In 1840, the French promoted blood libels and the persecution of Jews because it was in their national interest. Almost two centuries later, the French are following the same playbook, as antisemitism explodes in France and Macron rewards Hamas for 10/7 by recognizing a Palestinian state.
Wow, it’s almost like Judaism has been incompatible with western civilization from the word Go. So once again, everyone else is wrong about the innocent Jews for the 1000th time and it surely can’t have anything to do with their religion endorsing baby murder (Sanhedrin 57a). When something is *true* it’s not *libel*, and Western Civilization hasn’t just randomly been wrong about Jews for 2000 years in a row. Anti-semitism is the logical result of Jewish behavior
Thank you for this excellent essay. It seems impossible to overstate the role of blood libel. I have struggled to comprehend the difference between an ordinary lie and a blood libel; each time I think I’ve grasped it, another trap door opens, and I doubt that I will ever understand it.
What strikes me about blood libels—past and present—is how utterly preposterous they always are. It took me a long time to puzzle out why, but I'm starting to see it: one purpose is to craft a lie so absurd that any defense of it lends legitimacy. The absurdity isn’t incidental—it’s the point.
This is why it drives me crazy when people say Israel is “losing the PR war.” The charge of genocide in Gaza is an inversion so preposterous that its very absurdity becomes the defining feature. A blood libel is crafted to trap the accused: silence looks like guilt, but any defense lends the lie weight. That’s the point. And it's what sets libel apart from ordinary lies.
But the longer I think about it, the sicker it looks. AP and Routers talking about the IDF soldiers gunning down starving civilians at distribution sites, or ruthlessly assassinating innocent journalists?!? These libels assault not only Israel and Jews, but also the gullible who accept it—because in believing it, they become complicit. It recalls the madness of witch hunts, Jim Crow lynching, and Mao’s struggle sessions, where public lies and staged humiliations turned entire communities into accomplices. And it's happening now--mobs of college kids so drunk on identify politics and oppressor-oppressed narratives that they are rampaging around and witlessly propagating the most vile and ancient forms of jew hatred in human history.
This alone is clear to me: there is only one eternal blood libel—with each recurrence altered in words but never in substance.....because there is no substance.
Thank you again for your important reminder. Israel is not failing in the PR war; by indulging these libels, we are failing Israel. I’m not calling for censorship—I’m writing this down for anyone to see, maybe just to rally myself to speak up a little bit louder and more often.
Strongly identified Jews (like Zionist Jews) suffer from collective narcissism whereby they actually believe they can’t do anything wrong. They are perfect angels despite being the most hated ethnic group in human history. So what matters for people like you is not reality. It’s whether or not reality conforms to your collective delusions. So people like you don’t ask if the IDF is in fact murdering starving Palestinians at so called “aid sites” becuase you have already decided what “reality” is. This is the way severe narcissism works. It’s connected to your need to come up with outlandish “theories” about why the goyim hate you. Silly unsubstantiated claims about “mind viruses” etc. You need this to safeguard your delusional belief that, essentially, organized Jewry “dindu nuffin.”
Quoting this great essay: "...when they were exposed to the antisemitism that France displayed in the Damascus Affair [in the 19th century], French Jews were completely shaken up. In fact, all of world Jewry was shocked that the blood libel accusation — a throwback to the antisemitism of the Dark Ages — was initially accepted as fact by almost the entire press in Europe. How could it be that educated citizens and modern leaders believed and supported this baseless and ridiculous accusation?" Yep. History is repeating itself, again.
Outstanding essay, Rabbi! I must admit that I got a bit lost with all the names… But, the message is clear: K’lal Israel is “Adam” - unity vigilance voice and courage! Am Yisrael Chai!
It’s wild that Jew-haters are so convinced of their righteousness they will spend time posting nasty comments on Substack articles they clearly haven’t read— or understood if they bothered to read. Do they think they will convince all 16 million of us to lie down and die for them?
I was sad earlier. Now I am just really depressed. This kind of stuff makes me wonder a lot about the history of Christianity and how much the Church has to confess and repent from.
Because the Christian Churches spent the last 2,000 years describing Jews as the “Devil, Satan and the Anti-Christ” -this is what happens when two Christians go missing- The Devil’s ( Jews) did it. When anything Bad happens they ( The Christians) always come for the Jews first, because in the mind of a Christian, the Jew is the Devil.
Human beings think in opposites or Bianary ways-God vs The Devil ( Jews), Good vs Evil ( Jews), Heaven vs Hell ( Jews).
