiliss Case, Samuel, Maurice, Alfred A. Knopf, 1966.
  8. ^ Scapegoat on Trial: The Story of Mendel Beilis – The Autobiography of Mendel Beilis the Defendant in the Notorious 1912 Blood Libel in Kiev, Beilis, Mendel, Introd. & Ed. By Shari Schwartz, CIS, New York, 1992, ISBN 1-56062-166-4

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