It was just self defense kids!!
- Thread starter Defiantly_Not_Bender
- Start date
Every week, Sari Kosdon lights Shabbat candles at her home in Los Angeles. It’s a ritual that Kosdon, a pediatric psychologist, has adopted only recently. “I’ve really made it a goal,” she said. “I felt like I needed to do it to cope because I’m so anxious.”
Kosdon credits much of that anxiety to the rising tide of antisemitism—in the world, on social media and within her therapeutic profession, especially since Hamas’s October terror attack in Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
“As an antidote, I turned to my Jewish community,” said Kosdon, whose 2021 doctoral dissertation, The Experience of Being Jewish: Living With Antisemitism, focused on the mental health impacts of antisemitism. “I honestly feel those are the only people who I’m safe around.”
Kosdon is among the many Jewish Americans for whom the surge in antisemitism has become a very real, very personal mental health issue. They include children being harassed in school hallways with chants of “Free Palestine”; college students navigating anti-Jewish bullying on campuses; 20- and 30-somethings hyperfocused on the anti-Israel vitriol on social media; and Jewish artists and writers now aware that including their heritage in their work can negatively impact their careers. This list also includes Jewish therapists, like Kosdon, confronting their own personal and professional concerns even as they find ways to help their patients.
For Jews of every age, according to mental health professionals and researchers, the global conflagration of anti-Jewish hate has been a triggering event, touching off the kind of unsettling thoughts that disrupt sleep and erode social and professional relationships. The relative sense of security that Jews have long felt in American society and the deep-seated reassurance of a well-protected homeland in Israel have been violently upended.
Indeed, recent reports from the Anti-Defamation League reveal that one in three Jewish Americans has had trouble sleeping after experiencing anti Jewish harassment, and multiple studies over the years have found higher rates of depression among Jews in particular.
But how many of those mental health issues are traceable to antisemitism, which has been on the rise in recent years?
According to experts, it’s significant, yet impossible to quantify.
“I like to use data, but we don’t have very good data on this because it hasn’t been studied properly yet,” said Zalman Abraham, director at the Wellness Institute, a New York-based youth mental health organization affiliated with the Chabad Lubavitch movement. “What we do know is mostly anecdotal.”
Launched in March 2020 to address the escalating youth mental health crisis in America that has also impacted the Jewish community, the institute says that it has trained nearly 30,000 North American teachers, clinicians and parents in coping skills. It has done so through partnerships with K-12 schools, synagogues and community organizations across the Jewish community.
Building self-esteem is a cornerstone of the institute’s approach, a bulwark against “the feedback young people are getting from the world around them, which can be super negative,” Abraham said. Confronted by widespread hate and distressing imagery from the Israel-Hamas war, he recommends thinking “only about things you can do something about—not things that are out of your control.”
Among the specific techniques Abraham has used is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which he said can help combat antisemitic triggering. “You receive a text message or see something on social media,” he offered by way of example. CBT “helps you decide how to react.”
At the Brandeis School of San Francisco, a private Jewish K-8 institution, Sivan Tarle, the director of its middle school, is piloting the Wellness Institute’s new CBT-based Cultivating Resilience curriculum. She hopes to roll it out more broadly next year.
“We know that building a sense of resilience at this age is important,” Tarle said. She points out that even just addressing the issue has been helpful for 11- to 13-year-old students. “One of the best things you can do with children right now is normalize the fact that [antisemitism] is something challenging.”
BaMidbar, with locations in Colorado and Massachusetts, is another mental health organization that has a Jewish-informed curriculum and therapy program aimed at the young.
With the teenagers through 20-somethings who are BaMidbar’s target audience, “there’s also identity exploration,” said Gabriella Lupatkin, a social worker who directs the group’s Boston-based clinical services, including individual and group therapy. Negative messaging around Israel and Jews, Lupatkin explained, can undermine young Jews’ confidence as they question the political, social and group alignments they consider core to their sense of self.
A similar unease is prompting Jews of all ages to seek out therapists who are Jewish—even if they wouldn’t necessarily have in the past. “There’s a feeling,” Lupatkin said about a number of her patients, “that another Jew would understand the nuances of what I’m going through.”
The Jewish Therapist Collective, a 4-year-old online platform, has seen accelerating demand since October 7 for its some 4,500 member counselors. “Folks are saying, ‘The non-Jewish therapist whom I’ve trusted for so long suddenly feels like a stranger,’ ” said founder Halina Brooke, a Phoenix-based therapist.
