If legal scholars tapped deeper into the theory that Jews were liable for the results of the trial of Jesus of Nazareth, centuries of bloodshed could have been averted.
This is the theory of Nitzhia Shaked, a lawyer who has practiced in both Israel and California.
Shaked, who lives in Berkeley, will expound her theory — that there was no Jewish trial of Jesus prior to the Roman one, and thus the Romans and not the Jews retain responsibility for his crucifixion — in her upcoming book “The Trial of Jesus: A Life Sentence for the Jews?”
Her Lehrhaus Judaica class, titled The Trial of Jesus: Ancient Law, Ancient Mystery, will explore the same issues beginning Monday, Feb. 3 at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills.
The 2,000-year-old debate over who ultimately determined Jesus’ fate is couched in unknown events occurring the evening before his crucifixion by the Romans.
According to New Testament text, after Jesus was arrested, he was taken to the house of the Jewish High Priest Calaphas and detained for the evening. The next morning he was brought before Roman authorities. Hours later, he was led to his crucifixion.
Shaked said the New Testament “is vague in this respect. Nothing is clear in these four texts. It isn’t clear if there was even a trial.”
Many other questions are left unanswered: Who arrested Jesus? What was the cause for the arrest? Why did the Jews detain him for the night? Why was he detained at the house of the high priest? What transpired there? Was there a trial? Did the Jews participate in the trial? Did they play any role in the actual crucifixion?
In examining the texts with legal tools, Shaked is certain of one thing: Jews were not responsible for Jesus’ fate.
According to the New Testament, witnesses — it is not clear whether or not they were Jews — were brought before the Sanhedrin (Jewish high court) for a “trial” of Jesus, but they were considered false. However, when asked by Judea’s Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, if he were king of the Jews, Jesus responded, “You named me that.”
Jesus’ statement “is ambiguous, but it’s not a denial. According to Roman law, Jesus was believed to have declared himself a king when there is a Caesar in Rome,” Shaked said. “Pilate crucified people for less than that. He crucified people for no reason.
“If Jesus was convicted of anything, it was by his own admission. You can’t convict anyone of their own admission in Jewish law. In order to establish anything in biblical law, you need two witnesses.”
Assertions that Jews held a private trial in the high priest’s home the evening before the Roman “trial” and sealed Jesus’ fate are also wrong, Shaked said.
Because Jews were under Roman rule, “they had no power to arrest Jesus” or conduct a trial, Shaked said. And even if they had conducted a secret trial, “there would have been 12 to 15 violations of Jewish law,” Shaked said, pointing to stipulations such as the prohibition against evening trials.
Furthermore, she added, Jews could not be responsible for the crucifixion because capital punishment as prescribed by Jewish law only allows for a quick death, via stoning, suffocation, burning or the sword. Crucifixion is a slow, tortuous death.
Shaked has lectured on this topic for eight years. But she first began examining the legal implications and probabilities of a Jewish role in Jesus’ crucifixion while studying in Israel.
Israeli Supreme Court Justice Haim Cohen pioneered legal analysis of the trial.
A student of Cohen’s, Shaked approached him about authoring a book for the general public. He offered his whole-hearted support.
“This is such a hot potato still,” Shaked said. “It’s about time to analyze this with objective tools. Legal rules are objective tools. Feelings, beliefs and viewpoints aren’t. This is a good way of exorcising the demons. It’s rational.”
The Trial of Jesus: Ancient Law, Ancient Mystery meets 7:30 to 9 p.m. Mondays for six sessions starting Feb. 3 at Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills. Cost is $55, $40 for Beth Am members and those 65 and older. Information: Lehrhaus Judaica, (510) 845-6420.