Blood Libel

Ariel Toaff, a Jewish Italian who teaches Medieval and Renaissance history at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, wrote in his book “Bloody Passover: European Jews and Ritual Murder” that Jews in the Middle Ages may have murdered Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals. Unsurprisingly, there's been some fierce criticism:

Italy’s senior rabbis, including Elio Toaff [Ariel's father], issued a joint statement condemning the book. "There has never existed in Jewish tradition any permission or custom for using human blood for ritual purposes. Such a practice is considered with horror.

"It is absolutely improper to use centuries old statements, extracted under torture, to formulate singular and aberrant historical theses. The only blood shed in these stories is that of many innocent Jews."

Toaff claims he'd been misrepresented:

According to Toaff, it was Sergio Luzzatto's contentious review [in Corriere della Sera], solicited by Il Mulino publishers, and not his book itself that sparked the controversy. "I have been conducting research on this topic for six years with my students at Bar Ilan University without any problems," Toaff told The Jerusalem Post.

However, Toaff admitted that he did not foresee the impact his book would have on a society which, he claims, is facing a major problem in the face of resurgent anti-Semitism. "Perhaps my book should have been aimed at an Israeli public where there is less risk of misunderstandings and of a misuse of my findings."

Speaking to the Post, Toaff replies with a defiant "No" to the question of whether he believes Jewish communities could have committed ritual murder....

What he contests are the foregone conclusions by historians, who claim that all statements made by Jews under torture were dictated by their tormentors and therefore untrue. In the medieval trial documents he found statements in Yiddish formerly ignored by investigators, which, he holds, provide additional keys for interpretation and understanding of the times.

The first edition of 1,000 copies was sold out in one day, and the second edition has already been printed. But, Toaff maintained, he does not want to accept any money for this book and is seeking to hold off on further reprints for now. He has also refused offers for high profile Italian TV appearances because "I don't want to encourage anti-Semitic exploitation of my research."

Too late, unfortunately. Egyptian researcher Muhammad Al-Buheiri appeared on Nile Culture TV last week to offer some thoughts:

Muhammad Al-Buheiri: "Let's not forget that the West in its entirety globally celebrated Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. So why shouldn't we do the same? I called for a Nobel Prize to be awarded to the Israeli Jewish historian, the son of the chief rabbi of Rome..."

Interviewer: "He's the son of the chief rabbi of Italy..."

Muhammad Al-Buheiri: "He's the son of the chief rabbi of Rome, who is still alive at 90 years of age."

Interviewer: "He wrote Bloody Passover, the book we are discussing."

Muhammad Al-Buheiri: "This man proved scientifically and objectively... He's an academic, who heads the department of Jewish history at the Israeli Bar-Ilan University. We are not talking about an amateur, a fraud, or someone looking to get famous. We are talking about an academic, who follows scientific and objective principles. He reached the conclusion that there was indeed a group of extremist Jews, who used to slaughter Christian children, and to collect their blood in order to make the Passover matza. It had to be a child who had not reached puberty. They would abduct him, and put him into a barrel designed for this purpose, which had holes in the sides at the place of the arteries. They would insert iron skewers through the barrel, and make the boy's blood flow that way. Then they would collect the blood, and use it for Passover. Some sources in Jewish halacha say that preparing a single matza on Passover this way is sufficient for all the Jews. Others believe that such matzos should be prepared in each country separately."

Interviewer: "They sacrifice Christian children... When was it? In what century?"

Muhammad Al-Buheiri: "It has been substantiated since the Middle Ages."

Interviewer: "Since then?"

Muhammad Al-Buheiri: "Yes."

Interviewer: "My question is: Until when did it happen?"

Muhammad Al-Buheiri: "That is the question we must ask. Have the Jews, with all their extremists, especially in Israel, given up... Have they given up these customs and religious rituals, which are important to them? There were very many cases. There were similar cases in Syria. There were similar cases in 1700 and 1800. Such children were abducted."

Interviewer: "I have another question. Who are the people who prepare these matzos? Are they Jewish extremists or moderates? As a researcher specializing in inter-faith dialogue, do you believe this still occurs in Israel? I'm rephrasing the question."

Muhammad Al-Buheiri: "I believe it does, because these are religious rituals."

Comments

[dearieme]

Toaff looks in to the business and gets condemned. If instead a gentile historian had looked in to it and come to similar conclusions, he'd presumably have been persecuted as a Jew-baiter. If no-one looks in to it, evil or lunatic men will say that that there is a conspiracy of silence, that "they" are just scared to look in to it because "they" know that it really did happen. I'm not sure that there can be any satisfactory, rational way of dealing with wicked or demented Jew-hating.

[DaninVan]

Twits like Toaff help one understand ISLAM's built-in 'efficacy' at controlling THEIR own self indulgent critics...*sigh*