Brooke has heard from college students who have felt “gaslighted” when they’ve shared fears about antisemitism on campus and from parents worried their children’s eating disorders will reappear because of anxieties around antisemitism. Many of those seeking referrals for varying mental health considerations—dealing with ADHD or grief, for example—now realize they need a therapist who also “gets their Jewish side,” Brooke said.
And it’s not only patients craving Jewish solidarity. Therapists are feeling it, too. The collective was born out of a troubling incident on an internet professional forum in 2020—around the time of heightened protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd—when a therapist queried colleagues about culturally appropriate services and support for a Jewish client.
The response to the query was negative. “One person jumped in and said, ‘It is inappropriate to center Jews right now, because we shouldn’t be centering white people,’ ” Brooke recalled.
The first therapist then expressed contrition for even making the request. Brooke and other Jews on the forum were shocked by the antisemitism and by the callousness displayed toward a therapist and her patient. The Jewish practitioners started their own Facebook group, and it mushroomed into the collective, with mental health and wellness professionals in 15 countries, the majority in the United States.
In addition to matching clients and therapists, the collective coordinates training and retreats—including a planned December solidarity mission to Israel—and has waded into advocacy. They’ve lobbied to remove what they see as antisemitic content from a national therapy licensure exam, counseled Jewish graduate students on navigating campus tensions and even advised a Toronto Muslim community on establishing a similar therapists’ collective.
The sting of colleagues’ betrayal has eroded some Jewish counselors’ well-being, say those involved. “Jews are very aligned with social justice and supporting other marginalized communities,” Brooke observed. “But there’s been such intense vitriol and exclusion in our professional spaces, such lack of peer support, that therapists are anxious and fearful.”
Ronni Troodler, the program manager for Orthodox social services at the Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Greater Philadelphia, affirmed that impression. She also lamented that the widespread movement for diversity, equity and inclusion has often excluded Jews as a minority category. Such internecine tensions, Troodler said, “feel unprecedented in a profession built on human relationships.”
Since October 7, Troodler said, she has witnessed signs of heightened mental health distress among her Orthodox Jewish clients, many of whom are aware that they can be targeted because of their outwardly Jewish appearance, including hair coverings and clothing choices. The signs include increased hyperarousal, disordered eating and sleeping and loss of executive function.
Those clients, however, have one advantage, Troodler said. Their close-knit communal bonds provide support and refuge.
That was Kosdon’s own finding while pursuing her Ph.D. at the Wright Institute graduate school of psychology in Berkeley, Calif. “Research shows that the more you involve yourself in a Jewish community, the less likely you are to experience these negative impacts of anxiety and depression,” said the Los Angeles psychologist whose dissertation was on the mental health impacts of antisemitism. “It’s a protective factor.”
Her very thesis was controversial in progressive Berkeley, where complaints recently filed with the United States Department of Education against local public schools allege that the schools failed to stop teachers and students engaging in “severe and persistent” harassment and discrimination against Jewish children. The concerns about antisemitism, and implicit Jewish victimization, at the core of Kosdon’s thesis ran counter to prevailing notions on her campus that as white people, Jews were too powerful to be victims. When she tried to talk about the dissertation with peers, “I was told, ‘Be careful about what you say. Try not to offend people,’ ” she recalled.
Her research—and subsequent experiences as a practitioner—has revealed the toll of that dynamic. “People hide their identities,” Kosdon said. “They figure out whether or not a person is safe or not to tell that they’re Jewish. All that is associated with anxiety and depression.”
After October 7, Ashley, a patient of Brooke’s, the founder of the Jewish Therapist Collective, was spending significant time defending Israel on the social media platform Reddit—and feeling her mental health deteriorate from the vitriol she encountered there.
Like many Jews in the United States, the 33-year-old Chicago native, who did not want to reveal her last name, has significant ties to Israel. She made aliyah at 16 but returned a year ago, moving to Phoenix to be with her family. Even though she was living in America, Ashley did not delete her Israeli emergency-alert app from her phone.
Listening to those alerts on October 7, “I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t get food down. I couldn’t sleep,” she recalled. The anxiety, depression and eating disorders she’d battled for years flared up, and from October through January, Ashley was in a deep depression, using pot and smoking cigarettes while watching news from Israel.
She praised her therapists, including Brooke, for getting her past that low by upping her antidepressant dose and urging her to impose a 30-minute daily limit on social media.
