In a message dated 97-07-13 13:25:28 EDT, you write:

> (I don't have my bibliography here, but some authors who have dealt 
>  with the subject for antiquity are John Boswell (The kindness of 
>  Strangers), Suzanne Dixon, Susan Tregiarri, Beryl Rawson (editor). 
>  For anyone who wants more detail, send me a message and I'll pass the 
>  full refs along)
>  Ron Ross
>  Archaeological Research Consultancy of the 
>  University of Sheffield (ARCUS)
>  [log in to unmask]
>  ([log in to unmask])
>  


R. A. Ross,

yes, the list would be much appreciated.

I've read a couple of letters by Popes asking that Christians not harrass or
beat  Jews, not deface jewish cemeteries, not throw stones at Jews who were
celebrating their holidays, etc. So evidently these things were happening,
and the question is why.

>From a modern perspective, one possibility is that the Church may not have
realized it was sending a mixed message.  It never had anything good to say
about the Jews, yet asked from time to time that they not be abused.   Lots
of room for uneducated people to misunderstand and believe that Christians
ought to act out  the contempt they (and their Church) felt for "cursed
jewes".  

Also, the two letters I've read were a bit short on imagination. What's
missing are what I call the <strong> Christian arguments for avoiding
anti-Semitism.   That Jews and Christians worship the same God. That the
Jews, too, are God's chosen people.  That Christians should leave judgment to
God.  That Christ preached love.  That sectarian hatred is never productive.
 That, as T.. S. Eliot said, to be a Christian is incompatible with being an
anti-Semite. Sounds more like Vatican II, and of course it's not fair to
expect that level of insight in the middle ages.  I'm just commenting it
wasn't there, and may have contributed to the problem.  

I find a number of interesting things about the blood libel, which basically
said Jews need Christian blood to use at the Passover ceremony.  It  served
as a pretext for acting against Jews.  But why was a pretext needed?  If the
NT had ordered Christians to slaughter Jews, this could have been done
without a need to make up silly stories.  The point is that the NT <does not>
order Christians to abuse Jews, or justify abuses.  So the medieval slanders
may provide good evidence that the root of anti-Semitism is <not> in the NT,
though I've heard people claim that it is.  

Also, why the <Passover> meal?  The NT is pretty clear that the last supper
of Christ and the apostles was the passover meal.  If Christ and the Apostles
had been eating children, or drinking their blood, one would expect the NT to
mention this.  So the blood libel must have arisen, or could only be
sustained, among people who hadn't really read, or thought about, the
Gospels.

Next point.  I don't mean to shock or offend anyone, but I can't get this out
of my mind.  Assuming that the story about Jews eating Christian children, or
drinking their blood, did not arise out of thin air, it may have been an
ignorant, stupid, or perverse misunderstanding of Christ's  demand that
Christians eat <him>, that "whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath
eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day " (John 6.54).
 Granted, a person would have to be pretty stupid to come up with that kind
of misunderstanding.  But I never underestimate human stupidity.

Anyway, this all adds up to my present feeling that  the slanders may have
had more currency among the uneducated.  At least some of the Popes (not all)
tried to keep order.  They weren't too effective, or didn't realize they were
sending mixed messages.  It's maybe not until Vatican II that the Church
really begins to think deeply about the problem.  This is the best I can do
in putting the pieces together from my limited base.  Oh yes, and a Pope who
genuinely wanted to keep order might not have full cooperation from a parish
priest who was willing to look the other way if mayhem occurred.

As always, please advise as to misconceptions.  

Also, please tell me more about usury. I'm seeing over and over the idea that
the Jews had all the money. Was this true? how on earth did they come by it?
 In Commedia, all the usurers are Christians, so I'm wondering what Dante is
saying.

pat sloane


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