Antisemitic Tropes: Blood Libel
It was early in March 2020 and the whole world was talking about COVID-19 and Wuhan, China. My Korean roommate, *Sarah, and I were preparing for spring break as the first whispers of a possible nationwide lockdown swept the country.
One morning Sarah returned to our dorm from a grocery run. She seemed shaken as she told me that, while standing in line for checkout, she’d noticed some of her fellow customers sending her dirty looks. One woman had rudely backed away with a comment that implicated Sarah in the spread of the virus.
The other customers neither knew nor cared that Sarah was Korean. It didn’t matter that she was just as likely as any of them to spread the virus. To the strangers in the store, merely being Asian was enough to make Sarah their scapegoat for the pandemic.[1]
Amidst the complexities of disaster, we grow desperate for simple answers. Scapegoating gives us an uncomplicated explanation for our suffering and a target for striking back. No one knows this better than history’s favorite scapegoat, the Jewish people.[2]
Blood Libel
The antisemitic trope[3] of the blood libel is an enduring form of scapegoating. In its classic form, the blood libel is the lie that Jewish people use the blood of Christian children to make matzah for Passover.[4]
For example, in 1475, two-year-old Simon of Trent, Italy, went missing during Easter time. Later he was found drowned. Simon’s father accused the local Jewish community of kidnapping the child and using his blood to make matzah. The entire Jewish community was arrested, tortured until they “confessed,” and burned at stake. Meanwhile, Simon of Trent was posthumously sainted, became the center of a local cult, and was ascribed hundreds of miracles.[5] This became a common pattern throughout medieval Europe.
Sadly, the blood libel has endured beyond the Middle Ages. It migrated to the Middle East with the 1840 Damascus Affair;[6] surfaced in Massena, New York, in 1928;[7] and was a popular topic for propaganda in Nazi Germany.[8] Blood libels continue to thrive today, particularly in the Middle East, where Israel is accused of harvesting Palestinian organs and kidnaping Palestinian children to drink their blood. With tragic irony, blood libel accusations have particularly thrived in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 massacre of Israelis. And it’s not just Middle Eastern sources proclaiming these accusations. Protests in the United States and political cartoons in the United Kingdom are also accusing Israel of ritual murder.[9]
Untrue and Un-Jewish
The blood libel is among the most sickening antisemitic tropes – and is perhaps the most absurd. First, Levitical Law expressly and repeatedly prohibits the consumption of blood and declares that anyone who breaks this prohibition should be cast out.[10] Second, the Law forbids human sacrifice[11] and the Old Testament makes it clear that God hates this practice.[12] Further, consumption of blood was one of the few Laws the Jewish believers imposed upon Gentiles converts in the early church (Acts 15:28–29). The prohibition on drinking blood continues within the Judaism of today.[13]
In short, nothing could be more antithetical to Jewish Law, culture, and values than ritual murder. It is difficult to imagine a more un-Jewish practice.
Why Is Blood So Important?
How has an accusation that’s so easily debunked endured through the centuries? To me, this speaks first to the dehumanizing tendency of antisemitism. What better way to justify hatred of Jewish people than to accuse them of inhuman violence?
Second, the prevalence of the blood libel speaks to the fueling work of the Enemy. After all, this antisemitic trope hits at a crucial component of God’s plan to redeem the world: the shedding of innocent blood.
Throughout Scripture, blood represents life (Leviticus 17:10), and life is sacred. In Hebrews 9:6–28, the author expounds upon the importance of blood, both in the old and new covenants. Blood is the scriptural means of atonement, and it is through the shedding of Jesus’ innocent blood that God provides the ultimate atonement.
“For where there is a covenant, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when people are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore, even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood” (Hebrews 9:16–18). Thus, Moses was told to sacrifice innocent animals and sprinkle their blood upon the people and the tabernacle as a copy of “the things in the heavens” (Hebrews 9:23).
However,
…[Jesus] did not enter a holy place made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year by year with blood that is not his own.[14] Otherwise, [Jesus] would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, so [Messiah] also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (Hebrews 9:24–28)
Friend, you and I are called to live in readiness for Messiah’s return. This means we should greet the disasters of our time not with suspicion and accusations, but with courage and hope, knowing our eternal future is secure in the innocent blood of Messiah.
Written by Miriam, Life in Messiah Communications Coordinator
How do you see scapegoating or the blood libel surfacing today? How can you graciously respond to these fear-fueled reactions?
Is your response to disaster characterized by faith or fear? Ask God to reveal your tendencies and strengthen your impulse to turn to Him in difficulty.
You can help fight against antisemitism by learning about common antisemitic tropes. Read our blogs on the Deicide Charge and the Jewish stereotype of Greed and Control so you are equipped to respond when you hear these accusations flying.
American Thanksgiving is approaching; why not spend some time meditating on Hebrews 9 and thanking God for the atonement He has provided for our sins?
Endnotes:
[1] It wasn’t just my friend Sarah who faced this. Asian Americans across the U.S. faced an uptick in hate crimes during the pandemic. The irrationality of this response was illustrated by the fact that anyone with Asian ancestry could be targeted, regardless of whether they were ethnically Chinese or had ever been to China. See the Pew Research Center study, “Asian Americans and COVID-19 Discrimination,” here.
[2] The Jewish people also received blame for the COVID-19 pandemic as some accused Israel of engineering the virus as a biological weapon. Learn more about the coronavirus libel here.
[3] According to ICEJ (International Christian Embassy Jerusalem), “An antisemitic trope is a myth or sensational report, misrepresentation, or lie defamatory toward Judaism or the Jewish people as an ethnic or religious group.”
[4] It’s easy to spot the connection between this lie and the belief that the Jewish people are collectively responsible for Jesus’ death. Learn more about this trope here.
[5] In this article, scholar Magda Teter discusses how Nazi propaganda promoted the Simon of Trent blood libel in Germany.
[6] Read about the Damascus Affair here.
[7] Read about the Massena Blood Libel here.
[8] Read about the blood libel and the Holocaust here.
[9] See recent examples of blood libel accusations here. Warning: this article contains graphic cartoons.
[10] The following verses contain prohibitions against eating blood: Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 3:17; 7:26–27; 17:10–14; 19:26; Deuteronomy 12:16, 23–27; Acts 15:20, 29. This article explains why this law was so exceptional in the ancient Near East and one of the few Levitical prohibitions that extended to all men.
[11] See Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:29–31; 18:10.
[12] See also Leviticus 20:2–5; Deuteronomy 18:9–12; 2 Kings 3:27; 16:3; 21:6; Psalm 106:37–41; Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5; 32:35; Ezekiel 16:20–21; 20:31; 23:37.
[13] See this Chabad.org article, which demonstrates the lengths to which observant Jews will go to avoid consuming human blood.
[14] This verse refers to Yom Kippur, the annual Day of Atonement.