Former Israeli Chief Rabbi: "Gentiles" Exist Only to Serve "Jews"

This needs to be read in tandem with Rabbi David Rosen's recent lie to a synod of bishops that Christians have equality in the Israeli state. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's racial supremacist teaching cannot be disregarded as a marginal view. He's a former Chief Rabbi of the Israeli state. He's currently the leader of the fast growing Shas political party which holds 11 seats in the Knesset and 4 positions in the Netanyahu cabinet. He is widely regarded as a 'gadol' (greatest sage of a generation) of Orthodox Judaism.

Those who labor under the misconception that Sephardic Judaic tradition is somehow less depraved than Ashkenazi tradition should take note that Rabbi Yosef is a Sephardic leader teaching from Sephardic tradition.

Yosef: Gentiles exist only to serve Jews

JONAH MANDEL - Jerusalem Post

10/18/2010

The sole purpose of non-Jews is to serve Jews, according to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the head of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages and a senior Sephardi adjudicator.

“Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel,” he said in his weekly Saturday night sermon on the laws regarding the actions non-Jews are permitted to perform on Shabbat.

According to Yosef, the lives of non-Jews in Israel are safeguarded by divinity, to prevent losses to Jews.

“In Israel, death has no dominion over them... With gentiles, it will be like any person – they need to die, but [God] will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one’s donkey would die, they’d lose their money.

This is his servant... That’s why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew,” Yosef said.

“Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat.

That is why gentiles were created,” he added.

Yosef’s Saturday night sermons have seen many controversial statements from the 90-year-old rabbi. In August, Yosef caused a diplomatic uproar when he wished a plague upon the Palestinian people and their leaders, a curse he retracted a few weeks later, when he blessed them along with all of Israel’s other peace-seeking neighbors.

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=191782

also see:

Pope Involved in "Process of Building Deeper Religious Relations Between Catholics and Jews"

This is Vatican II "Religious Freedom"

“Every denial of the Holocaust must be punished harshly.”

Archbishop Dolan Replaces Cardinal Keeler as USCCB Judas Goat

The rabbis and their Judas Goat accomplices believe that numbers and dates empower their schemes. But whatever power they have derives directly from 'Christian' neglect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If the salt lose its savor, wherewith shall the earth be salted? (Matthew 5;13) And as Pope St. Pius X echoed, "In our time more than ever before, the chief strength of the wicked lies in the cowardice and weakness of good men ... All the strength of Satan's reign is due to the easygoing weakness of Catholics."

New Moderator of Catholic-Jewish talks named

Spero News

Friday, October 23, 2009

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York has been named Moderator of Jewish Affairs for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), succeeding Cardinal William H. Keeler, Archbishop-emeritus of Baltimore, in that role.

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, USCCB president, made the appointment, which is effective November 11, and is for five years.

In announcing the appointment, Cardinal George noted the New York Archdiocese’s “long history of cooperation and friendship between Catholics and Jews.” In addition, said Cardinal George, “Since the Second Vatican Council, important strides in this relationship have been made through dialogue and collaboration in countering racism, anti-Semitism and other offenses against human dignity,”

Cardinal George said in the letter of appointment. “Our Episcopal Conference, through the leadership of your predecessors in New York, and especially through the tireless and generous service of Cardinal William Keeler, has sought to contribute to the work of reconciliation between the Church and the Jewish people after centuries of mutual estrangement. While we look back with gratitude on nearly a half century of progress in these efforts at healing and renewal, we also know that important and pressing challenges lie ahead for us.”

Cardinal George said news of this appointment will be appreciated by the Bishops of the United States, as well as by friends and colleagues in the Jewish community who have come to know Archbishop Dolan as a good listener and faithful interpreter of the historic ties that bind the two communities together.

“Above all else,” Cardinal George said, the Jewish community will find Archbishop Dolan to be “a friend who communicates the joy of his own faith, while at the same time conveying profound respect for the spiritual gifts of the other.”

