Rabbinic Cursing of Christians

There is an ancient Jewish prayer that seems to date back from a time shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem, where the Jews in their synagogues would curse the minim (heretics). The prayer is known as Birkat haMinim.

The minim most definitely include Christians, since this was a title given to them by the Jews.

There is additional evidence that Christians were/are included in this daily cursing, since a form of this prayer was found in an 9^th-10^th manuscript, which was recovered from the Cairo Geniza. The document explicitly lists Christians among the groups that are to be cursed by God, which it calls the Nazarenes: 

The Birkat haMinim (Hebrew: ברכת המינים "Blessing on the heretics") is a curse on heretics, especially Jewish converts to Christianity^[1] which forms part of the Jewish rabbinical liturgy.^[2] It is the twelfth in the series of eighteen benedictions (Shemoneh Esreh) that constitute the core of prayer service in the statutory daily 'standing prayer' of religious Jews.^[3][a] 

There has been a general consensus that the eighteen benedictions generally go back to some form in the Second Temple period^[4] but the origins of this particular prayer^[5] and its earliest wording are disputed in modern scholarship, between those who argue for a very early date, either sometime prior to, or roughly contemporary with the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 70 CE, and those who hold that the formulation crystallized several decades or centuries later. Pinning down its date figures prominently since it is widely taken to indicate the moment when a definitive rupture arose between Judaism and Christianity.^[b]... 

The text survives in two core versions, one being that of the Babylonian Talmud.^[27] In 1898 Solomon Schechter, with Israel Abrahams, published a 9-10th century CE version of a Hebrew prayer which had been recovered from the Cairo Geniza,^[28][29] and his subsequent findings would revolutionize the study of Jewish liturgy.^[30] The peculiarity of this version was that, together with minim, referring to heretics generally, it specifically added a distinct group, Nazarenes.^[3] The Genizah actually conserved 86 manuscripts containing six versions of the Birkat haMinim.^[31] The Jerusalem Talmud^[t] version reads: 

For the apostates (meshumaddim)^[u] let there be no hope, and uproot the kingdom of arrogance (malkhut zadon),^[32] speedily and in our days.

May the Nazarenes (ha-naẓarim/noṣrim/notzrim)^[v][w] and the sectarians (minim) perish as in a moment.

Let them be blotted out of the book of life,^[x] and not be written together with the righteous.

You are praised, O Lord, who subdues the arrogant.^{[38][31][29][5][39][y]} 

This is embedded in a baraita^[z] of the tractate on Blessings (b. Ber. 28bb–29a) written during the Mishnaic period. Early modern printed editions, including the Soncino edition of 1484, have a slightly different version in which the minim are identified as the Sadducees.^[40] The addition of Nazarenes to the standard reading suggested that, were the Talmudic accounts of the formulation of the prayer historically grounded, a Jewish consensus that Christians in their fold were heretical had consolidated itself already by the first decades after the destruction of the Second Temple.

Formal bans to expel or suspend dissidents from the community were not yet in place in this period. There were two kinds of ban, niddui and ḥerem, neither of which had been formalized in the first and second centuries: further, no good evidence survives of their use against minim at this time.^[18][41] There are no rabbinic references to ḥerem in the sense of an excommunication or ban prior to the 3rd century CE, while niddui appears to reference to disciplinary action demanding compliance in obedience in order to bring straying Jews back into the fold of the synagogue.^[42] (Birkat haMinim; emphasis mine)

Here is where the Babylonian Talmud makes reference to this prayer: 

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: שִׁמְעוֹן הַפָּקוֹלִי הִסְדִּיר שְׁמוֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה בְּרָכוֹת לִפְנֵי רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל עַל הַסֵּדֶר בְּיַבְנֶה. אָמַר לָהֶם רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל לַחֲכָמִים: כְּלוּם יֵשׁ אָדָם שֶׁיּוֹדֵעַ לְתַקֵּן בִּרְכַּת הַמִּינִים? עָמַד שְׁמוּאֵל הַקָּטָן וְתִקְּנָהּ. 

