The answer which I have discovered is that Talmudic references can be found which use Isaiah 53 in both senses–that view the suffering servant as Israel and that view the servant as a singular Messiah.  If I understand correctly, the references favor the latter, not the former, which I believe is a problem for Judaism today.  Here are some quotes:

Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b): “Messiah …what is his name? The Rabbis say,’The leprous one’; those of the house of the Rabbi (Jehuda Hanassi, the author of the Mishna, 135-200) say: ‘Cholaja’ (The sickly), for it says, ‘Surely he has borne our sicknesses’ etc. (Isa.53,4).”

Babylonian Talmud, (Sanhedrin 98), p.2 “Rabbi Yochanan said, The Messiah-what is his name?… And our Rabbis said. “the pale one”… is his name, as it is written “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows-yet we considered him stricken by G-d, smitten by him and afflicted.”

Talmud-Mas.Sanhedrin 98b What is his [the Messiah’s] name?… The Rabbis said: His name is ‘the leper scholar,’ as it is written, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God, and afflicted. (This was in direct reference to Isaiah 53:4). (1)

I found these references from Wikipedia:

Midrash Tanchuma Buber interprets Isaiah 52:13 concerning the greatness of Messiah:

What is the meaning of Who are you, O great mountain? This is the Messianic King. Then why does it call him great mountain? Because he is greater than the ancestors, as stated (in Is. 52:13): Behold, my servant shall bring low. He shall be exalted, lifted up, and become exceedingly tall. He shall be exalted (rt.: RWM) more than Abraham, lifted up more than Moses, and become exceedingly tall, more so than the ministering angels.[67]

Ruth Rabbah 5.6 includes multiple interpretations of Boaz’ statement to Ruth in Ruth 2.14. The fifth interpretation includes a reference to Isaiah 53:5, interpreted as describing the sufferings of Messiah: “The fifth interpretation makes it refer to the Messiah. Come hither:’ approach to royal state. And eat of the bread refers to the bread of royalty; And dip thy morsel in the vinegar refers to his sufferings, as it is said, But he was wounded because of our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5). And she sat beside the reapers, for he will be deprived of his sovereignty for a time.”[68]

Although the allusion is not certain, it is possible that Sifre Numbers 131 identifies Pinchas (cf. Numbers 25:13) with the one in Isaiah 53:12 who makes atonement for the people of Israel.[69]

These passages found in the Talmud helps to confirm that the Talmudic Rabbis recognized Isaiah 53 as referring to an individual Messiah as opposed to the Nation of Israel.  Multiple sources I read claim that the Talmudists saw the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 to be a reference to Israel collectively, but, interestingly, in all my research, I was not able to find a single example.  This is a telling fact.  Perhaps they are referring to the other servant songs, such as Isaiah 49, which, rightfully, should be interpreted as referring to both Messiah and Israel, but I find little if anything to back up the claim that Talmudists considered the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 (as opposed to Isaiah 49) to be a reference to the people Israel.

So, my answer is yes!  For well over one thousand years Jews have been denying the messianic implications of Isaiah 53, for the obvious reason that it fits the life of Jesus of Nazareth so well.  This is all well and good, but the fact that Jews before the time of Jesus saw the passage as a reference to their Messiah is clear evidence that the Jews have changed their interpretative perspective on this passage for practical, rather than biblical reasons–so as to protect Jews from conversion to Christianity.

John Oakes