''The Talmud Unmasked'' (Latin: ''Christianus in Talmud Iudaeorum: sive, Rabbinicae doctrinae Christiani secreta''. English: The secret rabbinical teachings concerning Christians) is a book published in 1892 by Justinas Bonaventure Pranaitis (1861–1917). The book is a collection of purported quotations from the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

and

Zohar The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...

that are claimed to demonstrate that

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

despises non-Jews and promotes the murder or injury of non-Jews in some instances. Pranaitis drew on the earlier works of Jakob Ecker and August Rohling. Scholars classify "The Talmud Unmasked" as an anti-semitic and anti-Talmudic work, comparable to "Der Talmud Jude" by August Rohling (1871) and "The Traditions of the Jews" by Johann Eisenmenger (1700).

Presentation of the book

''The Talmud Unmasked'' is a collection of purported quotes from the

, the Zohar and other Jewish texts that are claimed to demonstrate that: #Jews do not regard non-Jews as human beings #the Talmud contains blasphemies against Jesus and offensive passages about Christians #Judaism despises non-Jews #the Talmud urges Jews to do a variety of harms to Christians, such as murder and theft, and teaches that each death of a Christian serves as a substitute for the Temple sacrifices, which would then hasten the arrival of the Jewish messiah. :"By means of numerous citations in Hebrew and Latin translations, he sought to demonstrate that the Talmud obliged Jews to injure Christians in multifarious ways, and to work for their elimination. Pranaitis drew on the works of the German anti-Talmudists Jakob Ecker and August Rohling. The book received the imprimatur of the atholicchurch and was published by the press of the Academy of Sciences." *Michael, Robert, ''Dictionary of antisemitism from the earliest times to the present'', Scarecrow Press, 2007, p 369: :"According to Pranaitis, the Talmud urged Jews to murder Christians, as each death of a Christian serving as a substitute for the Temple sacrifices, would hasten the arrival of the Jewish messiah. The Talmudic and Torah prohibitions about consuming blood were circumvented, according to Pranaitis, by boiling the blood."

Structure and themes

A portion of the book's outline is as follows: :Chapter I. Christians are to be Avoided ::Art. 1. Christians Unworthy to Associate with Jews ::Art. 2. Christians are Unclean ::Art. 3. Christians are Idolaters ::Art. 4. Christians are Evil :Chapter II. Christians are to be Exterminated ::Art. 1. Christians to be Harmed Indirectly :::1. By not helping them :::2. By interfering in their work :::3. By deceit in legal matters :::4. By harming them in things necessary for life ::Art. 2. Christians to be Harmed Directly :::1. Renegades to be killed :::2. Apostates :::3. Princes especially the Prince of Rome (the Pope) to be exterminated :::4. All Christians to be killed :::5. Killing a Christian is an acceptable sacrifice to God :::6. Heaven promised to those who kill Christians :::7. A Christian may be beheaded on the most solemn festivals :::8. The Messiah expected will be revengeful :::9. Jewish prayers against Christians :::10. Christian prayers for the Jews

Accuracy and fabrication

Pranaitis could not read Aramaic (the primary language of the Talmud). The book includes numerous quotations from the

and the

. His ignorance of some simple Talmudic Aramaic concepts and definitions, such as "hullin", was demonstrated during the

Menahem Mendel Beilis Menahem Mendel Beilis (1874 – July 7, 1934; sometimes spelled Beiliss) was a Russian Jews, Russian Jew accused of Blood libel, ritual murder in Kiev in a notorious 1913 trial, known as the "Beilis trial" or the "Beilis affair". Although Beilis w ...

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

case in which he testified as a "Talmud expert".Scapegoat on Trial: The Story of Mendel Beilis – The Autobiography of Mendel Beilis the Defendant in the Notorious 1912 Blood Libel in Kiev, Beilis, Mendel, Introd. & Ed. By Shari Schwartz, CIS, New York, 1992,

Use by apocalyptic cults

Jeffrey Kaplan describes how the book was used by cults to support apocalyptic theories, particular relating to the end-of-times.Kaplan, Jeffrey, ''Radical religion in America: millenarian movements from the far right to the children of Noah'', Syracuse University Press, 1997, pp 119–120: :Kaplan quotes Pranaitis, p 83: "VII. Those who Kill Christians Shall Have a High Place in Heaven in Zohar (I, 38b, and 39a) it says: 'In the places of the fourth heaven are those who lamented over Sion and Jerusalem, and all those who destroyed idolatrous nations ... and those who killed off people who worship idols are clothed in purple garments so that they may be recognised and honored" ... VIII. Jews must never cease to Exterminate the Goim; they must never leave them in peace and never submit to them.... In Hilkoth Akum (X, 1) it says: 'Do not eat with idolaters, nor permit them to worship their idols; for it is written: Make not covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them (Deut. ch 7), … Either turn them away from their idols or kill them' .... In Zhohar (I,25) it says: 'The People of the Earth are idolaters, and it has been written about them: Let them be wiped off the face of the earth. Destroy the memory of the Amalekites. They are with us still in the Fourth Captivity, namely, the Princes

f Rome F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounc ...

. . . who are really Amalekites."

Notes

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