In light of the previous mention of the blessing of the heretics, the Gemara explains how this blessing was instituted: The Sages taught: Shimon HaPakuli arranged the eighteen blessings, already extant during the period of the Great Assembly, before Rabban Gamliel, the Nasi of the Sanhedrin, in order in Yavne. Due to prevailing circumstances, there was a need to institute a new blessing directed against the heretics. Rabban Gamliel said to the Sages: Is there any person who knows to institute the blessing of the heretics, a blessing directed against the Sadducees? Shmuel HaKatan, who was one of the most pious men of that generation, stood and instituted it. 

לְשָׁנָה אַחֶרֶת שְׁכָחָהּ,  

The Gemara relates: The next year, when Shmuel HaKatan served as the prayer leader, he forgot that blessing,

29a

וְהִשְׁקִיף בָּהּ שְׁתַּיִם וְשָׁלֹשׁ שָׁעוֹת, וְלֹא הֶעֱלוּהוּ. 

and scrutinized it, in an attempt to remember the blessing for two or three hours, and they did not remove him from serving as prayer leader.

אַמַּאי לֹא הֶעֱלוּהוּ? וְהָאָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב: טָעָה בְּכָל הַבְּרָכוֹת כֻּלָּן — אֵין מַעֲלִין אוֹתוֹ, בְּבִרְכַּת הַמִּינִים — מַעֲלִין אוֹתוֹ. חָיְישִׁינַן שֶׁמָּא מִין הוּא? 

The Gemara asks: Why did they not remove him? Didn’t Rav Yehuda say that Rav said: One who was serving as the prayer leader before the congregation and erred in reciting any of the blessings, they do not remove him from serving as the prayer leader. However, one who erred while reciting the blessing of the heretics they remove him, as we suspect that perhaps he is a heretic and intentionally omitted the blessing to avoid cursing himself. Why, then, did they not remove Shmuel HaKatan?

שָׁאנֵי שְׁמוּאֵל הַקָּטָן דְּאִיהוּ תַּקְּנַהּ.  

The Gemara answers: Shmuel HaKatan is different because he instituted this blessing and there is no suspicion of him...

וְלָא?! וְהָא תְּנַן: אַל תַּאֲמִין בְּעַצְמְךָ עַד יוֹם מוֹתְךָ, שֶׁהֲרֵי יוֹחָנָן כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל שִׁמֵּשׁ בִּכְהוּנָּה גְּדוֹלָה שְׁמֹנִים שָׁנָה וּלְבַסּוֹף נַעֲשָׂה צָדוֹקִי.  

The Gemara asks: And does he not become wicked? Didn’t we learn in a mishna: Do not be sure of yourself until the day you die, as Yoḥanan the High Priest served in the High Priesthood for eighty years and ultimately became a Sadducee. Even one who is outstanding in his righteousness can become a heretic...

שָׁאנֵי שְׁמוּאֵל הַקָּטָן דְּאַתְחֵיל בַּהּ. דְּאָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב, וְאִיתֵּימָא רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי: לֹא שָׁנוּ, אֶלָּא שֶׁלֹּא הִתְחִיל בָּהּ, אֲבָל הִתְחִיל בָּהּ — גּוֹמְרָהּ. 

The Gemara answers: The case of Shmuel HaKatan is different, as he began reciting the blessing of the heretics and while reciting it he became confused and forgot the end of the blessing. Consequently, he was not suspected of heretical leanings. Indeed, Rav Yehuda said that Rav, and some say that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, said: They only taught that one who errs while reciting the blessing of the heretics is removed in a case where he did not begin reciting it. But if he began reciting it, then we allow him to collect his thoughts and finish reciting it. (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 28b)

Another Jewish source writes:

מדרש תנחומא ג׳:א׳:ב׳

(ב) ילמדנו רבינו, העובר לפני התיבה וטעה ולא הזכיר ברכת המינים, מנין שמחזירין אותו? כך שנו רבותינו, העובר לפני התיבה וטעה, בכל ברכות כלן, אין מחזירין אותו. טעה בברכת המינים, מחזירין אותו ואומרה בעל כרחו. ומפני מה מחזירין אותו? חיישינן שמא מין הוא, שאם יהא בו צד מינות, קלל עצמו ועונין הקהל אמן. 

