In the last year, especially the last few months, we have seen many social influencers who claim to be “devout Christians” attacking Israel specifically and all Jews generally. From Tucker Carlson to Candace Owens, Nick Fuentes to Jake Shields, pundit after pundit has been attacking Judaism to lesser and greater degrees. Denying the Holocaust, praising Adolf Hitler, accusing different scoundrels like Jeffrey Epstein of actually being Mossad agents, accusing Judaism of being a religion of pedophilia and Israel a nation that welcomes sexual abusers, and even accusing Israel of assassinating JFK...the list of their vile lies seems endless.
Many of these Jew-hating pundits, especially Fuentes and Owens (and their followers), justify their hate by “revealing” what they say are quotes from the Talmud (a sacred Jewish text and commentary assembled between the third and sixth centuries). They justify their antisemitism through a litany of clearly horrific “quotes”: “A Jew may have sex with a child under 9 years old,” “Gentiles prefer sex with cows,” “ Even the best of Gentiles should be killed,” and more. These ignorant influencers claim that the Talmud has all sorts of anti-Christian quotes about Jesus: that he is “a fool and insane,” “a bastard conceived in menstruation,” “Christ is evil and was Esau himself,” “a seducer,” and “is buried in hell.” And more...
Owens claims to have “done her research” and that this is hidden Jewish theology. Except, without exception, the quotes that are being used are either entirely fabricated or conscious mistranslations. So how is it that these antisemitic pundits are referencing anything about the Talmud?
Almost without exception, these mistranslations and made-up quotes are coming from a book called The Talmud Unmasked, written in 1892 by a Jew-hating criminal priest named Justinas Pranaitis (some of which he took from Motiejus Valancius, a bishop from a generation earlier). Pranaitis was a convicted blackmailer, forced to flee St. Petersburg because of his crimes, and an avowed hater of Jews. When called in as an “expert witness” for the blood libel trial of Menahem Bellis in 1912, his testimony demonstrated such an extreme lack of knowledge about Judaism and the Talmud that “many in the audience occasionally laughed out loud when he clearly became confused and couldn’t even intelligibly answer some of the questions asked by [Bellis’s] lawyer.” (Bellis was acquitted.)
But in 1892, he wrote this book, which the Jew-haters like Fuentes, Owens, et al. are quoting from, which is subtitled “The Secret Rabbinical Teachings Concerning Christians.” In it, he purports to quote from the Talmud teachings about Jesus, Christians, Freemasonry, secret Jewish rituals, Jewish conspiracy movements, etc. This book has been universally rejected by scholars and academics as a work of antisemitism couched as a piece of academia, but that doesn’t stop the Jew-hating social influencers from quoting it repeatedly.
The saddest thing is that these pundits could simply check any of the quotes that they are actually citing. The Talmud is easily available online in both English and Hebrew at Sefaria or through the Jewish Virtual Library, and each of Pranaitis’s supposed references can be double-checked. Even a brief scan of the actual text shows the fabrications that compose Pranaitis’s book. Without exception, ALL of the hate-filled concepts listed above from Pranaitis that these anti-Semitic commentators are quoting do not exist in the Talmud, and have never been part of Jewish theology.
But these influencers would rather just spread their hatred and act as if they are experts, when not one of them has ever even opened the Talmud in English, let alone actually studied it in its original language. Instead, they quote the words of a 19th century criminal. But their hatred becomes even more despicable as they not only promote it to their own followers, but pose as Talmudic experts themselves in other gatherings.
The Hodge Twins have over 3 million followers, and decided to have a guest on their show to discuss Judaism and Israel. Who was their guest? Not a rabbi or an academic, not a linguistic expert or theologian. They had Nick Fuentes “teach” them about Judaism. Fuentes quoted Pranaitis, the twins accepted it as Jewish theology, and together, to over 3 million viewers, they preached the hate of a 19th century criminal priest as if it were true… despite the actual reality of every word they say being a lie based on a 130 year old book by a criminal.
The irresponsibility of these ignorant social influencers is profoundly sad.