Archbishop Dolan will join Cardinal Keeler on November 11 for the semi-annual USCCB’s consultation with the National Council of Synagogues. This will be the last Catholic-Jewish meeting at which Cardinal Keeler serves as co-chair.

http://www.speroforum.com/a/21427/New-Moderator-of-CatholicJewish-talks-named

Excommunicated From The 'Noahide' Church

"The 'Maurice Pinay' blogspot ... is operated by heretical Catholics who don’t accept the Magisterium’s teaching on Judaism." (David P. Goldman, First Things, June 21st, 2009)

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/spengler/2009/06/17/i-want-life-not-the-meaning-of-life/

"The differences between accepted Church teaching and this group of Latin-speaking extremists are not subject to reconciliation.” (Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, Wiesenthal Center press release, January 23, 2009)

http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=6644159

These Pharisees should know that I never was and never will be subject to the magisterium of the 'Noahide' church of homo bishops and mentally retarded hicks that they exercise authority over. I'm a subject of the 2000 year-old unchanging teachings of the Catholic Church--true Israel; of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which these Pharisees are absolutely alien to.

Such imposture!

"No One Accuses Us"

Israel is not to be accused of pederasty. (Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 82a)

In 2002 Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, slaps ABC reporter Brian Ross when asked about pederast founder of the Legionaries "of Christ" Marcial Maciel

Hosanna to the Son of David

Pueri Hebræorum, portantes ramos olivarum, obviaverunt Dominus, clamantes et dicentes: Hosanna in excelsis.

Pueri Hebræorum vestimenta prosternebant in via et clamabant dicentes: Hosanna Filio David, benedictus qui venit in nomini Domini

The Hebrew children bearing olive branches, went forth to meet the Lord, crying out, and saying, Hosanna in the highest.

The Hebrew children spread their garments in the way, and cried out, saying: Hosanna to the Son of God: blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord.

And the chief priests and scribes, seeing the wonderful things that [Jesus] did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying: Hosanna to the son of David; were moved with indignation. (Matthew 21;15)

The chief priests therefore, and the Pharisees, gathered a council, and said: What do we, for this man doth many miracles? If we let him alone so, all will believe in him (John 11;47-48)

Jesus of Nazareth ... practiced sorcery, incited and led Israel astray ... (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a)

.

Take Note

Summorum Pontificum was promulgated on pagan bacchanal Live Earth Day 7/7/07, and Aphelion. The Pharisee-prompted Good Friday prayer for the Jews came on pagan bacchanal Shrove Tuesday and the prayer is expected to be prayed on pagan bacchanal Purimfest which coincides with Good Friday this year.

Out of this working has emerged a phoenix reborn--a "traditionalist" "resistance" which militantly lines up behind a Judaizing Pope:

Defend the Dogma, Defend the Holy Father!

Hypocrites!

It's now being reported that the rabbis are going to condemn Benedict's prayer that he made up for them and foisted upon traditionalists on Shrove Tuesday last week. This is "Jewish" high drama. This serves to make Catholicism seem ever more wicked in the eyes of the world and in need of further updating. It also makes the Vatican appear to be besieged in the eyes of the "trads" and brings support from the foolish among them based upon that appearance. Already "trads" are arguing amongst themselves over the orthodoxy of a prayer which should be rejected straightaway solely based upon it being a concession to enemies of the faith. Once again Catholics have been played by the masters of the dialectic.

Why has this played out in such a devastating way as it has? Because everyone involved in this debacle has forsaken the example set by Jesus Christ for how to deal with Pharisees and their gambits:

"Then came to him from Jerusalem scribes and Pharisees, saying: Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answering, said to them: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition?" (Matthew 15;1-3)

There, plain and simple, is the example from Jesus Christ for how to handle Pharisees and their hypocritical gambits--an example we are called to imitate but so rarely do.

