Haaretz
Shvat 24, 5767
The author
of a book on the use of blood by Jews in Ashkenazi communities in the
Middle Ages said Sunday, in the face of the furor its publication aroused,
"I will not give up my devotion to the truth and academic freedom even if
the world crucifies me."
In an interview with Haaretz from
Rome, Professor Ariel Toaff said he stood behind the contention of his
book, "Pasque di Sangue," just published in Italy, that there is a factual
basis for some of the medieval blood libels against the Jews. However, he
said he was sorry his arguments had been twisted.
"I tried to show
that the Jewish world at that time was also violent, among other things
because it had been hurt by Christian violence," the Bar-Ilan history
professor said. Of course I do not claim that Judaism condones murder. But
within Ashkenazi Judaism there were extremist groups that could have
committed such an act and justified it," he said.
Toaff said he
reached his conclusions after coming across testimony from the trial for
the murder of a Christian child, Simon of Trento, in 1475, which in the
past was believed to have been falsified. "I found there were statements
and parts of the testimony that were not part of the Christian culture of
the judges, and they could not have been invented or added by them. They
were components appearing in prayers known from the [Jewish] prayer
book.
"Over many dozens of pages I proved the centrality of blood
on Passover," Toaff said. "Based on many sermons, I concluded that blood
was used, especially by Ashkenazi Jews, and that there was a belief in the
special curative powers of children's blood. It turns out that among the
remedies of Ashkenazi Jews were powders made of blood."
Although
the use of blood is prohibited by Jewish law, Toaff says he found proof of
rabbinic permission to use blood, even human blood. "The rabbis permitted
it both because the blood was already dried," and because in Ashkenazi
communities it was an accepted custom that took on the force of law, Toaff
said. There is no proof of acts of murder, Toaff said, but there were
curses and hatred of Christians, and prayers inciting to cruel vengeance
against Christians. "There was always the possibility that some crazy
person would do something."
Toaff said the use of blood was common
in medieval medicine. "In Germany, it became a real craze. Peddlers of
medicines would sell human blood, the way you have a transfusion today.
The Jews were influenced by this and did the same things.
"In one
of the testimonies in the Trento trial, a peddler of sugar and blood is
mentioned, who came to Venice," Toaff says. "I went to the archives in
Venice and found that there had been a man peddling sugar and blood, which
were basic products in pharmacies of the period. A man named Asher of
Trento was also mentioned in the trial, who had ostensibly come with a bag
and sold dried blood. One of the witnesses said he was tried for alchemy
in Venice and arrested there. I took a team to the archives and found
documentation of the man's trial. Thus, I found that it is not easy to
discount all the testimony," he added.
Toaff, who will be
returning to Israel today, said he was very hurt by accusations that his
research plays into the hands of anti-Semitic incitement. "I am being
presented like the new Yigal Amir. But one shouldn't be afraid to tell the
truth." Toaff also said, "unfortunately my research has become marginal,
and only the real or false implications it might have are being related
to. I directed the research at intelligent people, who know that in the
Jewish world there are different streams. I believe that academia cannot
avoid dealing with issues that have an emotional impact. This is the
truth, and if I don't publish it, someone else will find it and publish
it."
Still, Toaff says he is sorry he did not explain some of the
points in his book more clearly.
He claims that he has been making
the same arguments for a long time. "After 35 years of research, I have
not become a stupid anti-Semite, and have not published a book to make
money."
In any case, Toaff says he believes his findings have
current implications. "Extremists in the past brought disaster on us by
false accusations. I wanted to show that hatred and incitement of this
kind can develop, because there will always be someone who will take
advantage of it."
Meanwhile, Bar-Ilan University announced Sunday that its president,
Professor Moshe Kaveh, will summon Toaff to explain his research. The
university's statement said it strongly objected to what was implied in
media publications regarding Toaff's research, and condemned "any attempt
to justify the terrible blood libels against the Jews." However, the
university also reiterated that Toaff was among the senior lecturers in
his field in Israel and internationally.