I am reminded of a “debate” between failed comedian Dave Smith and author/journalist Douglas Murray this past year on the Joe Rogan Show. Smith (who claims to be Jewish, but is not, even by the most liberal definitions) has made a career for the last two years of attacking Israel. When Murray finds out that Smith has not even ever been to Israel, nor actually personally explored anything about what is happening in Gaza, Murray is shocked. It is difficult for Murray to believe that Smith has made so many anti-Israel comments without ever having even stepped foot in the country. Smith responds that he is allowed to talk about Nazi Germany without having been there 80 years ago, and Douglas Murray shares a simple truth that all responsible people should live by before commenting on something. “You can’t time travel, but you can travel.” Or more applicably in this case: you may not have a Talmud, but you can actually read one before commenting on it.
These irresponsible social influencers probably do not have the skills to truly study the Talmud. But they can, and need to, look at the actual text before preaching their anti-Semitic hate with the intent of hurting Jewish-Christian relations; castigating all Jews; and destroying Israel: the one Jewish state in the world, the only democracy in the Middle East, and America’s only true ally in the region.
They have allowed their hate against Jews to become more important than Christian values, more important than personal integrity or intellectual/professional responsibility, and more important than any love for America.
But they have all gotten fabulously wealthy perpetuating hate and evil.
“They have become fat and sleek. They pass beyond the bounds of wickedness, and they prosper” (Jeremiah 5:28).
Debunking the antisemitic claims about the Talmud
What Talmud Unmasked claims:
That Tractate Kallah1b says, “Jesus was an illegitimate child born during menstruation.”
The reality:
There is no “Kallah 1b” in the actual Talmud. This claim refers to a post-Talmudic text, Kallah Rabbatai, written in the 8th to 9th century. Nowhere is Jesus (or any other euphemistic name for Jesus) mentioned. The text talks about how the sins of a parent can manifest in deformities or disabilities in children.
What Talmud Unmasked claims:
That Sanhedrin 54b says that “a Jew may have sex with a child as long as the child is less than nine years old.”
The reality:
This is one of the most flagrant lies in all of Pranaitis’s writings. Nothing even remotely like this is in the Talmud, and pedophilia is specifically forbidden here and in the Levitical Code in the Torah (Lev. 18-20).
This page in the Talmud is an exposition on the forbidden relationships in Leviticus and their punishments. It does make a distinction between sex with a minor over the age of 9 and under the age of 9 and demands a more severe punishment for the latter. Pranaitis not only is fabricating this antisemitic accusation, but saying the exact opposite of what the page and the Talmud actually says.
What Talmud Unmasked claims:
That Tractate Sanhedrin 103a states, “Thou may never have a son or disciple who will salt his food so much that he destroys his taste in public like Jesus the Nazarite,” which Pranaitis claims is based in Psalm 91:10.
The reality:
Nowhere is Jesus (or any euphemistic name for him) mentioned; there is nothing about salt on Sanhedrin 103, Psalm 91:10 doesn’t mention salt; and the entire Talmudic page has nothing to do with any of this: it deals with the sinful actions of evil kings, specifically Jehoaikim. The entire reference is completely fabricated by Pranaitis.
What Talmud Unmasked claims:
That Zohar 3:282 says that “Jesus was buried in a dung heap” and “buried in Hell.”
The reality:
The Zohar was written in the 13th century, and is not Talmudic. Even so, Zohar 3:282 has nothing to do with Jesus or his death; but deals with the different permutations of the four-lettered name of God.
What Talmud Unmasked claims:
That Gad Shas 2:2 says, “ A Jew may violate but not marry a non-Jew girl/”
The reality:
This is entirely fabricated. There is not even a tractate in the Talmud called “Gad Shas.”
What Talmud Unmasked claims:
That Avodah Zara 22a says that “Gentiles prefer sex with cows.”
The reality: The text says that no one should leave his animals at inns where someone is suspected of bestiality.
Rabbi Michael Barclay is the spiritual leader of Temple Ner Simcha in California (www.NerSimcha.org); the author of “Sacred Relationships: Biblical Wisdom For Deepening Our Lives Together”; and the recipient of the Bnai Zion Distinguished Humanitarian Award. He can be reached at Rabbi@NerSimcha.org and followed on X as @TheRabbisTable.
Image: hendricjabs via Pixabay, Pixabay License.