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| A Chumash printed by R. Menashe ben Yisrael in Amsterdam. Note the interesting way he presents the date. |
Introduction
This article ꟷ based extensively on the research by Professor Matt Goldish[1] ꟷ examines the unusual notion of messianic crossover between Jews, Christians and Muslims that developed around the sixteenth century. What is even more unusual, from a Jewish perspective, is that the rabbis who participated in such enterprises were always Kabbalists and often respected Halachists as well.
Early forms of ‘messianic crossover’
An early example of messianic crossover may have early Christianity where Paul of Tarsus “deliberately engineered or changed” symbols and messages of his messianic movement (Christianity) to “appeal to people outside that tradition” (Goldish 2018:124). This successful methodology was adopted by Paul and he indeed brought many Gentiles under the wings of Christianity.
