Ariel Toaff

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.

Ariel Toaff is a professor of Medieval and Renaissance History at Bar Ilan University. He is the son of Elio Toaff, a former Chief Rabbi of Rome.

Among his works are The Jews in Medieval Assisi 1305-1487: A social and economic history of a small Jewish community (1979), Il vino e la carne. Una comunità ebraica nel Medioevo ("The Wine and the Meat. A Jewish Community in the Middle Ages", 1989), Mostri giudei. L'immaginario ebraico dal Medioevo alla prima età moderna ("Jewish Monsters. The Hebraic Imagery from Middle Ages to Early Modern Era", 1996) e Mangiare alla giudia. La cucina ebraica in Italia dal Rinascimento all'età moderna ("Eating 'alla giudia'. Jewish Cooking in Italy from the Renaissance to Modern Age", 2000).

[edit] Passovers of Blood: The Jews of Europe and Ritual Murders -- reception and reactions

In February 2007, Toaff's book Pasque di sangue. Ebrei d'Europa e omicidi rituali ("Passovers of Blood: The Jews of Europe and Ritual Murders") was published. The book dealt with blood libel against Jews. The book initiated intense controversy including calls for him to resign from or be fired from his professorship, the questioning of his research, historical method(s), and motives as they relate to his writing of the book, threats to his life, and demands that he be prosecuted.

According to press reports, he claims in this book that some Christian children may have been killed by "a minority of fundamentalist Jews of Ashkenazi origin." In an interview with Haaretz Toaff said: "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" [1]. The article also states that: "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.' "

Dr. Amos Luzzatto, former president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, has said, "I would expect a more serious statement than 'it might have been true.'" He also expressed dismay at the sensationalism with which Corriere della Sera, Italy's leading daily, treated the issue.

"It is totally inappropriate to utilize declarations extorted under torture centuries ago to reconstruct bizarre and devious historical theses," declared twelve of Italy's chief rabbis in a press release refuting Toaff's claims.

The town of Trent, near the Austrian border, commemorated Simonino's "martyrdom" for five centuries, until, in 1965, the Vatican published the Nostra Aetate, which aimed at extirpating anti-Semitsm from Catholic doctrine. The Bishop of Trent signed a decree proclaiming that the blood libel against the city's Jews of that city was unfounded.

A preliminary refutation, including interviews with Italian scholars ^{[attribution needed]}, appeared on 11 February 2007 in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. [2]

However, writing in the same newspaper, Prof. Ronnie Po-chia Hsia states: "There is plenty of evidence to suggest hatred between Jews and Christians, as many scholars have demonstrated regarding the Middle Ages. It is, however, quite a leap of imagination to take testimonies obtained under torture and to construct a hypothetical reality based on unrelated circumstantial facts. It may be true that dried blood or other exotic ingredients were used in popular medicine, Jewish or Gentile - not being an expert on the history of medicine, I remain open-minded on this; but it is sheer blind logic to jump to the conclusion that Jewish groups might have used Christian blood for ritual practices"[3].

Kenneth Stow, Professor Emeritus of Jewish History at the University of Haifa, wrote "To disparage this book is not, as some have suggested, to challenge academic freedom. It is to decry bad historiographical method." [4]

On February 14, 2007, Ariel Toaff said in a statement that he ordered the Italian publisher of his book to freeze distribution of his book so that he can "re-edit the passages which comprised the basis of the distortions and falsehoods that have been published in the media." [5]

A week after its publication, Ariel Toaff withdrew the book from circulation [6] in order to "re-edit the passages which comprised the basis of the distortions and falsehoods that have been published in the media" [7] [8].

[edit] External links

• Bar-Ilan prof. defiant on blood libel book 'even if crucified' in Haaretz
• Article in Jerusalem Post
• Commentary by Johannes Heil of the University of Heidelberg
• Article on Toaff in The Jerusalem Post
• Article on Toaff in The Forward
• http://hnn.us/articles/35496.html
• Commentary on Toaff's Book on Blood Libel
• The real blood of Passover
• "Jews Still Use Christian Blood to Bake Passover Matzos"
• Article on Toaff and the Jewish-Italian Community
• "Blood libels are back", Times Literary Supplement
• A Leading historian of medieval Jewry discusses Blood Libel: Ariel Toaff's Perplexing Book
• A blood-stained version of history
• Toaff fights for his good name
• MKs demand the author of blood libel book be prosecuted (Haaretz)
• Professor's Claim Of Truth To 'Blood Libel' Plays Into Hands Of Anti-Semites -- from the ADL