Is the sefer Toldos Yeshu quoted by any big rabbanim? Which version is the most accurate (original)?
2 Answers
Interestingly, Bar Ilan search reveals no places where this book is quoted by this name. It seems that for the most part the answer is no, it is not quoted. However, in the uncensored version of Rashi Avodah Zarah 10a (quoted by Shnayer Leiman), Rashi mentions ספור תליית ישו, which is a version of Toldot Yeshu. In this sefer, the author discusses the work and mentions a few places where it was quoted by rishonim, including the aforementioned Rashi, Rashbam, R. Ephraim and Nizzahon Yashan, and that the חתם סופר wrote הערות on the 1705 edition.
Dr. Shnayer Leiman, a historian at Yeshiva University, cites to a 1705 version in his well-received lecture "Jewish Perspectives on Early Christianity - Nittel, the Ninth of Teves and Pope Simon Peter" which can be found here. He said that this version is cited in Hagahot Rav Baruch Frankel Orech Chaim 580 and in Rabbi Aharon Worms' Meorei Ohr. If you find the 1705 version, let me know. Otherwise, I may have to bug Dr. Leiman.
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1There is also a Judeo-Arabic version that was found in the Cairo Geniza and is currently stored in the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem. I have a copy of the microfilm from a class about medieval polemics (which if I'm not mistaken the book qualifies as).– ZviFeb 26, 2013 at 11:26