Complex Midrash Tanchuma, Vayikra 2

Let our rabbis teach us: one who passes before the ark [i.e., serves as precentor for the 'amidah] and errs by not mentioning the birkat haminim--from whence do we know that we make him repeat the prayer? That is what the rabbis taught: One who passes before the ark and errs in any or all of the blessings, we do not make him repeat the prayer. But if he errs in the birkat haminim, we make him repeat and recite it against his will. And why do we make him repeat it? We are concerned lest he is a min, for if he has some aspect of minut, he will curse himself and the congregation will answer "amen."

Panarion 29:9 by Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 315-403) [He is considered a Church Father, and the Panarion is a compilation of heresies.]No only do Jewish people have a hatred of [the Nazoreans]; they even stand up at dawn, at midday, and toward evening, three times a day when they recite their prayers in the synagogues, and curse and anathematize them. Three times a day they say, "God curse the Nazoraeans." For they harbor an extra grudge against them, if you please, because despite their Jewishness, they preach that Jesus is the Christ--the opposite of those who are still Jews, for they have not accepted Jesus.

Tur, OH 118. (Yaakov ben Asher, Cologne 1270 - Toledo c.1340)

י"ב -קללת המלשינים. וקבעוה אחרי המשפט, שכיון שנעשה משפט כלו המלשינים, וכולל הזדים עמהם  

No. 12-Curse of the informers. It was fixed after the blessing about justice, that once justice was done the informers were consumed, including the insolent among them.

The Koren Siddur, Commentary by Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, 2009. (Pg. 120-123)Faith (emuna) in Judaism involves the idea of loyalty—to a people and its heritage. This prayer is a protest against disloyalty. The Talmud (Berakhot 28b) says that, to formulate this prayer, Rabban Gamliel turned to Shmuel HaKatan. Rabbi Kook pointed out that Shmuel HaKatan was known for his attachment to the principle, "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls."(Avot 4,19). Only a person who deeply loved his fellow human beings could be entrusted with the task of constructing this prayer, which must be free of animosity and schadenfreude.

Sources selected from Cursing the Christians? A History of the Birkat HaMinim by Ruth Langer (Oxford UP, 2012). (Birkat HaMinim | Voices on Sefaria)

Note the quotation from the 4^th century AD Christian writer and apologist Epiphanius stating that the Jews cursed the Christian in their daily prayers three times a day.

Here’s the reference once again:

Yet these are very much the Jews' enemies. Not only do Jewish people have a hatred of them; they even stand up at dawn, at midday, and toward evening, three times a day when they recite their prayers in the synagogues, and curse and anathematize them. Three times a day they say, "God curse the Nazoraeans:' For they harbor an extra grudge against them, if you please, because despite their Jewishness, they preach that Jesus is <the> Christ-the opposite of those who are still Jews, for they have not accepted Jesus. (Panarion 29:9.2)

Epiphanius wasn’t the only Christian witness to this cursing by the Jews.

Centuries earlier we find St. Justin Martyr in his debate with Trypho mentioning the Jewish practice of continually cursing Jesus and his followers in their synagogue prayers:

Chapter 16. Circumcision given as a sign, that the Jews might be driven away for their evil deeds done to Christ and the Christians

