Shomrai HaBrit is not responsibe for the links that tripod placed above.. they are highly inappropriate and we have emailed support. We continue to await their reply

Who were the Nazarenes?

The early 'Church", was composed of the disciples who had known Jesus, or Yehoshua (Joshua) ben Yoseph. I believe he was likely the son of Joseph, after all, both genealogies list him as as son of Joseph, something even the birth myths cannot erase. This early group of followers became know as the Notzerim (also transliterated as Notzrim or Nozrim) or Nazarenes, just why is a matter of some debate among scholars. They were, as the actions of James/Yaakov the brother of Jesus/Yehoshua in the Christian New Testament demonstrate, Torah observant Jews. What marked them as different from their fellow Jews of the time was their belief that the messiah had already come and was still alive. They expected Jesus/Yehoshua to complete his task before their generation had passed away. Matt 24:34, "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." (NIV)

Origin of the term Notzerim

The sources say Notzerim (also spelled Notzrim or Nozrim) is THE Hebrew word for the English word Nazarenes. They are one and the same. The Church Fathers called this heretical Jewish-Christian movement Nazarenes. The scholars debate whether the origin of the name applied to the Nazarene movement was from nazarite or the city of Nazareth.

The Hebrew term Narzarite (refering to one who takes a vow) is nun-kamatz-zion-hiriq-yud-reish. I have included the vowels because it is important that it has a kamatz. Remember that in Ashkenazi practice, including that of the 2 Siddurim I quote below, the kamatz is transliterated as 'o', not 'a' as in Sephardic pronunciation.

The city of Nazareth, on the other hand, is spelled nun-kamatz-tzadi-sheva-reish-patach-sav/tav. In Ashkenzai pronounciation, again the kamatz would be transliterated as 'o'.

From the Encyclopaedia Judaica article on the city of Nazareth: "The early Christians were contemptuously called Nazarenes by their enemies (Matt. 21:11), and the Hebrew and Arabic terms for Christians (No[t]zeri, Nasrani) are derived from the town's name." Note: the t is added in the quote as I cannot reproduce the . under the z. Since it is in Matthew, and thus refers to the time when Jesus/Yeshsayahu was alive, it is clear that the term Nazarene was applied to the Jewish followers of Jesus/Yeshsayahu first. Only later did it become attached to all Christians.

Note that a non-Jewish movement such at the Pauline Gentile-Christian church cannot be declared heretical by the rabbis, as they are a totally different religion and since they are not Jews, not bound by Torah.

The rabbis can only declare a movement of Jews heretical. (see also The Nazarenes become a Heretical Jewish Sect below). The Pauline movement was of non-Jews, the Notzerim were Jews and were declared heretical in the Birkat HaMinim. Refering to Jewish-Christian groups including the Nazarenes (Notzerim) and Ebionites (Evionim), the Encyclopaedia Judaica says "Being rejected both by normative Judaism and the Church, they ultimately disappeared.", this dispite the fact that the amongst the Jewish-Christain groups, "Some sects saw in Jesus mainly a prophet and not the 'Christ,' others seem to have believed in him as the Messiah, but did not draw the christological and other conclusions that subsequently became fundamental in the teaching of the Church." (Encyclopaedia Judaica, "Christianity") Yet, they were still rejected by Judaism.

How were the Nazarenes Viewed Initially by the Pharisees

The Pharisees, who were at this stage not opposed to the movement, had a wait and see attitude. This is typified by the statement of Rabban Gamaliel, Nassi or head of the Sanhedrin, a great leader of the Pharisees and thus the majority of the Jewish people in Acts 5:34-39:

But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed them: "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas [i.e. Yehuda or Judah] the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from G-d, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against G-d." (NIV)

So, the question is, after waiting, what happened? Was it just Paul's teachings that distanced this movement from Judaism? Or was there another reason this sect was eventually declared heretical (more on that in a bit)? To help get the picture, we need to first know that Rabban Gamaliel was speaking before the destruction of the Second Temple. It is important to know how this movement reacted to Paul and his teachings. Then we need to examine the actions of this sect during the revolt, after the revolt, and during the next revolt lead by Bar Kokhba.

The Nazarenes and Paul

The Nazarenes used their own variation of the Gospel of Matthew. The Church Father quoted those passages where it differed from the version of Matthew that was to become official in the Gentile-Christain Church. The Gentile Church considered the Nazarenes to be heretics and Judaisers, even though they were the followers of those who had actually known Jesus/Yeshsayahu during his lifetime. By the same token, the Nazarenes had a rather dim view of Paul.

