Polemical Jewish Entertainments in Amsterdam: A Yiddish Manuscript of ‚Toledot Yeshu’ (Ms. Amsterdam, EH 47 A 21)

The text genre of the "Toledot Yeshu", unique in Judaism, experienced a peak in 18th century Amsterdam, especially in Yiddish. The edition of a "long version" offers the opportunity to study the climax of this text genre on the original Yiddish text and on an English translation. The polemical Jewish stories about Jesus Christ ("Toledot Yeshu"), based on the gospels and on Christian legends, were not only retold but reworked and filled with additional stories at least since the 8th century. While they could only be passed on in secret over a long period of time, they have circulated and adapted more openly in 18th century Amsterdam. Issues on Jewish and Christian messianism could be controversially debated and have found their traces in the Yiddish manuscript, now held in the Library Ets Haim / Livraria Montezinos, Amsterdam. The story by an anonymous scribe is embellished and enlarged, he used four Hebrew sources and put them together in a dramatic form. The performative aspect, which the manuscript reveals, opens the view on Jewish participation in 18th-century theater performances in Amsterdam. This edition allows Yiddish specialists to study the original text and provides references to the Hebrew sources. The introductory chapters give hints for reading the text-critical apparatus, furthermore they offer insights into the specific context of the manuscript that may be of interest to Historians and Researchers of Religious and Cultural Studies.