The importance of the utterances in the Talmud concerning Jesus must not be misunderstood and still less must they be over-estimated. We therefore call the reader's attention to the fact that they are not based on contemporary evidence and thus possess no historical value. They are the expression of a non-Christian spirit mostly hostile and sometimes positively offensive.
In extenuation of the Talmud we must say, first, that the animosity between Jew and Gentile is deep and mutual. When the Gentile blames the Jew for wrong thinking, the Jew may equally blame the Gentile for wrong doing, for the Jew has had to suffer persecution of the crudest kind.
Further we must bear in mind that the Talmud is not one book with a consistent tendency, but a collection of innumerable writings, essays, anecdotes, and what not. Side by side with noble and deep thoughts we find worthless gossip. On account of the latter we must not forget the former and therewith depreciate the entire Talmud.
For these reasons we wish the reader to use the present pamphlet with discretion and to bear in mind the conditions existing in the age in which these utterances concerning Jesus were written. The author has collected and collated them for serious study of the facts in the case. They are material for the scholar and must not in any sense be considered as popular reading.