Justin: And God himself proclaimed by Moses, speaking thus: 'And circumcise the hardness of your hearts, and no longer stiffen the neck. For the Lord your God is both Lord of lords, and a great, mighty, and terrible God, who regards not persons, and takes not rewards.' And in Leviticus: 'Because they have transgressed against Me, and despised Me, and because they have walked contrary to Me, I also walked contrary to them, and I shall cut them off in the land of their enemies. Then shall their uncircumcised heart be turned.’ Leviticus 26:40-41 For the circumcision according to the flesh, which is from Abraham, was given for a sign; that you may be separated from other nations, and from us; and that you alone may suffer that which you now justly suffer; and that your land may be desolate, and your cities burned with fire; and that strangers may eat your fruit in your presence, and not one of you may go up to Jerusalem. For you are not recognised among the rest of men by any other mark than your fleshly circumcision. For none of you, I suppose, will venture to say that God neither did nor does foresee the events, which are future, nor foreordained his deserts for each one. Accordingly, these things have happened to you in fairness and justice, for you have slain the Just One, and His prophets before Him; and now you reject those who hope in Him, and in Him who sent Him— God the Almighty and Maker of all things— cursing in your synagogues those that believe in Christ. For you have not the power to lay hands upon us, on account of those who now have the mastery. But as often as you could, you did so. Wherefore God, by Isaiah, calls to you, saying, 'Behold how the righteous man perished, and no one regards it. For the righteous man is taken away from before iniquity. His grave shall be in peace, he is taken away from the midst. Draw near hither, you lawless children, seed of the adulterers, and children of the whore. Against whom have you sported yourselves, and against whom have you opened the mouth, and against whom have you loosened the tongue?' Isaiah 57:1-4 (Dialogue with Trypho, Chapters 10-30)

Chapter 96. That curse was a prediction of the things which the Jews would do

Justin: For the statement in the law, 'Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree,' Deuteronomy 21:23 confirms our hope which depends on the crucified Christ, not because He who has been crucified is cursed by God, but because God foretold that which would be done by you all, and by those like to you, who do not know that this is He who existed before all, who is the eternal Priest of God, and King, and Christ. And you clearly see that this has come to pass. For you curse in your synagogues all those who are called from Him Christians; and other nations effectively carry out the curse, putting to death those who simply confess themselves to be Christians; to all of whom we say, ‘You are our brethren; rather recognise the truth of God.’ And while neither they nor you are persuaded by us, but strive earnestly to cause us to deny the name of Christ, we choose rather and submit to death, in the full assurance that all the good which God has promised through Christ He will reward us with. And in addition to all this we pray for you, that Christ may have mercy upon you. For He taught us to pray for our enemies also, saying, 'Love your enemies; be kind and merciful, as your heavenly Father is.' Luke 6:35 For we see that the Almighty God is kind and merciful, causing His sun to rise on the unthankful and on the righteous, and sending rain on the holy and on the wicked; all of whom He has taught us He will judge. (Ibid., Chapters 89-108)

Chapter 137. He exhorts the Jews to be converted

Justin: Say no evil thing, my brothers, against Him that was crucified, and treat not scornfully the stripes wherewith all may be healed, even as we are healed. For it will be well if, persuaded by the Scriptures, you are circumcised from hard-heartedness: not that circumcision which you have from the tenets that are put into you; for that was given for a sign, and not for a work of righteousness, as the Scriptures compel you [to admit]. Assent, therefore, and pour no ridicule on the Son of God; obey not the Pharisaic teachers, and scoff not at the King of Israel, as the rulers of your synagogues teach you to do after your prayers: for if he that touches those who are not pleasing Zechariah 2:8 to God, is as one that touches the apple of God's eye, how much more so is he that touches His beloved! And that this is He, has been sufficiently demonstrated.

And as they kept silence, I continued:

My friends, I now refer to the Scriptures as the Seventy have interpreted them; for when I quoted them formerly as you possess them, I made proof of you [to ascertain] how you were disposed. For, mentioning the Scripture which says, 'Woe unto them! For they have devised evil counsel against themselves, saying' Isaiah 3:9 (as the Seventy have translated, I continued): 'Let us take away the righteous, for he is distasteful to us;' whereas at the commencement of the discussion I added what your version has: 'Let us bind the righteous, for he is distasteful to us.' But you had been busy about some other matter, and seem to have listened to the words without attending to them. But now, since the day is drawing to a close, for the sun is about to set, I shall add one remark to what I have said, and conclude. I have indeed made the very same remark already, but I think it would be right to bestow some consideration on it again. (Ibid., Chapters 125-142)

St. Jerome is another authority who was aware of the Jews cursing Christians in their prayers:

