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misc essays

Jesus and Beit Hillel (Part 2!)

And Matthew 23. Let's have a look.

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg

• 22 min read
Jesus on the cross wrapped in a tallis, Jews persecuted elsewhere in the frame
White Crucifixion, Marc Chagall 1938. (This was the first a series of pieces by Chagall using the Jewishness of Jesus as a means of calling attention to the persecution of Jews in 1930s Germany.)

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Hi! So this is Part Two of a three part series on an influential Second Temple-era Jew and what might have been his Jewish context. I'm doing a little textual speculation. (Also new this week: The little grey circles? New! Improved! Footnotes! Click on them for the bonus material.)

If you haven't read Part One, you might be pretty confused walking in here, particularly if you don't have a background in this kind of stuff. I've already begun to tee up my argument in many ways, so maybe go read that before reading this, if you haven't already.

Stop collaborate and listen, ice ice baby
Go read Part One about Jews and Christians
Read Part One Here! Get Caught Up!

OK, I read Part One, I'm ready– but...

Jesus the… Pharisee?

First of all:

There is a very popular (and antisemitic) belief that in the Gospels, Jesus only criticizes Pharisees, calling them hypocrites, terrible stinky bad baddies in a thousand different ways. (We’ll unpack some of that in a moment. )