Faith
Who Was Pandera?
Question
I am in the process of returning to observance, but I will not feel settled until I have clarified every detail in Judaism. In a lecture by Rabbi Yitzchak Fanger, Introduction to Religions, there was a passage in which he said that Miriam became pregnant by a non-Jewish man named Padera. I searched online for information about this person and found nothing. Is it possible that the rabbi invented this? Where can I get more information about this person? I hope you will answer me. I would appreciate it if you would send me the answer by email. Thank you, Oren.
Answer
Hello
It is a little inaccurate. The father of Jesus was the Christian Pandera, and he came together with Miriam, who was a married woman, whose husband was Pappos ben Yehudah. This lineage appears in the Talmud in several places, but throughout the generations the printers, who needed censorship approval, were forced to omit these things from the Talmud. Thank G-d, now that the fear of censorship has passed from the world, this passage has been restored to the Talmud from copies of the Talmud that remained from before the censorship, and thus it is explained in the Talmud (Shabbat 104b): one who scratches letters on his flesh - Rabbi Eliezer deems him liable for a sin-offering, and the Sages exempt him [since this is not the normal way of writing]. Rabbi Eliezer said to the Sages: But did not ben Stada bring magic from Egypt by means of a scratch on his flesh? They said to him: He was a fool, and no proof can be brought from fools.
[And now the Talmud clarifies the identity of ben Stada], Ben Stada [was not in fact] ben Pandera! - Rav Hisda said: The husband [of Miriam, the mother of Jesus, was called] Stada, [whereas] the adulterer [who sinned with her] was called Pandera.
[And again it asks: was the husband called Stada? After all, he was] the husband of Pappos ben Yehudah! - Rather, his mother [was called] Stada, [and again it asks:] his mother [was in fact] Miriam the women's hairdresser [and she was the mother of Jesus the Christian, as explained in Tractate Chagigah (4b in Tosafot)], rather, [the Talmud answers that Miriam, the mother of Jesus, was called Stada because] she strayed from her husband [stet dah mi-baalah], [for she committed adultery and strayed from her husband]. I have additional material on this Pandera if you need it, let me know.
Wishing you success and a good final sealing - Menashe Yisrael