13. The matter in debate, therefore, or I should rather say your opinion regarding it, is summed up in this: that since the preaching of the gospel of Christ, the believing Jews do well in observing the precepts of the law, i.e. in offering sacrifices as Paul did, in circumcising their children, as Paul did in the case of Timothy, and keeping the Jewish Sabbath, as all the Jews have been accustomed to do. If this be true, we fall into the heresy of Cerinthus and Ebion, who, though believing in Christ, were anathematized by the fathers for this one error, that they mixed up the ceremonies of the law with the gospel of Christ, and professed their faith in that which was new, without letting go what was old. Why do I speak of the Ebionites, who make pretensions to the name of Christian? In our own day there exists a sect among the Jews throughout all the synagogues of the East, which is called the sect of the Minei, and is even now condemned [cursed] by the Pharisees. The adherents to this sect are known commonly as Nazarenes; they believe in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary; and they say that He who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again, is the same as the one in whom we believe. But while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other. I therefore beseech you, who think that you are called upon to heal my slight wound, which is no more, so to speak, than a prick or scratch from a needle, to devote your skill in the healing art to this grievous wound, which has been opened by a spear driven home with the impetus of a javelin. For there is surely no proportion between the culpability of him who exhibits the various opinions held by the fathers in a commentary on Scripture, and the guilt of him who reintroduces within the Church a most pestilential heresy. If, however, there is for us no alternative but to receive the Jews into the Church, along with the usages prescribed by their law; if, in short, it shall be declared lawful for them to continue in the Churches of Christ what they have been accustomed to practise in the synagogues of Satan, I will tell you my opinion of the matter: they will not become Christians, but they will make us Jews. (Letter 75 (Augustine) or 112 (Jerome), A.D. 404; emphasis mine)

But these things are said to the rulers of the Jews who up above were rebuked for avarice and luxury because, though they have been summoned by the Lord to penitence, and afterward by his apostles, they have persevered until today in their blasphemies. Moreover, in all their synagogues three times a day they anathematize [cf. Gal 1:8] the Christian name under the term of “the Nazarenes.”⁷⁷² But the sense is this: Woe to you who think that there will be no day of judgment, or that the captivity is not coming, which the prophetic discourse predicts, who say to the prophet, “How long do you threaten us with the wrath of God? We want to know it, let it come already.” But they are saying this ironically, since they do not think that it will come, but that it is being made up by the prophet. (Commentary on Isaiah_ Including St. Jerome‘s Translation of Origen’s Homilies 1-9 on Isaiah, Is. 5:18-19; emphasis mine)

What we have expressed as, To the life that is despised, to the nation that is to be abhorred, to the servant of rulers, Theodotion translated, “To him who despises his life, who is abhorred by the nation, who is a servant of princes.” This manifestly corresponds with Christ’s person. For the good shepherd himself laid down his own “life” (animam) for the sheep [cf. John 10:14–15] and “despised” it; he is “abhorred by the nation” of the Jews, who curse him three times a day in their synagogues under the name of “the Nazarenes.”⁵⁵¹ He was a “servant of princes,” and was so humble that he stood before Annas and Caiaphas and was sent to be crucified by Pilate and Herod. Aquila agrees with this translation, as does the Septuagint to some extent, although it altered and weakened the meaning, in that for nation it translated “nations,” and for servant it translated “servants.” In fact others think that this is being said to the Jewish nation that “despised its own life” and is “abhorred” by the whole world, and serves the princes of whom it is written, “Those who devour my people as the food of bread” [Ps 14:4]. But the interpretation that applies this to Christ is better. (Ibid., Is. 49:7; emphasis mine)

