The excerpt from Shebet Yehudah given below was translated by Olga Marx for In Time and Eternity: a Jewish Reader, an anthology of selections from Jewish post-Biblical written tradition, edited by Nahum N. Glatzer, which Schocken Books of New York will publish this fall. The excerpt appears here by Schocken’s permission.—Ed.
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This is a copy of the epistle that the great sage Abu Astruc sent to the holy congregation in Gerona, in the year 5173 [1413 C.E.], to the effect that the great men in Israel were distressed, and in trouble with the pope, because of a demand of Joshua ha-Lorki’s, whom the Christians, after he had been converted to Christianity, called Maestro Geronimo de Santa Fé—which, taking the initial letters, spells megadef, that is, “blasphemer.” For he had requested the pope [Benedict XIII, successor to Clement VII, the anti-pope, residing at Avignon] to summon the wise men of Israel before him, so that he, Maestro Geronimo, could then prove to them that the Messiah had already come, and that Jesus was he; and this he intended to prove from the Talmud. Now these are the exact words of the epistle:
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You, who are esteemed among the sons of Israel, you, the nobles in Judah, who in your “houses and walls have a monument and a name,” where stood the stools for the Torah and the testimony, where the stools for the Talmud have stood from earliest times—may you always keep alive the courage in your hearts. What you have known previously, know it now as well—that our helper “doth neither slumber nor sleep,” but saves us from those who scheme evil toward us. A shoot that came forth from among us thought to destroy us and to crush our religion down to the very earth. For he, Joshua ha-Lorki, invented thoughts to lead us astray, and to demonstrate that he was in truth a Christian and was keeping the new faith. And so he asked the pope to bid the chief among the wise men of Jewry to come before him, for it was his purpose to prove to us from our own Talmud that the Messiah had already come. And he told the pope that after he had proved this it would be legitimate to force the Jews to accept the religion of Jesus, since he, Joshua, was going to make all this true and apparent in the presence of His Holiness. I, however, now come unto you to inform you of all that has come to pass, and may you keep in mind the details, so that you can reply to any heretic. Know then that we have indeed escaped a danger that cannot be gauged, for we were facing numerous bishops and grandees, and many were eager to find us guilty. . . .
The delegates had a meeting to decide who was to be first to speak before the pope, and who was to begin with what, in their language, is called arenga. They all decided that Don Vidal Benveniste was to begin, because he is versed in all manner of knowledge, and can use the Latin language. They also decided not to behave like the learned Jews in the academies, where each interrupts the other’s word and scoffs at him if he does not agree, lest the pope hold them in contempt, and also that they would address Joshua ha-Lorki and the bishops with calm and courtesy. None was to grow violent, not even if he were derided, and each was to strengthen the courage of the other, so that his heart might not sink.
Then we who were the delegates went to the pope with the help of God, “who delivereth the poor from him that is too strong for him,” and the pope received us with an agreeable countenance, and wished to hear the names of the places we came from, and asked each as to his name and commanded all to be written down. At this we were greatly alarmed and tried to discover the reason for it from the scribe. He, however, told us that it boded no ill, for popes and kings were wont to have everything that happened during their lives written down in books, with due accuracy.
Then the pope said to us: “You, who are esteemed among the people of the Jews, a people that was chosen by a Chooser who has existed from time immemorial, and that, if it was rejected, was rejected because of its own failings—have no fear of this debate, for no wrong and no insult shall be done to you in my presence. Calm your thoughts and speak with a firm heart; have no fear and do not despair.
“Maestro Geronimo has said he wishes to prove that the Messiah has already come, and to prove it from your own Talmud. In our presence will it be shown whether truth abides with his word, or whether he has dreamed a dream. But you must not be afraid of him, because in a debate there is one law for both sides. Go then, rest in your lodgings, and come to me again early tomorrow morning.”
And forthwith he gave orders that we be given suitable lodgings, and of the food he himself ate, or of that which we are allowed to eat by the precepts of our law. And some of us rejoiced at the pope’s words, and others were sad thereat—as is usual with Jews.
On the second day we came before the pope and found the entire great hall, where the debate was to take place, tapestried in many colors, and seventy chairs set up for the bishops, who are called cardinales, obispos, and arzobispos, and all of these wore raiment embellished with gold. All the great men of Rome were there, and what with the burghers and the grandees, there were almost a thousand persons, and it was thus every day of the debate. And then our “hearts melted and became as water.” Notwithstanding we said: “Blessed be he who has accorded of his glory to flesh and blood.”1
Then the pope began to speak, saying: “You, who are the wise men among the Jews, know that I have not come here, nor did I send for you, to decide which of the two religions is the true, since I am well aware that my religion and my faith are the true, and that your Torah, while it once was true, has ceased to be so. You have been summoned only because Geronimo said he wanted to prove that the Messiah has already come, from the Talmud of your masters, who knew better than you. Therefore, speak only of this matter in my presence.”
Then the pope turned his countenance upon Maestro Geronimo and said: “Do you begin the debate, and let them reply to you.”
