In this series of discussions about false messiahs today we will discuss Jesus. I will not discuss the issues surrounding “the historical Jesus” and to what extent his ideas are reflected in Christianity. Those issues are explored by historians and theologians; both Jews and Christians.
Today we will study how the messianic claims of Jesus affected the Jewish people and the text that we will work from is the transcript of a debate. In Medieval Europe, Jews were forced to listen to Christian preachers and the rabbis were forced to debate Christian clergy. One such debate was between the Ramban and a Jewish apostate named Pablo Christiani שם רשעים ירקב. The record of this debate has been preserved and we will study it today.