When the Pharisees come knocking asking us to change our prayers for the salvation of their eternal souls saying they're offended by them, the correct answer is, "HYPOCRITES! You who curse us and pray for our destruction three times daily in your obligatory Birkat HaMinim have the audacity to demand that we change our prayers for your salvation? We will not exchange the truth for lies, and may God forgive you for even entertaining the thought!"

Who can come up with a better strategy than Christ?

Here is your ammunition:

And for Christians let there be no hope, and may all the evil in an instant be destroyed and all thy enemies be cut down swiftly; and the evil ones uproot and break and destroy and humble soon in our days. Blessed are you lord who breaks enemies and humbles sinners. (Birkat HaMinim, "Benediction" #12 of the Shmone Esreh (18 Benedictions) mandated by halacha to be prayed by every Orthodox Judaic male three times daily).

This "benediction" is 1918 years old. It predates the Good Friday prayer for the conversion of the Jews by centuries. There can be no argument that it was a reaction to "antisemitism" and "Christian violence" as was formulated at the time when the fledgling Christian Church was being persecuted by the synagogues. It has been mandatory that Orthodox Judaic males recite this curse against Christians for 1918 years now and Abe Foxman, The Chief Rabbinate of Israel, Rabbi-Knight David Rosen, the AJC and the rest of the Pharisees who have demanded that the Catholic liturgy be altered to their specification KNOW THIS. They're hypocrites. In fact, they're twice the hypocrite children of hell as their Pharisee spiritual forefathers of whom Christ said: "hypocrites; because you go round about the sea and the land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, you make him the child of hell twofold more than yourselves."

Papal Rabbi-Knight David Rosen Wants to Change What Christians Believe About the Pharisees

Rabbi Rosen Presents his Gospel mocking book to Benedict XVI

Christ called the Pharisees "children of hell." But what did He know ... Note that this man, Rabbi David Rosen who happily identifies himself as a Pharisee, also has had the title "papal knight" bestowed upon him by Benedict XVI. And note that Rabbi David Rosen is one of the signers of the document produced by the joint committee of the Papal Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the Chief Rabbinate of "Israel" which claims a Biblical basis for the Talmudic "Noahide Laws" documented HERE.

... [Rabbi David] Rosen kept talking about Pharisees in a complimentary way. Kendall finally said, "Rabbi Rosen, I almost get the impression that you're a Pharisee and proud of it." Rosen replied, "You're exactly right!" That led to more conversations, and a book ...

Rosen: My hope would be that Christians would associate Pharisee with a good Jew, one who lives in the sense of the divine presence and seeks to fulfill the divine Word and will in his or her daily life. But I think we've got too many centuries of negative indoctrination.

So what Rosen is saying is that he wants Christians to believe exactly the opposite of what the Gospel teaches about the Pharisees. Rosen goes on to call Jesus a Pharisee and then creates a false dilemma between "good" Pharisees who uphold the Pharisaic tradition and "bad" Pharisees who fall short of what he fancies to be the lofty ideals of the Pharisaic tradition:

... I believe that Jesus was a Pharisee who knew that there were wonderful Pharisees around, probably the majority, but there were some who were actually desecrating the name, the message, and the tradition they were meant to be the custodians of.

One wonders where this "majority" of "good Pharisees" was during Christ's apprehension by, and trial before the Sanhedrin and subsequent execution. And one wonders further where that "majority" of "good Pharisees" was when the Pharisees wrote in their Talmud that Christ deserved to be executed.

And dear Rabbi Rosen, ... excuse me, dear Pharisee Rosen, I seem to recall that it was precisely the Pharisaic tradition itself that Christ condemned so repeatedly and so harshly; the tradition which He said makes void the Word of God which the Pharisees should have been the custodians of but were not; the tradition that you uphold and which you disingenuously attempt to makeover. You may as well attempt to sell me on the notion that the sky is red, or that 2+2=3, or that rabbis are honest men of good will ...

