Historically, the Yemenites had no belief in Yehoshuah or Yeshua (or Jesus) as any type of Messiah (lhvdl).

This belief or endorsement was NEVER found amongst them. In addition, differing beliefs about the identities of different Messianic candidates proved problematic and sometimes disastrous during the long history of the Yemen.

The same is true of the traditional and historical account of talmidim of the RMb"M. There was never any official recognition of any messianic candidate or person named Yehoshuah (or Jesus) - or anyone else for that matter! 

References in our Talmud to individual ribbis or rabbans who expressed a belief to other teachers -regarding potential Messianic candidates does not constitute "official" endorsement or recognition. None of them referred to the Jesus (in question) in this way (if at all) - who clearly did not meet the extant criteria. Of course, many other people named Yehoshuah are mentioned throughout the writings.

No RMb"M din or individual person (or anyone else) COULD ever declare someone to be the Messiah (authoritatively)--even if he were to unequivocally meet the Torah criteria recorded in the Hibor (Mishneh Torah). If a person appears to have met the Messianic criteria described in the Hibur (for a potential candidate), we still have the major problem of a missing Sanhedrin (and arguably a Prophet) - that must be present to OFFICIALLY recognize the Messiah --as recorded in Hilkhoth Sanhedrin and Mamrim. The power of one din is irrelevant for any type of official recognition in this area. We need the Sanhedrin (and perhaps a Prophet) in order to recognize the King Messiah.

If a sect arises in today's times that pretends to make OFFICIAL or AUTHORITATIVE Messianic claims, statements or endorsements about Messianic identities in the name of Torath Moshe, they obviously have nothing to do with Torah. The Judaism of the Sanhedrin categorically denied this possibility (over one thousand five hundred years ago) - as documented in RMb"M's legal code. This code documents and outlines the entire, authoritative legal system of the Sanhedrin. Even today, it is the only full and practical code of Jewish Law that relates to the entire Torah (written and oral) as a whole - documenting law as it related to the land of Israel and the exiled lands, Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi, Temple and post-Temple times, and Jews and Gentiles. This is RMb"M’s Mishneh Torah.  It was written in order to put the entire breadth of law into the hands of laymen, women, and children, besides just Torah scholars.  The best way to learn, practice and teach law in our times, is straight from the Mishneh Torah.  It is also the only comprehensive summary of the entire Talmudic literature. " One must know what to do, in order to practice.

"In our times, we no longer have texts of the Talmud that are uncensored and totally accurate.  We no longer have the tradition required to identify accurate (yet non-authoritative) conclusions added into the Talmud by post-Talmudic sages.  We no longer have the ability to accurately distinguish between the authentic traditions received by the Geonim—which were not included in the Talmud—and their non-authoritative conclusions. The RMb"M, one of the greatest masters of Talmud ever, was a highly critical researcher, who possessed all of the above.  He was in the right place at the right time.

Mishneh Torah preserves the most authentic understanding of that literature - while prempting Christian scholarship by over 500 years. The Talmud used by RMb"M apparently utilized excerpts taking from 5th to 6th century Talmudic texts. His work, the Mishneh Torah -  written in relatively simple, clear Hebrew, requires far less time to master than the entire Talmud (anyway). "

In addition to the RMb"M's law code, the RMb"M's beliefs and views were recorded in his own extra-legal writings. The RMb"M was not always favorable towards the subject of this essay - as many on the web are saying (see comments in Iggeroth Teman). However, RMb"M did see the role of Islam and Christianity as positive, in the overall scheme of things.

Regarding verses that many non-Jews believe point to negative references to "Jesus" in our Talmud, this is based on perpetuated myths and misunderstandings (perhaps on purpose). It is true that our religion is basically contrasts with the person *portrayed* in the New Testament (commonly referred to as "Jesus"). As to who this person actually was, and what he really stood for, is another story. To put this in context, he didn't meet the Messianic criteria (in either reality or pagan Christianity), so why focus on this subject?

Point by point, Mr. Gil Student has done an excellent job of addressing and refuting so-called references of ""Jesus" in our Talmud --usually made by the ignorant . Although I am not sure what version he used for this study, the points are interesting. Here is the link: http://www.angelfire.com/mt/talmud/jesusnarr.html . Even if some in our community have "chosen" to view these references in a hateful way (a long time after they were written) due to circumstances of persecution, this shame should not be used to rewrite these references which prove absolutely NOTHING about the person known as "Jesus". Also, there are clearly many different Jesus figures (ie: People named Jesus) in our books, covering a multitude of overlapping time periods and people. This is not a black and white topic. The most disturbing fact of all may be the forced censorship of our books by the Church.

Rabbi Harvey Falk's book "Jesus the Pharisee" attempts to uncover the Talmud's real view on who he MAY have "really" been (as opposed to the counterfeit concept that appears in the redacted New Testament). The most important thing stressed by r. Falk is that according to the historical "Yehoshuah", Christians are still bound by the seven Noahide laws. One of these laws (which was punishable by death) included the prohibition against Idolatry, which excludes TRI-theism, god incarnate or other concepts of "logos/pantheon".

But the law itself is clear. Since the time of the Sanhedrin, no din has the AUTHORITY to officially recognize or endorse ANYONE as THE Messiah or King anyway. The RMb"M is our official extant record of Judaism--not different sects that have developed or reconstructed in recent times (whether they claim to follow Torah or not)--or that came about since the Sanhedrin ended.

Any individual can believe someone to be a Messianic candidate. That is something else.

Hopefully, this should dispel revisionist myths that are currently circulating on the web by Encyclopedia groups who are just aching to rewrite the history and dogma of the Jews to suit their agenda.

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