Toledot Yeshu

Toledot Yeshu

Sefer Toledot Yeshu or Toledoth Jeschu (ספר תולדות ישו, The Book of the History of Jesus, or Generations of Jesus, or Life of Jesus) is a medieval “anti-gospel” or parody of the Christian gospel. It exists in a number of different versions, none of which are considered either canonical or normative within rabbinic literature, but which appear to have been widely circulated in Europe and the Middle East in the medieval period (though some scholars disagree with this claim).

The stories claim that Jesus was an illegitimate child, and that he practiced magic and heresy, seduced women, and died a shameful death.

But they also show a paradoxical respect for Jesus. As Joseph Dan notes in the Encyclopedia Judaica, "The narrative in all versions treats Jesus as an exceptional person who from his youth demonstrated unusual wit and wisdom, but disrespect toward his elders and the sages of his age."

Robert Van Voorst calls the Toledot a record of popular polemic "run wild". The Toledot’s portrayal of the Christian divinity has provided material for anti-Semitic polemics.

Due probably to its offensive nature, both Jewish and Christian scholars in modern times have paid little attention to the Toledot. The opinion of Father Edward H. Flannery is representative:

This scurrilous fable of the life of Jesus is a medieval work, probably written down in the tenth century. .... Though its contents enjoyed a certain currency in the oral traditions of the Jewish masses, it was almost totally ignored by official or scholarly Judaism. Anti-Semites have not failed to employ it as an illustration of the blasphemous character of the Synagogue."

But this disregard is now lifting as the text becomes discussed as a possible window into the early history of polemic between Christians and Jews.