Full article:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/october/34.56.html

More on Papal Pharisee-Knight, David Rosen Here:

The Vatican's Knight Defenders of the Talmud

Rabbi David Rosen: "German" Pope Aware of "Special Responsibility to Reaffirm Church's Commitment to a More Pro-Jewish Attitude

Rabbi Rosen of AJC Reassures World "Jewry" of Vatican Compliance

AJC Welcomes Vatican Clarification

World Jewish Congress Delegation Meets Benedict XVI at Vatican

The WJC is pressing the Vatican to punish those who uphold 2000 years of Church teaching on Judaism.

Leader of World Jewish Congress Thanks Pope

Notes 4 Decades of Progress in Relationship

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The president of the World Jewish Congress thanked Benedict XVI for everything he has done for the Jewish people over the past decades.

Ronald Lauder met with the Pope on Monday, accompanied by Michael Schneider, secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress.

The Jewish leaders' talk with the Holy Father focused on "interreligious dialogue and on anti-Semitism in a number of European countries," according to a press release issued by the congress. The Pontiff said that the issue of Catholic-Jewish relations was very close to his heart.

According to the press release, "Lauder said that the repeated anti-Semitic statements by the Polish priest Tadeusz Rydzyk, owner of the ultraconservative Catholic station Radio Maryja, should not be tolerated any more."

Lauder, the son of Estée Lauder and a former U.S. ambassador to Austria, called on the Pontiff to take strong action against those in the Church who want to do damage to what the press release called a "close and positive relationship between Christians and Jews."

The Jewish leaders also spoke of the possibility of joint initiatives on social welfare issues in poorer countries. They further discussed the importance of dialogue with moderate Muslims in order to ensure a peaceful future.

They emphasized the need to work together to strengthen further the relationship between the Jewish people and the Holy See. "We have made such great progress over the last four decades that it should be possible to work even more closely together," Lauder pointed out.

On Sunday evening, Lauder and Schneider hosted a dinner attended by a number of cardinals, ambassadors to the Vatican and officials engaged in interreligious dialogue.

http://www.zenit.org/article-20717?l=english

WJC Delegation Meets Pope in Vatican

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

... The WJC statement said that the delegates "called on the Pontiff to take action against those in the Church who wanted to do damage to the close and positive relationship between Christians and Jews."

"Anti-Semitic statements by the Polish priest Tadeusz Rydzyk, owner of the ultra-conservative Catholic station Radio Maryja should not be tolerated any more," Lauder told the Pope. Radio Maryja and the affiliated television station Trwam are watched and listened to by millions of Poles.

The delegates included WJC President Ronald S. Lauder, WJC Secretary-General Michael Schneider and WJC Deputy Secretary-General Dr. Maram Stern. The WJC visit to Vatican City included a dinner on Sunday evening hosted by Lauder and Schneider, which was attended by cardinals, ambassadors to the Vatican, and other officials. On Monday, the WJC representatives met in private with Pope Benedict.

In addition, the WJC delegates discussed with the Catholic leader the threat posed to the Jewish people, Israel and the West by the Islamic Republic of Iran ...

... Lauder then invited Pope Benedict to host a "joint event" when a Vatican delegation visits the United States next year.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123867

ADL Holocaust Hypocrisy Falls to New Lows

ADL local leader fired on Armenian issue

By Keith O'Brien, Globe Staff | August 18, 2007

The national Anti-Defamation League fired its New England regional director yesterday, one day after he broke ranks with national ADL leadership and said the human rights organization should acknowledge the Armenian genocide that began in 1915.

The firing of Andrew H. Tarsy, who had served as regional director for about two years and as civil rights counsel for about five years before that, prompted an immediate backlash among prominent local Jewish leaders against the ADL's national leadership and its national director, Abraham H. Foxman ...

