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DEFENDING  THE  BRIDE

 

 

 

THE  CURSE  AGAINST  CHRISTIANS  AT  JAMNIA  ABOUT  90 AD

 

The sole purpose of this page is to show the illogicalness of Christians pointing to this group (council?) of Jews to define which books belong in the Old Testament. (Please read my ecumenical statement and disclaimer toward Judaism listed at the end of the page.)

The curse can be documented by referring to the following quotes taken from Encyclopaedia Judaica under the subject headings listed below.  The page references are listed at the end of this article.  The Encyclopaedia Judaica is advertised as  “The Most Comprehensive Authoritative Source on the Jewish World.”   

"JABNEH
…  called Iamnia or Jamnia …
After the fall of Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin was reconstituted at Jabneh, first under R. Johanan and then under the patriarch Rabban Gamaliel II …"       1

"BIRKAT  HA-MINIM
…  the 12th benediction of the weekday  *Amidah …
Under Rabban Gamaliel II  (first century C.E.)  this prayer was invoked against the Judeo-Christian and Gnostic sects and other heretics who were called by the general term  *min  (plural minim).   To avoid any suspicion of heresy, the hazzan had  to be certain to recite this prayer in public worship.  If he omitted it by error, he had to return an recite it, although such a regulation does not apply to any other benediction  (Tanh. B., Lev. 2a).
…  The formulation of this prayer is ascribed to  *Samuel ha-Katan, who revised its text after it had fallen into oblivion (Ber. 28b)."         2

"MIN
… According to Berakhot 28b, Samuel ha Katan  (fl. c. 80-110), at the invitation of Gamaliel II of Jabneh, composed the  "benediction against the minim,"  included in the Amidah as the twelfth benediction  (see E. J. Bickerman, in HTR, 55  (1962), 171, n. 35).   This was directed primarily against Judeo-Christians (specifically mentioned in one old text—see Schechter, JQR 10 (1897 / 98)),  either to keep them out of the synagogue or to proclaim a definite breach between the two religions."       3
[See article Genizah Specimens / Liturgy, by Solomon Schechter, in The Jewish Quarterly Review, Volume 10, 1898, pages 654 - 659.]

"AMIDAH
… (12)  Asks God to destroy the malshinim  ("slanderers"  or  "informers"),  all His enemies, and to shatter the  "kingdom of arrogance"  (see below).
… Birkat ha Minim  (benediction 12), introduced in Jabneh by Samuel ha Katan, at the request of Rabban Gamaliel II, … enlarged on the meaning of a previously known benediction, as Shel Paroshin  ("concerning the dissidents")  or Shel Resha’im  ("concerning the wicked").   He did this by applying it specifically to Jewish heretics.  It is generally assumed that this new formulation was meant to force the Judeo-Christians out of the Jewish community; in the Genizah version, the word Nozerim  ("Christians")  actually occurs."            4

"SAMUEL  HA-KATAN
…  Samuel is best known for Birkat ha-Minim, which expressed anathema against Judeo-Christians, sectarians, and informers.  It was composed at the request of Gamaliel II, and incorporated into the daily  *Amidah  (Ber. 28b)."           5
 

To express an Anathema against someone is to pray or to proclaim a curse against them. The word  "Christ" means Messiah, but came to be part of Jesus Christ’s name.  So, to express an anathema against  "Christians"  would be to express an anathema against Jesus Christ as well.

It is to this meeting of Jews in Jamnia, or Jabneh, in the late first century that Protestants have consistently looked to determined their Old Testament.  This same group of Rabbis required all the Jews to proclaim the above stated curse against all Jews who became Christians, as well as against Christ Himself.  So, Protestants must ask themselves, how can they be so sure that this group of Rabbis correctly discerned what constituted the Word of God, that is, what belonged in the Old Testament.
 
 


These facts can also be partially verified on-line with the quotations below at:

ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA,

in the Article:  Judaism,
section:
The Roman period (63 BCE-135 CE) …
Origin of Christianity: the early Christians and the Jewish community

"…  There were four major stages in the final break between Christianity and Judaism: (1) the flight of the Jewish Christians from Jerusalem to Pella across the Jordan in 70 and their refusal to continue the struggle against the Romans; (2) the institution by the patriarch Gamaliel II of a prayer in the Eighteen Benedictions against such heretics (c. 100), and (3 and 4) the failure of the Christians to join the messianic leaders Lukuas-Andreas and Bar Kokhba in the revolts against Trajan (115-117) and Hadrian (132-135), respectively. …"

This article links to the following article:
Gamaliel II

"fl. 2nd century AD
also called GAMALIEL OF JABNEH,..
In the ancient biblical city of Jabneh, many Jews had taken refuge from the Roman siege of Jerusalem in AD 70. Gamaliel succeeded Johanan ben Zakkai as leader of a school of … He devoted special attention to the regulation of prayer ritual, which had become all-important since the cessation of sacrificial worship. He gave the principal prayer, the 'amida, consisting of 18 (subsequently 19) benedictions, its final revision and declared that it was every Israelite's duty to recite it three times daily."


Endnotes: 

1. Encyclopaedia Judaica, Published in 1971 by The Macmillan Company, New York.   Volume 9, page 1176, Article: JABNEH.

2.  Ibid. Volume 4, page 1035, Article: BIRAKAT  HA-MINIM.

3.  Ibid. Volume 12, page 3, Article:  MIN.

4.  Ibid.  Volume 2, pages 841 - 842, Article: AMIDAH.

5.   Ibid.  Volume 14, pages 815 - 816, Article: SAMUEL  HA-KATAN


Disclaimer:

I would strongly object to anyone misusing this article to promote any kind of prejudice or anti-Semitism.  It would be wrong to blame all Jewish people for the actions of some.  Correspondingly, we would not want all Catholics to be blamed for the sins of some Catholics, which in some cases is much, much worse than the objectionable behavior listed here. 

 The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has affirmed the Jewish people’s special status as our “elder brother” ( using Pope John Paul II’s phrase) and that they have a “unique place among all other religions.”  In the past, as Prefect of the Council for Doctrine and Faith, he stated that in the wake of the lessons of the Holocaust, “the Biblical Commission could not ignore the contemporary context, where the shock of the Shoah has put the whole question [of our relationship with the Jewish people and their Scriptures] under a new light.”

[See the Preface to “The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible” released by the Vatican in 2001.]

 

 


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