Ariel Toaff

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Ariel Toaff (born August 17, 1942 in Ancona ) is an Italian historian and professor at the Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan , Israel . His specialty is the history of the oriental Jews . Toaff is the son of the former Chief Rabbi of Rome , Elio Toaff .

Book publication

Toaff published the book Pasque di Sangue (" Passover of the Blood ") in Italy in February 2007 by Il Mulino . In it he tried to prove the alleged ritual murder by Jews of Simon of Trent in the 15th century as possible on the basis of statements in Inquisition files that had come about through torture . A small group of German-born Jews may have committed ritual murders of Christians in revenge.

Except for a single, rather positive preliminary review by Sergio Luzzatto in Corriere della Sera , the book met with unanimous rejection in the public and in medieval studies . Critics in Israel and Europe were outraged. They described Toaff's theses as an unscientific justification for ritual murder legends constructed in the Middle Ages . Specialist historians have shown him serious methodological shortcomings and false conclusions in terms of content. His university criticized the early publication of the book abroad; Israeli politicians called for Toaff to be punished for denigrating the Jewish religion. Christian theologians and rabbis in Italy, including the former chief rabbi of Rome and father of the author, Elio Toaff , also protested against Toaff's hypotheses .

After a week, the publisher withdrew the remaining edition of the book at Toaff's request so that he could revise contentious passages. He regretted the publication in Italy and affirmed that there had never been any Jewish ritual murders. Toaff said he had been misinterpreted and wanted to make things clearer, but was convinced he was telling the truth. He announced a revision and agreed to hand over the previous proceeds from the book sale to the Anti-Defamation League . After fundamental revision, the book was re-published in Italy at the end of February 2008. In the new version, Toaff firmly rejects the claim that Jews could have used Christian blood as a legend.

Publications (selection)

  • Pasque di sangue: ebrei d'Europa e omicidi rituali. Verlag Il Mulino, Bologna 2007. (Recalled by the publisher and author due to deficiencies in content.) Book was published in 2008 by the same publisher in a revised version with ISBN 9788815121875 .
  • Love, work, and death: Jewish life in medieval Umbria. 1996. ISBN 1-87477-419-6
  • The Jews in Umbria. 3 volumes:
  • The Mediterranean and the Jews: banking, finance and international trade (XVI – XVIII centuries). 1989. ISBN 965-226-099-1
  • The Jews in medieval Assisi: 1305-1487; a social and economic history of a small Jewish community in Italy. 1979. ISBN 88-222-2835-9

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Bar Ilan University: Research Institutes and Centers ( Memento of the original from May 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.biu.ac.il
  2. ↑ “Ritual Murder? Ariel Toaff ” , Web History Blog, February 14, 2007
  3. ↑ Sergio Luzzatto : Source Pasque di sangue - Il fondamentalismo ebraico nelle tenebre del Medioevo. In: Corriere della Sera , February 6, 2007
  4. ↑ Ron Weinstein: A blood-stained version of history (no longer available) Web Archive , Haaretz , March 8, 2007
  5. ↑ a b Johannes Heil (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg): "Pasque di sangue" - Ariel Toaff and the legend of ritual murder , Heidelberg University, January 2007, PDF file, 5 pages , addendum from April 2008, PDF file, 2 pages
  6. ^ Legal proceedings against Prof. Ariel Toaff , Israel today, February 27, 2007
  7. ^ Giulio Busi: The intrigue of the bishop. Did Jews commit ritual murders 500 years ago? The book by an Israeli historian is making waves in Italy ( Der Tagesspiegel , February 15, 2007) Archived version in the Web Archive
  8. ↑ Compass Info Service No. 746, February 22, 2007 (no longer available) Web Archive
  9. ↑ Jews never committed ritual murders , Jerusalem Post , February 11, 2007
  10. ↑ MKs demand the author of blood libel book be prosecuted Haaretz , February 26, 2007, accessed June 8, 2018.
  11. ↑ Historian recants theory that Jews killed Christian child in ritual murder, viewed June 8, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Toaff, Ariel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Israeli historian and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH August 17, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Ancona