'They declare that he was a Greek....He went up to Jerusalem, they say, and when he had spent some time there, he was seized with a passion to marry the daugher of the priest. For this reason he became a proselyte [through the Saducee movement, hence his working for the Temple police] and was circumcised. Then, when he failed to get the girl, he flew into a rage and wrote against cirumcision and against the sabbath and the Law'
- (Epiphanius, Panarion, 30.16-9 as quoted in The Mythmaker by Hyam Maccoby, p 182)

Nazarenes continued to exist until about 400 [CE] declaring to the last that [Jesus/Yehoshua] was the Messiah, that he would soon return, that he was the Son of [G-d] but not divine himself, that the Jewish law had never been abrogated by him, and that Paul was a deceiver who had perverted [Jesus'/Yehoshua's] message.
- (Hyam Maccoby, Revolution in Judaea, (p 818)

Maccoby, in the appendix referenced in the footnote to this last quote, states that "[r]eferences to the Nazarenesa dn their beliefs (human status of Jesus, opposition to Paul) can be found in the writings of Justin Martyr, Epiphanius, Jerome, Irenaeus, Hippolytus and Origen" (Ibid, p 218)

The Nazarenes become a Heretical Jewish Sect

As previously stated, the Nazarenes were Torah observant and within Judaism at first, but after a generation had passed with no return of their candidate for the messiah whom they asserted was still alive, they were labeled as a heretical Jewish sect for not giving up their belief in this same messiah. Gentile Christianity, not being part of Judaism, was not so labled, though anyone leaving the Jewish religion for another (Gentile Christianity was and is most certainly another religion), abrogating the eternal covenant, was an apostate to Judaism and is so today.

Maccoby's Revolution in Judea gives the inital view that the Nazarenes were labeled as heretics in 90 C.E. His later book, The Mythmaker revises this date to the time of the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Thus a new Jewish sect arose known as the Nazarenes under the leadership of....James, based on the belief in [J's] continued Messiahship. The Pharisees did not regard this sect as heretical. Indeed, the Nazarenes were regarded as being within the Pharisee party until about 90 [C.E.].
- (Revolution in Judea, p168, italics mine for emphasis)

And more:

The event, however, that weakened the Nazarenes fatally and gave the victory to the Paulinists was the siege and capture of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 [C.E.]. The Nazarenes, as loyal Jews, took part in the defense of the city, and in the ensuing massacre most of them died. A few survived to continue an enfeebled existence... The remnants of the Nazarenes ... were regarded as heretics by the main body of Christians. To add to their miseries, they now for the first time came into conflict with their fellow-Jews, the Pharisees, who regarded the development of the anti-Semitic Christianity as proof that [Jesus/Yehoshua] could not have been the Messiah, and requested the Nazarenes to give up the Messianic belief that differentiated them from their follow-Jews In about 90 [CE] the Nazarenes were finally expelled from the Jewish Synagogue and became a heretical group in Judaism as well as Christianity. The Nazarenes continued to exist until about 400 [CE] declaring to the last that [Jesus/Yehoshua] was the Messiah, that he would soon return, that he was the Son of [G-d] but not divine himself, that the Jewish law had never been abrogated by him, and that Paul was a deceiver who had perverted [Jesus/Yehoshua's] message.
- (Revolution in Judea, p 181, italics mine for emphasis)

Further evidence that the Nazarenes were labeled heretics in Judaism comes from Maccoby's The Mythmaker in footnote 10 on page 219:

The common scholarly opinion that the Nazarenes were excluded from the synagogue in about 90 [CE] at the 'Synod of Javneh' by the formulation against them of the birkat ha-minim has been refuted by Kimelman (1981). The actual exclusion of the Nazarenes did not take place until the time of the Bar Kokhba revolt, in which the Nazarenes refused to take part (see p. 80).

Looking up the reference on page 80 yields the following:

...the Jewish Christians withheld their support from the Messianic revolt of Bar Kokhba(3), not because they were pacifists, but because Bar Kokhba was not Jesus and was, therefore, in their eyes the wrong Messiah.

Note 3 to the paragraph above states the sources for this as: "Eusebius, quoting Justin Martyr, 'Ecclesiastical History', IV, 8. Also Latin version, Hadrian's Year 17."

From the Encyclopaedia Judaica article "Amidah" (italics by me for emphasis. Note that it was not directed against Gentile-Christians, but Jewish ones, i.e., Nazarenes or Nozerim)

The view, voiced already in some late talmudic sources (e.g., Ber. 28b), that Birkat ha-Minim (benediction 12), introduced in Jabneh by Samuel ha-Katan, at the request of Rabban Gamaliel II, was the added benediction is, therefore, not correct. Nor is there sufficient foundation for the theory that prior to the introduction of this latter benediction the total number was only 17. The sources (e.g., Tosef., Ber. 3:25, et al.) clearly indicate that Samuel did not add a new benediction to those existing up to then, but added either a new point or enlarged on the meaning of a previously known benediction, as Shel Paroshin ("concerning the dissidents") or Shel Resha'im ("concerning the wicked"). He did this by applying it specifically to Jewish heretics. It is generally assumed that this new formulation was meant to force the Judeo-Christians out of the Jewish community; in the Genizah version, the word Nozerim ("Christians") actually occurs. Medieval Christian censorship viewed this paragraph as a malediction directed against all Christians; this accounts for the many changes and "corrections" that were introduced into it.

