Part II

As I wrote last week, this disputation took place over four days. It was held at the palace of King James I of Aragon in the presence of the king and many dignitaries. The one who proposed the disputation was Pablo Christiani, a convert from Judaism. Pablo and a few others represented the Christians. Nachmanides wrote a report of the disputation.

Here is additional material from his report, (supplementing last week’s column):

(Nahmanides calls Pablo: “Friar Paul.” In my translation, I have generally followed Hyam Maccoby, “Judaism on Trial.”)

• “For the prophet says about the Messiah: ‘His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the river until the ends of the earth,’ (Psalm 72:8). Jesus, however, never had any power, but in his lifetime, he was fleeing from all his enemies and hiding from them, and—in the end—he fell into their hands and could not save himself, so how could he save all Israel? Even after his death, he did not have any rule—for the power of Rome is not because of him. Even before they believed in Jesus, the city of Rome was ruling over most of the world; and after they adopted faith in him; they lost many provinces; and now the worshippers of Mohammed have greater power than they.”
• “The prophet says that in the time of the Messiah … ‘They shall beat their swords into plowshares … nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,’ (Isaiah 2:4). Yet from the days of Jesus until now, the whole world has been full of violence and plundering, and the Christians are greater spillers of blood than all the rest of the peoples, and they are uncoverers of nakedness (practicers of adultery and incest?). And how hard it would be for you, my lord king, and for your knights, if they were not to learn war any more!”
• “For it is the task of the Messiah to gather the ‘dispersed of Israel and the scattered ones of Judah,’ (Isiah 11:12)—that is, the 12 tribes. But your Messiah, Jesus, did not gather one man of them, and did not even live in the time of the exile. It is also the task of the Messiah to build the Temple in Jerusalem, but Jesus did not carry out anything in connection with the Temple, either building or destruction. Also, the Messiah will rule over the peoples, and Jesus did not rule even over himself.”
• “On the next day, Friday … I said to the king, ‘I do not wish to continue the disputation … The Jewish community here is large and they have all sought to prevent me and have even begged me to desist, for they are very much afraid of these men, the “Preaching Friars,” who cast fear on the world; and also the greatest and most honored of the priesthood have sent to me to say that I should not continue. And also many knights from your own household … have said to me that I was doing wrong to speak before them against their faith … Also, people from various quarters of the city have said to some of the Jews that I should discontinue … In the end, I agreed to continue the disputation. Nevertheless, it is fair that for one day, I should be the questioner and Friar Paul the answerer, since, so far, he has questioned me and I have answered him for three days running. Said the king: ‘Nevertheless, you answer him (declining his request).’”
• “Friar Paul stood up and asked: ‘Do you believe that the Messiah prophesied by the prophets will be both entirely human and truly divine?’… I said, ‘The truth is that the Messiah will come and he will be completely human—the son of a man and a woman from their intercourse just like myself—and he will be of the stock and seed of David, as it is written, ‘And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,’ and also: ‘Until Shiloh shall come,’ and Shiloh means “his son,” being connected with the word שליה (afterbirth), for he will be born with an afterbirth, like the rest of humanity. If he were born through the spirit of God, as you say, he would not be ‘of the stock of Jesse,’ and even if he lodged in the womb of a woman who was of the seed of David, he would not inherit the kingdom of David, as because daughters—with their progeny—do not inherit, according to the Torah, where there is a male, and there have always been male descendants from David.”
• “Friar Paul resumed and brought a proof from a midrash (Yalkut Bechukotai) in which it is said: ‘I will walk among you,’ (Leviticus 26:12). They told a parable about this verse, “ … It is like a king who went out to take a walk with his tenant in the garden … ” The king said to him, ‘Why do you hide yourself? I am like you.’ So, in the future, the Holy One … will walk with the righteous in the Garden of Eden … and He will say to them: “Why do you tremble before me? I am like you.”… Now since God said, ‘I am like you,’ He must have become a man like them.”
• “I said: This midrash is a parable … This is a customary expression of the Sages, as is found in Yelammedenu. ‘If you do my commands, you will be like me’… This does not mean that they will be the same in form.”

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Nachmanides also tells the story of what happened in the days after the disputation. The king and the Friars came to the synagogue of Barcelona on the next Shabbat, and the king gave a speech attempting to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.

Nachmanides responded with his own discourse. He concludes: “On the following day, I stood before our lord, the king, and he said to me: ‘Return to your city in life and peace.’ And he gave me 300 dinars, and I took my leave of him with great love … ”

That last gift has been confirmed from a document dated Feb. 25, 1265, where the king acknowledges a debt of 300 solidi to a Jewish merchant who gave this sum at the king’s direction to the ‘Rabbi from Gerona.’ ” Maccoby remarks (page 146): “The confirmation of this gift goes some way towards confirming also N. ’s statement that the king admired the way in which N. performed his part in the disputation … ”

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Regarding the text of the disputation, Maccoby writes that the earliest manuscript (now lost) of the Hebrew version was, perhaps, from the 15th century. But Nachmanides originally composed his account of the disputation at the request of the Bishop of Gerona. This one would have been in Latin or Spanish (Catalan) and is lost. (Maccoby also notes errors in the way verses and rabbinic passages are cited in the Hebrew version and suggests that the Hebrew version was written in haste.)

Despite being given freedom to speak his arguments by the king, he ended up angering many in the church. In 1265, he was brought to trial by Pablo and the other Dominican Friars and received a punishment: banishment from Aragon for two years and the burning of his writing about the debate. (The king had sympathy for Nachmanides as he had promised him he would not be punished, so he made sure the punishment was not worse than that. But, technically, Nachmanides had not had the written permission of the king to write the version for the Bishop.)

But in 1267, the Pope wrote to the king demanding a heavier punishment, so Nachmanides decided to flee Aragon. Although he could have gone elsewhere nearby, he decided to go to Eretz Yisrael. He went to Jerusalem, found it in ruins and set up a synagogue there. In 1268, he moved to Acre and became the rabbi of that community. He died in 1270.

Mitchell First can be reached at [email protected]. Note that Maccoby’s work includes the medieval Christian account of the disputation, translated from Latin. Not surprisingly, this account makes Nachmanides look bad.