Ma'aseh Talui: "The Account of the Hanged One." - Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai

Ma‘aseh Talui: The Tale of the Hanged One is a faithful and carefully prepared compendium that gathers into one volume three extant manuscripts of the ancient polemical narrative known as Ma‘aseh Yeshu, preserved and transmitted under the sacred name of Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, may his memory be for a blessing.This sefer, drawn from diverse traditions and copied in the margins of our people’s wanderings, preserves a hidden account—rooted in the oral lore and sharpened by the pens of sages—concerning the life and downfall of Yeshu ha-Notzri, the one who led Israel astray. In these pages are recorded, not in the manner of modern polemic, but with the sobriety and allusiveness befitting the talmidei chachamim, the wondrous and shameful deeds of that man, his controversies with the Sages, and the judgment that befell him from the court of Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai and his contemporaries, in accordance with the law of the Torah.Each manuscript herein—one Ashkenazi, one Sephardi, and one of the Eastern lands—bears witness to a tradition ancient in Israel, transmitted in whispers among scholars, and preserved despite the persecutions of censor and flame. The variants are presented with care and reverence, with fidelity to the original lashon ha-kodesh in which they were composed.This work is offered not as a mere curiosity, but as a window into the inner defenses of Israel’s sages in the generations of exile and confusion. It is a testimony to the resilience of the Torah’s guardians, who met falsehood not with flattery, but with truth spoken obliquely, in the tongue of parable and satire.Let the wise reader approach with awe and understanding, and may this sefer be a shield for the generations to come. Read more