Further information comes from the Encyclopaedia Judaica article "Birkat Ha-Minim" by Meir Ydit (quoted fully, italics by me for emphasis)

BIRKAT HA-MINIM (Heb. [...], "benediction concerning heretics"), the 12th benediction of the weekday Amidah. This benediction, which varies in wording among the different rites, invokes divine wrath upon "slanderers," "wickedness," "Thine enemies," and the "kingdom of arrogance," and adores [G-d], "who breakest the enemies and humblest the arrogant [sectarians]." Prevailing scholarly opinion, based upon Ecclesiasticus 36:7, holds that this prayer originated during the Syrian-Hellenistic oppression in the time of the Second Temple, and that it was directed against those Jews who collaborated with the enemy. At that time, the prayer was known as the "Benediction to Him Who humbles the arrogant." A century later the imprecation was directed against the Sadducees, and it was designated as the "Benediction concerning the Sadducees." Under Rabban Gamaliel II (first century C.E.) this prayer was invoked against the Judeo-Christian and Gnostic sects and other heretics who were called by the general term min (plural minim). To avoid any suspicion of heresy, the hazzan had to be certain to recite this prayer in public worship. If he omitted it by error, he had to return and recite it, although such a regulation does not apply to any other benediction (Tanh. B., Lev. 2a). Although some scholars hold that there were only 17 benedictions prior to the inclusion of this prayer into the Amidah, others contend that Birkat ha-Minim was the 19th.

The formulation of this prayer is ascribed to Samuel ha-Katan, who revised its text after it had fallen into oblivion (Ber. 28b). The many different historical situations in which this prayer was used are reflected in the variant readings still extant. The text has been further confused as a result of censorship during the Middle Ages. In geonic times, this prayer was invoked against poshe'im ("sinners") or, as Maimonides read it, against apikoresim ("heretics"), whereas in the Mahzor Salonika and in the Roman Mahzor it refers to meshummadim ("the apostates"). This term was further changed into ve-la-poshe'im, which later became ve-la-malshinim ("slanderers"). In some versions other expressions were substituted for the word minim: e.g., "all doers of iniquity," regardless of origin and nationality. The Sephardi ritual retained minim. Instead of the passage "and all the enemies of Thy people," as in older versions, the modified Ashkenazi and Roman rites read: "and they all." The phrase malkhut zadon ("kingdom of arrogance") by which the Roman Empire was meant, was changed by Amram b. Sheshna (Amram Gaon) into "the arrogant," as in most rites. The concluding phrase "who breakest the enemies and humblest the arrogant" (Siddur Amram Ga'on) was replaced in some versions, by: "who breakest the evildoers" (Siddur Sa'adyah Ga'on and Maimonides). From the historical evidence, it is clear that this prayer was never meant to be directed against non-Jews in general, but rather against Jewish heretics and gentile persecutors of the Jews. Nevertheless Jews were often accused of including a special imprecation against Christians in their statutory prayers. In modern times, the text has further been adjusted and many prayer books substitute the impersonal "slander" and "evil" for "slanderers" and "evil doers." In several Reform rites, the prayer has been modified or omitted.

Thus far I have quoted only from sources written by Jewish authors to show that the Nazarenes were eventually a heretical Jewish sect. Before I quote from the Siddur, I would like to present a quote from a source written by a Christain, namely Paul Johnson's A History of Christianity. First a quote from p 42, which while not directly at the heretical nature, it supports Maccoby's theory that Jesus/Yehoshua was claiming to be the messiah in the Jewish way. As such, he would have had to have fulfilled the prophecies he followed, but he himself admits his own failure "It is done..." "Why have you forsaken me?", etc. (see also, my article on Jesus, Sukkot, and Zechariah)

A Slavonic translation of an early, uncensored, version of Josephus's history suggests that the missing passages on Christianity emphasize the political aims of the Jewish-Christian resurrectionists in Judea.

More to the point on the heretical nature of the Nazarene sect and their view that Paul/Saul was a heretic, comes from page 43 of Paul Johnson's book.

It is interesting that their writings and those of other Jewish-Christians in the fifties who had first introduced the idea of heresy in the portray Paul as antichrist and the first heretic. It was in fact the Jewish-Christians in the fifties, who had first introduced the idea of heresy in the campaign against Paul and Hellenization; thus the arrow flew swiftly back to the archer. In Judaism itself, heresy was already a mature and powerful concept. Hence, following the collapse of Jewish Christianity, the orthodox Judaic authorities did not wait long to anathemize Christianity as such. Around 85, the judgment was incorporated in the synagogue liturgy: 'May the Nazarenes and the heretics be suddenly destroyed and removed from the book of life.'

I would reiterate that there is some debate on the date, others saying it was later, at the time of Bar Kokhba that this modification took place.

Finally, I present quotes from the Siddur, footnotes to two respected Siddurim, on just what the Birkat HaMinim is about and to whom it is directed.