The Jews should be revered by Christians-since Christ and his 12 disciples were all Jews , but of course the Jews are accused of killing Christ, so the Jews must be the Devil, and hence we have 2,000 years of Jewish blood on So called Christian hands.
Jew hatred is still here today. The big difference is that there is a State of Israel, and with that, an armed force, the IDF. No longer do Jews need to weakly demonstrate in the streets or ask for help from non-Jews. The IDF could have swept into Damascus and settled the score with those anti-Semites once and for all.
One of the last books authored by R Wein ZL is Endless Hatred a history of x as to Semitism from the times of the Tanach to contemporary times .It is a must read on this social disease of ancient origins
Had never heard of this before. My first thought was the monk ran off with his servant because they were lovers! What madness persists in the hearts of men — to think torture produces truth. This Damascus Affair was the Spanish Inquisition 2.0 only against the Jews. Anyone who knew anything about the OT knew blood was forbidden!
“If an Italian citizen was arrested in Poland or a Frenchman in Germany, would all of Italy or all of France be praying on his behalf and advocating for his acquittal? Would Italians or Frenchmen all over the world be constantly worried about him and awaiting news of his release?”
“Of course not.”
“Yet, when one Jew in Russia is falsely accused of murder, the entire Jewish nation stands with him, because we are truly one.”
Funny how the Italian and Frenchman are merely “arrested” (Falsely? Rightfully?) but the Jew is “falsely accused of murder”. Even when trying to deflect the criticism, it’s proven.
You clearly have no other hobbies beyond 'Jew-fixation' . But thats not a real hobby, so i suggest you go amuse yourself in a way thats less toxic. Dont you recognize yourself in all the sick jew haters in this historical context? Amazing that all you got out of a story of torturing Jews is some semantics you spin to find Jewish wrongdoing. You are afflicted with a terrible mental sickness.
In 1840, the French promoted blood libels and the persecution of Jews because it was in their national interest. Almost two centuries later, the French are following the same playbook, as antisemitism explodes in France and Macron rewards Hamas for 10/7 by recognizing a Palestinian state.
Wow, it’s almost like Judaism has been incompatible with western civilization from the word Go. So once again, everyone else is wrong about the innocent Jews for the 1000th time and it surely can’t have anything to do with their religion endorsing baby murder (Sanhedrin 57a). When something is *true* it’s not *libel*, and Western Civilization hasn’t just randomly been wrong about Jews for 2000 years in a row. Anti-semitism is the logical result of Jewish behavior
Todays not the day, you little jew faggot. Prepare to reap the whirlwind
You guys have one insult, and I only like Jews who are funny. A jew thats not funny is like the least useful human. Its your only reason for existing
Very detailed and educational! Ignorance, hatred and bias have long been the tools of our enemies.
Thank you for this excellent essay. It seems impossible to overstate the role of blood libel. I have struggled to comprehend the difference between an ordinary lie and a blood libel; each time I think I’ve grasped it, another trap door opens, and I doubt that I will ever understand it.
What strikes me about blood libels—past and present—is how utterly preposterous they always are. It took me a long time to puzzle out why, but I'm starting to see it: one purpose is to craft a lie so absurd that any defense of it lends legitimacy. The absurdity isn’t incidental—it’s the point.
This is why it drives me crazy when people say Israel is “losing the PR war.” The charge of genocide in Gaza is an inversion so preposterous that its very absurdity becomes the defining feature. A blood libel is crafted to trap the accused: silence looks like guilt, but any defense lends the lie weight. That’s the point. And it's what sets libel apart from ordinary lies.
But the longer I think about it, the sicker it looks. AP and Routers talking about the IDF soldiers gunning down starving civilians at distribution sites, or ruthlessly assassinating innocent journalists?!? These libels assault not only Israel and Jews, but also the gullible who accept it—because in believing it, they become complicit. It recalls the madness of witch hunts, Jim Crow lynching, and Mao’s struggle sessions, where public lies and staged humiliations turned entire communities into accomplices. And it's happening now--mobs of college kids so drunk on identify politics and oppressor-oppressed narratives that they are rampaging around and witlessly propagating the most vile and ancient forms of jew hatred in human history.
This alone is clear to me: there is only one eternal blood libel—with each recurrence altered in words but never in substance.....because there is no substance.
Thank you again for your important reminder. Israel is not failing in the PR war; by indulging these libels, we are failing Israel. I’m not calling for censorship—I’m writing this down for anyone to see, maybe just to rally myself to speak up a little bit louder and more often.
