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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans
I have seen Jewish websites lie--when writing to Gentiles anyway-- about simple things like the time the Rabbis celebrated that a man died before he could be healed by the miraculous powers of a Christian.

Could you please provide some examples.

97 posted on 03/01/2017 9:50:55 PM PST by Praxeologue
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To: Praxeologue
Yes indeed. Check out this story on Christian-Jewish relations:

"During the first century of Christianity the Rabbis lived on friendly terms with the minim. Rabbi Eliezer, who denied to the heathen a share in the future life, is said to have discoursed with the Judæo-Christian Jacob of Kefar Sekanya and to have quietly listened to the interpretation of a Biblical verse he had received from Jesus ('Ab. Zarah 16b; Eccl. R. i. 8). Ben Dama, a nephew of R. Ishmael, having been bitten by a snake, allowed himself to be cured by means of an exorcism uttered by the min Jacob, a Judæo-Christian.

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10846-min

So according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, compiled by top Jewish leaders, Ben Dama "allowed himself to be cured" by a Christian. This is proof of the positive relationship between Jews and Christians during the first century, before the Christians became anti-Semitic.

Now look at the same story elsewhere on the same website, compiled by the same people:

"Tanna of the beginning of the second century; a nephew of Ishmael b. Elisha. His inclination toward Hellenism and the Judæo-Christians contrasted with the attitude of his uncle, whom he once asked if he should study "Greek Wisdom," since he had finished the study of the Torah. The answer of Ishmael was: "Study the Torah day and night and 'Greek Wisdom' when it is neither day nor night." Ben Dama died of a snake's bite, and the following account is given of his last moments:

Jacob of Kefar Sama (Sakonya), a Judæo-Christian, wanted to charm away the deadly effects of the bite by formulas in the name of Jesus; but Ishmael did not believe in such charms and would not allow him to come in. Just as Ben Dama essayed to prove to his uncle that there could be no objection to the cure from a Jewish standpoint, he died, and Ishmael exclaimed, "God has shown thee mercy in that thou didst depart in peace and didst not transgress the law of the sages" (Tosef., Ḥul. ii. 22, 23; 'Ab. Zarah 27b; Yer. 'Ab. Zarah ii. 40d).

It is not improbable that Ben Dama's inclination toward the Judæo-Christians was the reason that nothing written by him was transmitted either by the Halakah or by the Haggadah, and that neither the Babylonian nor the Palestinian Talmud gives him the title "Rabbi." His title and full name have been preserved by the Tosefta (Ḥul. l.c.), which contains a halakic controversy between Ben Dama and Ishmael (Sheb." iii. 4).

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2863-ben-dama

So on one hand, Ben Dama is proof of positive relations between Jews and Christians because he allowed himself to be cured by a Christian. On the other hand, he died before he was cured, which was a blessing, and the same incident is cited as the likely reason why he is not regarded as a "Rabbi."

As for the Rabbi Eliezer, also mentioned in that first article, who supposedly respectfully listened to Jacob the Kefar (Jacob the Heretic), he says on the next page that he, listening to Jacob in the first place, was a violation of the scripture and the reason why he was arrested under suspicion of being a Christian--a heinous charge!

98 posted on 03/02/2017 1:30:13 PM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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