HG recently mused about the pleasures of matzos (matzo brei and solda). But, like much of Jewish history, there is a dark side to matzos. Namely, “the blood libel”: For centuries Jew haters claimed that the blood of a Christian child (later expanded to Muslim children) was the necessary ingredient in the composition of matzos. Jews in Britain were murdered in 1144 after being accused of “the blood libel.” Similar murder of Jews in France (1171). There are more than 150 cases of “blood libel” actions against Jews in recorded history. (Hundreds more were not recorded.) Probably the most significant “blood libel” pogrom took place in 1903. The place was Kishinev, a Bessarabian town at the edge of the Russian Tsarist Empire. During Easter time, in three bloody days, 49 jews were killed and hundreds of Jewish women were raped. “POGROM: Kishinev and the Tilt of History” by Stanford University Professor Steven J Zipperstein, was recently published. Philip Roth described the book thusly: “POGROM is a splendid book that pinpoints the moment at the start of the twentieth century when exile in Europe turned deadly in a way that foretold the end of everything. It tells us the horror that occurred street by street, butchery by butchery–with gripping clarity and an admirable brevity.” Ten years later, Menahem Mendel Beilis, a Jewish Kiev factory supervisor, was accused of murdering a Christian to obtain blood for matzo baking. The case against Beilis never had any substance. Beilis, not an observant Jew, was working at the factory on the Sabbath when the murder took place. He was observed in the factory by the entire gentile work force. Nevertheless, Beilis was jailed. Soon after, authorities gave him an plea-offer to go free. He refused and demanded a fair trial. The trial jury, despite being composed of many members of the anti-semitic “Black Hundreds,” found Belis innocent. The Beilis case was fictionalized by Bernard Malamud in the novel (and later movie), “The Fixer.” The Beilis character in the fiction bears little resemblance to the real Beilis. He gave all credit for his freedom to the Russian detective and Russian lawyer who worked on his behalf. He said they risked their reputations and their lives in the cause of justice. One would presume that this ridiculous myth of baking blood into matzo would have disappeared in these more enlightened times. Not so. In 2012, Saudi cleric Salman Al-Hodeh repeated “the blood libel” accusations. As did an Egyptian political leader in 2013 and Hamas officials in 2014. The madness persists.
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