The debate surrounding Ariel Toaff's book Pasque di Sangue and the controversy over "blood libels" highlight a central issue in the history of Christian-Jewish relations. While the modern narrative tends to dismiss these accusations as mere "anti-Semitic myths," a deeper analysis, grounded in an understanding of Talmudic formation and its social implications, reveals a more complex reality. The persistence of such accusations over centuries cannot be explained solely by "prejudice" or "superstition" but must be understood as a reaction, albeit at times disordered, to the disruptive influence of Jewish Naturalism on Christian society.
📜 The Internal Logic of the Accusations
The accusation that Jews might use blood in rituals, though shocking to modern sensibilities, does not arise from a vacuum. It is intrinsically linked to the exclusivist and hostile mentality that the Talmud fosters against non-Jews (Goim). Documents and testimonies from converts from Judaism attest that the Talmudic code, in its essence, establishes a dual morality. According to this doctrine, the precepts of justice, equity, and charity, which are obligatory in relations between Jews, do not apply to Christians. The Talmud goes so far as to explicitly forbid a Jew from saving a non-Jew from death or from taking pity on him (Fahey, 1953).
The lives and property of non-Jews are seen as being at the disposal of the Jewish nation, a belief that inevitably generates deep contempt and systemic hostility. In the words of a former rabbi who converted to Catholicism, the Talmud contains "insane and atrocious calumnies" against everything the Christian holds sacred, including morality itself (Drach, 1844, as cited in Fahey, 1953). It is in this context of fundamental antagonism that popular suspicions, even if extreme, find fertile ground to flourish.
Toaff's book itself, despite its later retraction, suggests that small extremist groups could have adopted practices that, while not ritual murders, involved the use of blood. This possibility alone points to the existence of currents within Judaism that deviate not only from Christian morality but also from orthodox Jewish law, as a consequence of rejecting the true Messiah.
🌍 The Talmud as a Source of Social Conflict
The Talmudic formation, which extols a "pride of race with the idea of universal domination," is the primary source of the persistent friction between the Jewish nation and Christian peoples (Fahey, 1953). For the Talmudist, only the Jewish race constitutes humanity; non-Jews are considered of a purely animal nature, without rights. This worldview not only justifies economic and social exploitation but also creates an insurmountable chasm between communities.
When Christian society, organized under the Kingship of Christ, perceives this veiled hostility, it reacts in self-defense. The accusations of blood libel, therefore, can be seen as an extreme and tragic manifestation of this defensive reaction. They represent the Christian people's attempt to articulate the danger they felt from a community that refused to integrate into the Christian social order and which, according to its own religious code, harbored hostile intentions.
The rejection of the Supernatural Messiah led the Jewish nation down a path of naturalism and materialism, where earthly domination became the ultimate goal. This ambition, in turn, corrupted the very understanding of divine law, making room for interpretations and practices that would be unthinkable within the order established by Christ. Thus, the historical persistence of blood libels is not merely a "myth" but a symptom of a much deeper theological and social conflict, rooted in the refusal of the Jewish nation to accept its place in the divine plan of salvation.
📖 References
Fahey, Denis. The Kingship of Christ and The Conversion of the Jewish Nation. Dublin: Regina Publications, 1953.
Drach, David Paul. De l'harmonie entre l'église et la synagogue. Paris: Mellier Frères, 1844.