He is rebuking the Jewish people and predicting things to come, that they who by their own will went down in Jacob to the Egyptians [cf. Gen 46:5, 6, 28], and in the time of distress and famine “sojourned” in the land of Goshen (Gessen) [cf. Gen 47:27], later on endured malicious accusations from the Assyrians, whom they had injured in no respect.²²⁰ Moreover, they were transferred into captivity to Babylon. This is why he adds, And now what have I here? says the Lord. And the meaning is, I have no remnant for the sake of which I should remain in this country from which my people were taken away for nothing, sold for their sins [cf. Isa 50:1],²²¹ and caught with a net like a gazelle [cf. Isa 50:2], either by the strength of the Romans or by the snares of the devil, by which they are held fast in bondage up to now.²²² They that rule over them and their teachers have treated them unjustly to expose these things. According to Symmachus and Theodotion, they will “howl”; according to Aquila, they will “weep,” since they shall be handed over to torments. For they are the very ones who incited the people against the Savior to cry out with one voice, “Crucify him, crucify him” [ John 19:15]. He had already previously said of them, “The Lord himself shall come with the elders of the people, and with their rulers, but why have you set my vineyard on fire, and why is the spoil of the poor in your houses?” [Isa 3:14]. For this reason, according to the Septuagint, he says to them, “On account of you, my name is always blasphemed among the Gentiles.” One should also know that “among the Gentiles” is not found in the Hebrew, but simply, My name is continually blasphemed. Thus one needs to supply “in your synagogues,” which blaspheme the Savior day and night; and under the name of Nazarenes, as I have repeatedly said, three times a day they heap up maledictions against the Christians.²²³ And so, since they blaspheme and curse the Lord, his people, that is, the Christian people, of whom it has already repeatedly been said, shall know the name of him who will come in the name of the Father. And “therefore” they “will know,” because the very one who previously spoke through the prophets will instruct the peoples in person. (Ibid., Is. 52:4-6; emphasis mine)

“... Whatever we have said about Esau and Jacob, let us apply to the Jews and the Christian people. For those earthly and blood relatives pursued their brother Jacob, who supplanted them and removed their birthright.⁶² And they pursued [him] with the sword to the extent that they confiscated the property and possessions of believers, an act that we read about in the Acts of the Apostles.⁶³ They have violated mercy and the laws of nature and have forgotten their mother, Rebecca, which means patience, and at the same time she produced them in Christ. Holding onto an ancient fury and wrath, even today in their synagogues they slander the Christian people under the name Nazarenes.⁶⁴ As long as they are killing us they want to be burned with fire. But the Lord will send fire into Theman, into the desert and dry places of Judea, those that are not at all watered with the rain showers of the prophets, and it will devour all their fortifications, or the 'foundations' of his walls, so that, as the entire sense of the letter collapses, the church of the Lord Christ may be built on the foundations. Instead of mercy, the Septuagint translated “womb”; instead of fury, 'trembling,' and instead of wrath, 'attack,' since they were led by the ambiguity of the words. For rakham means both “womb” and mercy; ’aphpho means both fury and “horror,” and ‘ebrat expresses both wrath and 'attack.' Furthermore, ’armenot, which we have translated temples, Aquila and Symmachus βάρεις, that is, “houses,” and Theodotion has rendered 'inhabitants.' The Septuagint alone, both here and above, have used the translation 'foundations.'”

64 Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 16, reports that the Jews curse in their synagogues those who believe in Christ. Epiphanius, Panarion 29.9.2, adds the detail that it was thrice a day that they cursed the Nazoraei. Cf. A. F. J. Klijn, “Jerome’s Quotations from a Nazoraean Interpretation of Esaiah,” Recherches de Science Religieuse 60 (1972): 241-55. (Commentaries on the Twelve Prophets (Ancient Christian Texts), by Jerome, edited by Thomas P. Scheck [IVP Academic, June 6, 2017], Volume 2, Amos. 1:11-12; emphasis mine)

More importantly, the Scriptures themselves testify that the Jews had already begun blaspheming/cursing the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ:

“Write this to the angel of the Church in Smyrna: ‘These words are spoken by the first and the last, who died and came to life again. I know of your tribulation and of your poverty—though in fact you are rich! I know how you are slandered by those who call themselves Jews, but in fact are no Jews but a synagogue of Satan.’” Revelation 2:8-9 J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

Here's another rendering:

“I know your affliction and distress and pressing trouble and your poverty—but you are rich! and how you are abused and reviled and slandered by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Revelation 2:9 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

Thus, Jews have been praying God’s curses and wrath upon Jesus and his followers from at least the late 1^st century AD.