An Israeli rabbi has said that the fire that severely damaged the interior of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was divine retribution for the mass-burning of volumes of the Talmud in 1240.
The Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law and theology. It was put on trial in Paris in 1240 and condemned for its disparaging references to Christ, who it proclaims is the son of whore and is burning in boiling excrement in hell.
The Talmud also makes reference to the “Goyim” (Cattle,) a pejorative term for non-Jews as, as being a kind of sub-human.
After the trial, known as the ‘Disputation of Paris’ hundreds of volumes of the Talmud were publicly burnt in the square in front of Notre Dame Cathedral.
The outspoken Zionist Rabbi, Shlomo Aviner, who heads the Ateret Yerushalayim yeshiva (religious school) said that Jews should not commit arson but should not feel sad about the fire. At first dismissive of the fire being divine vengeance the Rabbi then suggested that it was in fact “possible.”
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