Tarsy, 38, said he had been struggling with the national position for weeks and finally told Foxman in a phone conversation Thursday that he found the ADL's stance "morally indefensible" ...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/08/18/adl_local_leader_fired_on_armenian_issue/

Pope: Pharisaism Endures as Talmudic Judaism

Newsweek has published an except from Benedict XVI's new book, Jesus of Nazareth which he has earlier stated is written as a dialog with Rabbi Jacob Neusner. Here is a quote from that excerpt:

The Sadducees disappeared after the destruction of Jerusalem (a.d. 70), whereas the pattern of life practiced by the Pharisees found an enduring form in the sort of Judaism shaped by the Mishnah and the Talmud. Although we observe sharp antagonism between Jesus and the Pharisees in the Gospels, and although his death on the Cross was the very antithesis of the Zealot program, we must not forget that people came to Christ from every kind of background and that the early Christian community included more than a few priests and former Pharisees. (Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, p.13)

We have already shown from Neusner's writings that Judaism is the codified religion of the Pharisees and now we see the same from Benedict XVI. Only a few years ago this was viewed as the controversial, "antisemitic" thesis of Michael A. Hoffman. Now we see it frankly stated as a matter of fact by the Pope in the mainstream press.

What is happening here? This is likely meant to control the public reaction to revelations of hitherto little known facts pertaining to Judaism which are flooding the internet lately. This is also likely an attempt to deepen the double minded hypnosis of those who observe it.

In recent years we have witnessed Benedict telling us that the rabbis of Talmudic Judaism are "our elder brothers in the faith." He has stated that the Judaic (see: Talmudic) interpretation of scripture which denies Christ is a valid interpretation. He has met with Talmudic rabbis almost daily to confirm his mission to create deeper religious relations between Catholicism and Talmudic Judaism. He's visited Talmudic synagogues. He has often expressed his deep respect for Talmudic Judaism. And now he tells us that Talmudic Judaism is the religion of the Pharisees whom Jesus had a sharp antagonism with in the Gospel. Could there be a more double minded message from this man?




Benedict XVI at the Synagogue of Cologne where he made the following outrageous statement:

In considering the Jewish roots of Christianity (cf. Rom 11: 16-24), my venerable Predecessor, quoting a statement by the German Bishops, affirmed that "whoever meets Jesus Christ meets Judaism" (Insegnamenti, Vol. III/2, 1980, p. 1272).

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2005/august/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20050819_cologne-synagogue_en.html

I beg to differ. Anyone who meets Judaism meets the doctrine which Jesus Christ told His disciples to beware of. Benedict testifies against Himself.

Look well and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees ... Then they understood that he said not they should beware of the leaven of bread, but of
the doctrine of Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16;6-12)

Institutionalized Hypocrisy and Double Standards

Much wailing has lately been heard from the Judaic camp and from change agents within the Catholic camp in anticipation of an indult granting universal permission to offer the traditional Latin Mass due to a prayer for the conversion of "the Jews" traditionally prayed once each year which is viewed as "profoundly demeaning" and "antisemitic." This is laughable in light of the fact that JPII and Benedict XVI's Orthodox Judaic "elder brothers in the faith" have for 1,900 years cursed Christians three times daily in their mandatory benedictions, shmone esre, in the "benediction"-curse birkat ha minim.

According to the standards emanating from Rome and originating in the synagogue it is offensive for Christians to pray for the conversion of Judaics once each year but acceptable for Judaics to curse Christians three times daily. This is just one of countless examples of Pharisaic hypocrisy that Jesus Christ condemned so harshly which still exists in our time as rabbinic Judaism--one set of standards for "The Jews" and another for everyone else--which Vatican prelates urge us to establish deeper religious relations with.

Some Insight from Benedict XVI's Elder Brother in the Faith, Rabbi Jacob Neusner

Following up on the last blog entry I offer insight into Judaism from Rabbi Jacob Neusner whom Benedict XVI holds in such high regard.