And Maestro Geronimo began: “‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord. . . . But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword.’”
Then Don Vidal Benveniste began the arenga in the Latin tongue, and the pope took pleasure in his wisdom and his language. And in the course of his speech Don Vidal complained of Geronimo, saying that it was not right for one who wishes to debate, to begin by using hostile words, for he had said: “But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword.” He had proved nothing for the time being, and yet was setting himself up as a judge and avenger.
At that the pope interposed: “You are right, but you must not be astonished at this evil way of his, for he was one of you.”
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The third day was the beginning of the Debate proper, and Maestro Geronimo began, saying: “In your Talmud, it is said: ‘Six thousand years is the span of the world—chaos,2 two thousand years, Torah, two thousand years, and two thousand years, days of the Messiah.’3 From this it is evident that the Messiah has come within the last two thousand years, and who could he be but our Savior?”
Ha-Lorki took a long time in talking on this subject, and preached to his heart’s content, until the pope said to him: “Geronimo, it has been known to me for a long time that you are a great preacher; yet not because of this have we come together, but to hear you prove what you have promised. Therefore, have a care that you lose not yourself in preaching.”
Then he turned his countenance upon the delegates and said: “Reply to the passage he cited.”
And Don Vidal Benveniste spoke: “Sir, let us first consider the characteristics of the Messiah, and then it will become evident whether he has already come, and if what is written about the Messiah holds for him who has come, we too shall avow him.”
And the pope said: “That is no answer to the question put to you, for what has been said did not concern the characteristics of the Messiah, but only the sentence saying that the Messiah has already come. You are following the manner of contentious Jews, who when one asks them about one thing, slip over to the next.”
Thereupon Don Vidal answered him: “Sir, our beginning was in the manner of wise men, for it is proper to speak first of the nature of the matter in hand, and then of the particular circumstances; scientists also follow this rule. But if this way does not please you, our lord, we shall not take it. And so I shall now speak of the passage itself, and say that wise Geronimo extracted from it what he pleased, and what supports his point, but disregarded what contradicts it. For toward the end of the passage, we read: ‘But because of our iniquities, which were many, as much time has passed as has passed,’ and this clearly proves that he has not come.”
Then Geronimo replied: “According to this, you have not understood the words, or you pretend not to have understood them. For ‘and two thousand years, days of the Messiah’ is the pronouncement of the prophet Elijah, who said it to his disciples—and these passed it on in his name—as a passage in the Tanna debe Eliyahu proves, and the Talmudists know this; now those disciples or men of the Talmud who included this passage in their books, are the ones who added, ‘But because of our iniquities, which were many,’ and they added it to substantiate their belief that Jesus was not the Messiah. But the prophet Elijah, being a prophet and knowing what was true, said only, ‘And two thousand years, days of the Messiah,’ in accordance with what he was aware of because of his gift of prophecy.”
And Rabbi Zerahiah ha-Levi replied, saying: “It is probably more correct to assume that a passage originated with one man, rather than with two. When such is the case, the Talmud usually says: ‘Rab Ashi, however, says,’ or this one or that one says, ‘But because of our iniquities, which were many.’ That is why at the outset we said before our lord that we wanted to see if the characteristics of the Messiah apply or do not apply to him who has come, and for this reason: if the characteristics do apply to this person, then we will accept the passage according to Geronimo’s interpretation; if the characteristics of the Messiah do not apply to him, then our interpretation is the true one.”
And Geronimo replied: “But Elijah came long before the Jews went into exile, therefore we must necessarily say that the passage, ‘Because of our iniquities, which were many,’ was spoken by another, by one who was in exile. And so it originated with the Talmudists, and, moreover, corresponds with their views, as I have already said.”
Then Rabbi Joseph Albo argued: “The Talmudists, through whom you are trying to disprove us, took that passage into the Talmud. But they would not have taken into it anything that was contrary to their views. Therefore, they believed that there were two possible periods of time for the Messiah—the time God has promised, or the time when Israel will be prepared and will turn to God. That is why the passage sets no time limit to the days of the Messiah, but speaks of ‘two thousand years, days of the Messiah’—in other words, days prepared for the coming of the Messiah. If the Jews are worthy of him, he will come at the beginning; if they are not worthy at the beginning, but grow worthy within the period of time, the Messiah will come then. If they do not grow worthy within the period, but at the very end, then the Messiah will come at the end. But the two thousand years will not pass without his coming.”
And the pope said: “Why do you not say that ‘if the Christians are worthy of it he will come at once, but if not, that he will tarry until the end of the two thousand years?”
The delegates replied: ‘We believe that the redeemer will come only for the sake of those who are in exile. For he who lives in peace, does he require a redeemer? The Messiah is needed by a people that lives in exile and servitude.”
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Then Rabbi Matatiah said to Geronimo: “My wise sir, you prove from the Talmud that the Messiah has already come. Why, instead of this, do you not prove the contrary from that selfsame Talmud: For it says: ‘Let the spirit of those breathe its last, who seek to calculate the end.”’ [Sanhedrin 97b].
