Disputation of Paris

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Disputation of Paris
An early printing of the Talmud (Ta'anit 9b); with commentary by Rashi.
English nameTrial of the Talmud
Date12 June 1240 (1240-06-12)
LocationCourt of the reigning king of France, Louis IX
TypeDisputation
ThemeFour rabbis defended the Talmud against Donin's accusations
OutcomeTwenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were set on fire in the streets of Paris

The Disputation of Paris (

Mary, or Christianity.[1]
Four rabbis defended the Talmud against Donin's accusations.

Background

As part of its evangelistic efforts, the

assimilated the challenges of Aristotle through the works of Thomas Aquinas. In order to flex its intellectual muscle, the Church sought to engage the Jews in debate, hoping that the Jews would see what it considered the intellectual superiority of Christianity.[2]

Paul Johnson cites a significant difference between the Jewish and Christian sides of the debate. Christianity had developed a detailed theological system; the teachings were clear and therefore vulnerable to attack. Judaism had a relative absence of dogmatic theology; it did have many negative dogmas to combat idolatry but did not have a developed positive theology. "The Jews had a way of concentrating on life and pushing death—and its dogmas—into the background."[3]

Disputants

The debate started on 12 June 1240.

Franciscan Order and a Jewish convert to Christianity, represented the Christian side. He had translated statements by Talmudic sages and pressed 35 charges against the Talmud as a whole to Pope Gregory IX by quoting a series of allegedly blasphemous passages about Christianity. He also selected what he said were injunctions of Talmudic sages permitting Jews to kill non-Jews, to deceive Christians, and to break promises made to them without scruples.[6][1]
The other Christian members of the tribunal were queen
Eudes de Châteauroux [fr
].

The Catholic Church had shown little interest in the Talmud until Donin presented his translation to Gregory IX. The Pope was surprised that the Jews relied on texts other than the Torah, and that those other texts contained alleged blasphemies against Christianity. This lack of interest also characterized the French monarchy which chiefly considered the Jews as a potential source of income before 1230.[8]

Rabbis

Samuel ben Solomon of Château-Thierry—four of the most distinguished rabbis of France—represented the Jewish side of the debate.[10]

Trial

The terms of the disputation demanded that the four rabbis defend the Talmud against Donin's accusations that it contained blasphemies against the Christian religion, attacks on Christians themselves, blasphemies against God, and obscene folklore. The attacks on Christianity were from passages referring to Jesus and Mary. There is a passage, for example, of someone named Yeshu who was sent to hell to be boiled in excrement for eternity. The Jews denied that this is the Jesus of the New Testament, stating "not every Louis born in France is king."[11]

Among the obscene folklore is a story that Adam copulated with each of the animals before finding Eve. Noah, according to the Talmudic legends, was castrated by his son Ham.[12] It was common for Christians to equate the religion of the Jews with the Mosaic faith of the Old Testament, so the Church was surprised to realize that the Jews had developed an authoritative Talmud to complement their understanding of the Bible.[citation needed]

Twentieth-century Jewish scholar

Karaite Jews, and that his motivations for joining the Church involved his desire to attack rabbinic tradition.[15]

Outcome

The Disputation set in place a train of events which culminated in a burning of a great number of Jewish holy texts, on 17 June 1242.[16] "One estimate is that the 24 wagonloads included up to 10,000 volumes of Hebrew manuscripts, a startling number when one considers that the printing press did not yet exist, so that all copies of a work had to be written out by hand."[16] The burning of the texts was apparently witnessed by the Maharam of Rothenburg, who wrote about the incident.[16]

Donin's translation of statements taken from the Talmud into French changed the Christian perception about Jews. Christians had viewed the Jews as the followers of the Old Testament who honored the Law of Moses and the prophets, but the alleged blasphemies included among the Talmudic texts indicated that Jewish understandings of the Old Testament differed from the Christian understanding.[17] Louis IX stated that only skilled clerics could conduct a disputation with Jews, but that laymen should plunge a sword into those who speak ill of the Christ.[18][19]

Legacy

A prominent religious-Zionist rabbi, Shlomo Aviner, suggested that the Notre-Dame fire may have been divine retribution for the burning of the Talmud in 1242.[20][21]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-226-74507-7
    .
  2. ISBN 9780838630532
    .
  3. ISBN 0060915331
    .
  4. ISBN 978-2-200-24373-9
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-8386-3660-2
    .
  6. ISBN 978-1-58509-092-1
    .
  7. ^ Anchel, Robert (1946). Les juifs de France (in French). Paris: J.B. Janin. p. 109.
  8. ISBN 978-1-4008-2525-7
    .
  9. ISBN 9780199730049
    . Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  10. ^ http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6262-france#816 [bare URL]
  11. ISBN 9780838630532
    .
  12. ISBN 9780838630532
    .
  13. ISBN 9780838630532
    .
  14. ^ Ragacs, Ursela. "Christian-Jewish or Jewish-Jewish, That's my question...". European Journal of Jewish Studies: 98.
  15. ISBN 9780838630532
    .
  16. ^ a b c "1242: France burns all known copies of the Talmud". Haaretz. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  17. ISBN 978-0-929891-07-1
    .
  18. ISBN 9780838630532
    .
  19. ISBN 978-1-136-77155-2
    .
  20. ^ Staff, Tio (17 April 2019). "Radical rabbi says Notre Dame fire retribution for 13th-century Talmud burning". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 6 August 2023. A prominent religious-Zionist rabbi known for his extremist views suggested on Wednesday that the fire that gutted the famed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris earlier this week may have been divine retribution for the mass-burning of Talmud volumes by French Catholic priests in the city eight centuries earlier.
  21. ^ Berger, Yotam (17 April 2019). "Notre Dame Fire May Be Divine Punishment, Says Prominent Settler Rabbi". Haaretz. Retrieved 6 August 2023.

External links

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