Rabbi Neusner frankly states that Judaism traces it's roots to the Pharisees:

"The Pharisees are important for two reasons. First, the Gospels portray them as one of the principle opposition groups to Jesus. Second, Judaism as we know it generally traces its roots back to the Pharisees." (Jacob Neusner, Judaism in the Beginning of Christianity [Philadelphia: Fortress Press 1984], p.45)

Rabbi Neusner offers a clear insight into one of the myriad of reasons why I must state that JPII and Benedict XVI do not speak for me when they call the rabbis "our elder brothers in the faith":

The [Pharisaic-Rabbinic] schools believed that in heaven God and the angels studied Torah [ie. Talmud/Kabbalah] just as the rabbis did on earth. God donned phylacteries like a rabbi. He prayed in rabbinic mode ... He guided the affairs of the world according to the rules of the Torah, like the rabbi in his court. One exegesis of the Creation-legend taught that God had looked into the Torah and therefrom had created the world. Moreover, heaven was aware above of what the rabbis in particular thought, said, and did below. The myth of the Torah was multi-dimensional. It included the striking detail that whenever the most recent rabbi was destined to discover through proper exegesis of the tradition was as much of a part of the way revealed to Moses as was a sentence of Scripture itself. It was therefore possible to participate in the giving of the law, as it were, by appropriate, logical inquiry into the law. God himself, studying and living by Torah, was believed to subject himself to these same rules of logical inquiry, so if an earthly court overruled the testimony, delivered through some natural miracles, of the heavenly one, God would rejoice, crying out, "My sons have conquered me! My sons have conquered me!"

... The rabbi constituted the projection of the divine on earth. Honor was due him more than to the scroll of the Torah, for through his learning and logic he might alter the very content of Mosaic revelation. He was Torah, not merely because he lived by it, but because at his best he constituted as compelling an embodiment of the heavenly model as did a Torah scroll itself. (Jacob Neusner "The Phenomenon of the Rabbi in Late Antiquity: II The Ritual of 'Being a Rabbi' in Later Sasanian Babylonia," Numen, Vol.17, Fasc. 1. [Feb., 1970], pp.3-4)

Keep in mind that Neusner speaks here as a scholar, but he is also himself a Rabbi of Orthodox Judaism--the so-called "religion" which teaches this extreme foolishness--precisely what Christ referred to when He stated that the Pharisaic tradition "makes God's Word of no effect."

And lest someone dismiss this as the theory of some wacky rabbi, the Talmud in Bava Metzia 59b states that a majority vote of the rabbis must be accepted, even when God Himself holds the opposite view. This is the Gemara which Neusner references above:

"God smiled and said:'My sons have defeated Me, My sons have defeated Me!'" God's sons "defeated him" with their arguments. Rabbi Yehoshua was correct in his contention that a view confirmed by majority vote must be accepted, even where God Himself holds the opposite view. (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Bava Metzia 59b, Steinsaltz Edition [NY: Random House 1990], Vol. III p.237)

Pope Engages The Rabbis in Dialectics Around Christ and the Gospel

EDITOR'S NOTE: Astute Popes of the past critically analyzed rabbinic texts and subjected them to public debate in which the perverse idiocy of the rabbinic tradition was laid bare for all to see as is to be expected in any fair debate on the matter. Modern Popes brush the ugliness of Judaism under the rug and engage the rabbis in dialectical pilpul around Christ and the Gospel. This is the era of Judaic domination in which we live: when the backwards tradition of rabbinic Judaism which maintains that a man must put his mouth on a baby's penis during the circumcision ritual in order for the circumcision to be valid is exalted while the liberating Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is subject to unrelenting Pharisaic scrutiny which the Pope responds to, not in the spirit with which Christ confronted the Pharisees but in the spirit of the Pharisees themselves--by engaging them in pilpul.