But here the pope interposed, saying: “I have heard this before and should like to know what it is interpreted to mean.”
And Rabbi Matatiah replied: “We have no interpretation of it, we follow the plain meaning in the words themselves: A curse be upon him who makes calculations and declares precisely when the Messiah will come. This is very harmful to the people. For when the appointed time arrives, and he does not come, they fall into despair, and slack grow the hearts of those who hoped for weal and who were bound by the fetters and bonds of hope. And still another transgression is involved: God has hidden this thing from all peoples and from all prophets—yet this man is counting upon revealing it.”
At this the pope was greatly angered, and said: “O people of fools, O foolish and despicable Talmudists! Does Daniel, for example, who calculated the term, deserve that it be said of him, ‘Let his spirit breathe its last’? Truly, it appears that you are as sinful and rebellious as they.”
Here Don Todros broke in, saying: “O sir, if the Talmudists are so foolish in your eyes, why do you refer to them to prove that the Messiah has already come? ‘Nothing can be proved by fools”’ [Shabbat 104b].
But at that the pope became still angrier. So Don Vidal took the floor and said conciliatingly: “It is not like His Holiness to be angered because of a matter that is being debated, especially since we were given freedom of speech. But we must have been guilty of some other thing, and so our words erred. And that is why we beg you, O lord, to give us your favor.”
And with this we left on that day, and the next morning we went our way again. But when we arrived in our lodgings, a bitter quarrel broke out between us and Rabbi Matatiah and Rabbi Todros, because they had been so incautious and failed to rein their tongues.
Geronimo began with another passage [Yerushalmi Berakot II], at the end of which Rabbi Judah says: “It is written in the Scriptures: ‘And Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one. And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse.’ This verse clearly demonstrates that which you cannot deny, namely, that on the day the Temple was destroyed, the Messiah was born.”
And the wise Abu Astruc replied: “This passage has been discussed by great men in this world, in the debate between Maestro Moses and Fra Paolo.4 And Don Vidal said that at that time the maestro explained that it did not mean the Messiah had actually been born. But even if we did say that he had actually been born, this would not involve a contradiction, because it would be possible for him to be born on that day, but to live in the Garden of Eden. Rabbi Moses Maimonides also writes that the Messiah was not born on the day of the destruction of the Temple, but that the passage means that from that day on a man is born in every generation who would be worthy to be the Messiah, if Israel were worthy of it. And so he thinks that the purpose of these words was to goad hearts to turn to God, and to expound to them that the Messiah was not dependent upon a fixed time. And that is the way Don Hasdai explains it also.”5
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The pope replied angrily: “You have not come to my court to inform me of what your expounders say, but of what you yourselves say. Of what interest to me are the explanations of those who lived before you, all this vain and idle quibbling to the effect that he was indeed born, but is not as yet come! If this is dependent on the merits of the Jews, why was he born at all? This need not have come to pass, and he might have been born on the day on which they were prepared and worthy!”
And the delegates replied: “If they were worthy this very day, and if the Messiah were born this very day, could a child who is one day old lead them?”
The following morning the pope said: “You Jews, you say terrible things. What sensible man would say that the Messiah was, to be sure, born, but that he lived in the Garden of Eden for a long time, and that he has now been living for fourteen hundred years?”
Then Rabbi Astruc jumped up and said: “Sir, since you believe so many improbable things about your Messiah, let us believe this one about our Messiah.”
And the pope was so aroused by this that we feared his bitter anger would break forth like a fire, and we said to him: “Lord, what our comrade spoke was not fairly spoken and not in agreement with all the rest of us, and he spoke in jest, when he should not have done so, since the pope is not one of us.”
We went to our lodgings and we all screamed at Rabbi Astruc, saying: “Our wrong be upon you! For you have put the sword in the hands of our foes. We agreed not to speak in the manner you have spoken. See, the pope was favoring our cause, and he came to our assistance more than to Geronimo’s. But now that the pope is angered, who will protect us, if not heaven in its mercy? But ‘we must not rely on miracles,’6 where our own merit is so dubious.”
Thus on that day we left the hall derided and ashamed, and the following morning we returned in great fear and distress. But God granted that we were in favor, and we found the pope with unclouded countenance.
1 Benediction on seeing a king: Berakot 58a
2 A period without a knowledge of the law. The end of this period is marked by the activity of Abraham, the first worshiper of God.
3 The Talmud (Sanhedrin 97a) designates this saying as coming from the school of the prophet Elijah (Tanna debe Eliyahu). Geronimo considers this saying more credible than other Talmudic sayings, especially the explanatory addition, “But because of our iniquities, which were many, as much time has passed as has passed,” which he regards as an invention of the “Talmudists.”
4 At Barcelona, 1263. Maestro Moses is Moses ben Nahman (Nahmanides).
5 Hasdai Crescas, 14th-century author of the book Or Adonai (“Light of the Lord”), a writer against Maimonides.
6 Talmudic saying: Pesahim 64b