Brilliant points.
Well said! Great insights.
Strongly identified Jews (like Zionist Jews) suffer from collective narcissism whereby they actually believe they can’t do anything wrong. They are perfect angels despite being the most hated ethnic group in human history. So what matters for people like you is not reality. It’s whether or not reality conforms to your collective delusions. So people like you don’t ask if the IDF is in fact murdering starving Palestinians at so called “aid sites” becuase you have already decided what “reality” is. This is the way severe narcissism works. It’s connected to your need to come up with outlandish “theories” about why the goyim hate you. Silly unsubstantiated claims about “mind viruses” etc. You need this to safeguard your delusional belief that, essentially, organized Jewry “dindu nuffin.”
Quoting this great essay: "...when they were exposed to the antisemitism that France displayed in the Damascus Affair [in the 19th century], French Jews were completely shaken up. In fact, all of world Jewry was shocked that the blood libel accusation — a throwback to the antisemitism of the Dark Ages — was initially accepted as fact by almost the entire press in Europe. How could it be that educated citizens and modern leaders believed and supported this baseless and ridiculous accusation?" Yep. History is repeating itself, again.
perfectly well said.
Outstanding essay, Rabbi! I must admit that I got a bit lost with all the names… But, the message is clear: K’lal Israel is “Adam” - unity vigilance voice and courage! Am Yisrael Chai!
Fascinating to see how so little has changed and that, so sadly, history keeps repeating itself when it comes to Jew-hatred.
It’s wild that Jew-haters are so convinced of their righteousness they will spend time posting nasty comments on Substack articles they clearly haven’t read— or understood if they bothered to read. Do they think they will convince all 16 million of us to lie down and die for them?
I was sad earlier. Now I am just really depressed. This kind of stuff makes me wonder a lot about the history of Christianity and how much the Church has to confess and repent from.
A lot actually!! Especially all the pogroms during the Middle Ages.
Because the Christian Churches spent the last 2,000 years describing Jews as the “Devil, Satan and the Anti-Christ” -this is what happens when two Christians go missing- The Devil’s ( Jews) did it. When anything Bad happens they ( The Christians) always come for the Jews first, because in the mind of a Christian, the Jew is the Devil.
Human beings think in opposites or Bianary ways-God vs The Devil ( Jews), Good vs Evil ( Jews), Heaven vs Hell ( Jews).
The Jews should be revered by Christians-since Christ and his 12 disciples were all Jews , but of course the Jews are accused of killing Christ, so the Jews must be the Devil, and hence we have 2,000 years of Jewish blood on So called Christian hands.
Jew hatred is still here today. The big difference is that there is a State of Israel, and with that, an armed force, the IDF. No longer do Jews need to weakly demonstrate in the streets or ask for help from non-Jews. The IDF could have swept into Damascus and settled the score with those anti-Semites once and for all.
If Tucker Carlson had been around back then he would have been supporting the blood libel.
YES
https://substack.com/@thinktorah/note/c-135861839
One of the last books authored by R Wein ZL is Endless Hatred a history of x as to Semitism from the times of the Tanach to contemporary times .It is a must read on this social disease of ancient origins
Had never heard of this before. My first thought was the monk ran off with his servant because they were lovers! What madness persists in the hearts of men — to think torture produces truth. This Damascus Affair was the Spanish Inquisition 2.0 only against the Jews. Anyone who knew anything about the OT knew blood was forbidden!
“If an Italian citizen was arrested in Poland or a Frenchman in Germany, would all of Italy or all of France be praying on his behalf and advocating for his acquittal? Would Italians or Frenchmen all over the world be constantly worried about him and awaiting news of his release?”
“Of course not.”
“Yet, when one Jew in Russia is falsely accused of murder, the entire Jewish nation stands with him, because we are truly one.”
Funny how the Italian and Frenchman are merely “arrested” (Falsely? Rightfully?) but the Jew is “falsely accused of murder”. Even when trying to deflect the criticism, it’s proven.
You clearly have no other hobbies beyond 'Jew-fixation' . But thats not a real hobby, so i suggest you go amuse yourself in a way thats less toxic. Dont you recognize yourself in all the sick jew haters in this historical context? Amazing that all you got out of a story of torturing Jews is some semantics you spin to find Jewish wrongdoing. You are afflicted with a terrible mental sickness.
Don’t you have sycophantic clapping to be getting on with, in between your boo-hooing and burnishing your victim complex?
You have an inferiority complex.
Words have meanings.