There will be no Christlike defense of the Gospel or rebuke of the rabbinic tradition from Pope Benedict XVI, a man whom papal Rabbi-Knight, David Rosen--whom Benedict himself appointed--described as being "aware of his special responsibility to reaffirm the Church's commitment to a more pro-Jewish attitude." No, Benedict VXI has nothing but respect for the depraved, so-called "religion," but in fact, corrupt racket of Judaism, which will certainly be evident in his "dialogical thinking" around Christ with Rabbi Neusner whom he can't seem to praise enough.

For your thoughtful comparison, here is how Pope Innocent IV described the rabbinic tradition of Judaism which Benedict XVI respects so highly:

The ... Jews ... omitting or scorning the Mosaic law and the prophets, follow certain traditions of their seniors concerning which the Lord rebukes them in the Gospel, saying: Why do you transgress the mandate of God and irritate Him by your traditions, teaching human doctrines and mandates? [Matthew 15;9]

Upon this sort of traditions, which in Hebrew are called the Talmud--and there is a great book among them exceeding the text of the Bible in length, in which are manifest blasphemies against God and Christ and the blessed Virgin, intricate fables, erroneous abuses, and unheard-of stupidities--they nourish and teach their sons and render them utterly alien from the doctrine of the law and the prophets, fearing lest, if they knew the truth, which is in the law and the prophets, and which testifies openly that the only begotten son of God will come in the flesh, they would be converted to the faith and humbly return to their Redeemer. And not content with these things, they make Christian women nurses of their sons in contumely of the Christian faith, with whom they commit many shameful things. On which account the faithful should be afraid lest they incur divine wrath while they unworthily allow them to perpetrate acts which bring confusion upon our faith. (Pope Innocent IV, May 9, 1244 Letter to King Louis IX of France)

Both popes speak of the same rabbinic, Talmudic tradition which contains the same manifest blasphemies against God and Christ and the blessed Virgin, intricate fables, erroneous abuses, and unheard-of stupidities as it did at the time of Innocent IV's writing (and which Talmud, incidentally, Rabbi Jacob Neusner refers to as "the founding document of Judaism" (Jacob Neusner, How the Talmud Works (Boston: Brill, 2002) ix). But one Pope confronts the rabbinic tradition with the single mind of Christ, the other with the dialectical mind of the rabbis.

Note that Pope Innocent IV makes a direct connection between the Talmudic, rabbinic tradition and the Pharisaic "tradition of the elders" which Christ execrated throughout the Gospels. Innocent IV also plainly states the fact that the rabbis render their followers utterly alien from the doctrine of the law and the prophets. Benedict XVI tells us that the rabbinic tradition of the elders is a valid interpretation of biblical scripture; is what Christianity has "sprung from;" and encourages Christians to establish stronger religious relations with it. Could there possibly be greater disparity between the thinking and actions of these two Popes? Which position more closely reflects that of Christ towards the tradition of the elders? I seem to recall that Christ told His disciples to beware the Pharisaic tradition of the elders--"the leaven of the Pharisees"--and that the Apostles understood "leaven" to mean the doctrine of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:12). But here is Pope Benedict telling us precisely the opposite.

Benedict's preaching of rabbis and popes who "love" and "respect" one another and each other's traditions is nothing short of occult alchemy. What fellowship hath light with darkness? What did Christ speak more harshly against than the Pharisees and their tradition--the tradition which Rabbi Jacob Neusner carries on today? Benedict and his "elder brothers in the faith" apparently figure these difficulties in the Gospel are nothing that can't be circumvented with a little pilpul. And they will likely bring confusion upon our faith to use Innocent IV's words, but not without incurring divine wrath. God is not mocked.

If the Pope had true Christian love for Rabbi Neusner he would correct his errors, not praise them, if not only for the sake of Rabbi Neusner's soul, for the sake of the millions of Christian souls who's faith he brings confusion upon by failing to do so.

After saints, most-quoted author in pope's new book is a U.S. rabbi

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After the Gospel writers and the apostle Paul, the author most quoted in Pope Benedict XVI's new book is Rabbi Jacob Neusner, a U.S. professor of religion and theology.

In his book, "Jesus of Nazareth," released April 16 in Italian, German and Polish, Pope Benedict joined the literary dialogue that Rabbi Neusner invented for himself in his 1993 book, "A Rabbi Talks With Jesus."

The pope said that Rabbi Neusner's "profound respect for the Christian faith and his faithfulness to Judaism led him to seek a dialogue with Jesus."

Imagining himself amid the crowd gathered on a Galilean hillside when Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount, Rabbi Neusner "listens, confronts and speaks with Jesus himself," the pope wrote.

"In the end, he decides not to follow Jesus," the pope wrote. "He remains faithful to that which he calls the 'eternal Israel.'"

Pope Benedict said Rabbi Neusner makes painfully clear the differences between Christianity and Judaism, but "in a climate of great love: The rabbi accepts the otherness of the message of Jesus and takes his leave with a detachment that knows no hatred."

The pope praised Rabbi Neusner for taking the Gospel of Jesus seriously and, in fact, more seriously than many modern Christian scholars do.

Jesus is the Son of God, the unique savior, and not simply a social reformer, a liberal rabbi or the teacher of a new morality, the pope said.

Pope Benedict wrote that in trying to understand who Jesus was and his relationship with his Jewish faith and with the Torah, the law given to Moses, Rabbi Neusner's book "was of great help."

Rabbi Neusner, a prolific author and professor at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., told Catholic News Service in Rome that he did not want to talk about the pope's book until he had seen it. The English edition is scheduled for a May release.

In the introduction to the revised and expanded 2000 edition of his book, Rabbi Neusner wrote, "If I had been in the land of Israel in the first century, I would not have joined the circle of Jesus' disciples. ... If I heard what he said in the Sermon on the Mount, for good and substantive reasons I would not have followed him.

"Where Jesus diverges from the revelation by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, he is wrong and Moses is right," Rabbi Neusner wrote.

In Pope Benedict's treatment of the Sermon on the Mount, 18 of the 25 pages refer to Rabbi Neusner's book.

"More than any of the other interpretations of the Sermon on the Mount with which I am familiar, this debate between a believing Jew and Jesus, son of Abraham, conducted with respect and frankness, opened my eyes to the greatness of the word of Jesus and to the choice the Gospel places before us," the pope wrote.

Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, presenting the pope's book at an April 13 Vatican conference, said reading Rabbi Neusner's book was "one of the reasons" Pope Benedict decided to write his.

"What Pope Benedict says about the book (by Rabbi Neusner) is so essential for understanding his own book about Jesus," the cardinal said.

"More than discussions about exegetical methods" used to understand what the Scriptures say about Jesus, Cardinal Schonborn said, the pope has "at heart the discussion with the rabbi."

"Rabbi Neusner is so important for the book of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI" precisely because he accepts what Jesus says about himself in the Gospels, the cardinal said.

German Father Joseph Sievers, director of the Cardinal Bea Center for Judaic Studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where Rabbi Neusner has been a guest speaker, said the rabbi "takes very seriously the extraordinary claims of Jesus: He is not just a rabbi teaching the golden rule."

Both Rabbi Neusner and Pope Benedict, Father Sievers said, "have a high Christology," emphasizing the divinity of Christ even if Rabbi Neusner cannot accept Christ's claim.

"(Rabbi) Neusner, even when he spoke here, did not try to find easy solutions or to bridge gaps" between Christians and Jews, Father Sievers said.

In his book, Rabbi Neusner said he hoped to contribute to Christian-Jewish dialogue by taking Christian teaching and Jewish teaching seriously.

"It is one model for a starting point for dialogue -- to recognize differences and not try to make them disappear or to hide them," Father Sievers said.

Father Sievers said Pope Benedict's new book is a further sign that he "is strong on Judaism, he respects it and he knows the contemporary scholarship."

"Basically, he loves a good discussion and so does (Rabbi) Neusner," he said.

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0702134.htm