Affirming Kosdon’s findings, Ashley said she has been most helped by connecting with her local Jewish community. Indeed, while her secular family never understood her connection to Israel, which Ashley said came from her summers at Jewish camp, after October 7, she found solace volunteering at the local Jewish community center.
“I needed to be around other Jews,” she said, “people who understood and were going through the same emotions.”
Kosdon credits much of that anxiety to the rising tide of antisemitism—in the world, on social media and within her therapeutic profession, especially since Hamas’s October terror attack in Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
“As an antidote, I turned to my Jewish community,” said Kosdon, whose 2021 doctoral dissertation, The Experience of Being Jewish: Living With Antisemitism, focused on the mental health impacts of antisemitism. “I honestly feel those are the only people who I’m safe around.”
Kosdon is among the many Jewish Americans for whom the surge in antisemitism has become a very real, very personal mental health issue. They include children being harassed in school hallways with chants of “Free Palestine”; college students navigating anti-Jewish bullying on campuses; 20- and 30-somethings hyperfocused on the anti-Israel vitriol on social media; and Jewish artists and writers now aware that including their heritage in their work can negatively impact their careers. This list also includes Jewish therapists, like Kosdon, confronting their own personal and professional concerns even as they find ways to help their patients.
For Jews of every age, according to mental health professionals and researchers, the global conflagration of anti-Jewish hate has been a triggering event, touching off the kind of unsettling thoughts that disrupt sleep and erode social and professional relationships. The relative sense of security that Jews have long felt in American society and the deep-seated reassurance of a well-protected homeland in Israel have been violently upended.
Indeed, recent reports from the Anti-Defamation League reveal that one in three Jewish Americans has had trouble sleeping after experiencing anti Jewish harassment, and multiple studies over the years have found higher rates of depression among Jews in particular.
But how many of those mental health issues are traceable to antisemitism, which has been on the rise in recent years?
According to experts, it’s significant, yet impossible to quantify.
“I like to use data, but we don’t have very good data on this because it hasn’t been studied properly yet,” said Zalman Abraham, director at the Wellness Institute, a New York-based youth mental health organization affiliated with the Chabad Lubavitch movement. “What we do know is mostly anecdotal.”
Launched in March 2020 to address the escalating youth mental health crisis in America that has also impacted the Jewish community, the institute says that it has trained nearly 30,000 North American teachers, clinicians and parents in coping skills. It has done so through partnerships with K-12 schools, synagogues and community organizations across the Jewish community.
Building self-esteem is a cornerstone of the institute’s approach, a bulwark against “the feedback young people are getting from the world around them, which can be super negative,” Abraham said. Confronted by widespread hate and distressing imagery from the Israel-Hamas war, he recommends thinking “only about things you can do something about—not things that are out of your control.”
Among the specific techniques Abraham has used is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which he said can help combat antisemitic triggering. “You receive a text message or see something on social media,” he offered by way of example. CBT “helps you decide how to react.”
At the Brandeis School of San Francisco, a private Jewish K-8 institution, Sivan Tarle, the director of its middle school, is piloting the Wellness Institute’s new CBT-based Cultivating Resilience curriculum. She hopes to roll it out more broadly next year.
“We know that building a sense of resilience at this age is important,” Tarle said. She points out that even just addressing the issue has been helpful for 11- to 13-year-old students. “One of the best things you can do with children right now is normalize the fact that [antisemitism] is something challenging.”
BaMidbar, with locations in Colorado and Massachusetts, is another mental health organization that has a Jewish-informed curriculum and therapy program aimed at the young.
With the teenagers through 20-somethings who are BaMidbar’s target audience, “there’s also identity exploration,” said Gabriella Lupatkin, a social worker who directs the group’s Boston-based clinical services, including individual and group therapy. Negative messaging around Israel and Jews, Lupatkin explained, can undermine young Jews’ confidence as they question the political, social and group alignments they consider core to their sense of self.
A similar unease is prompting Jews of all ages to seek out therapists who are Jewish—even if they wouldn’t necessarily have in the past. “There’s a feeling,” Lupatkin said about a number of her patients, “that another Jew would understand the nuances of what I’m going through.”
The Jewish Therapist Collective, a 4-year-old online platform, has seen accelerating demand since October 7 for its some 4,500 member counselors. “Folks are saying, ‘The non-Jewish therapist whom I’ve trusted for so long suddenly feels like a stranger,’ ” said founder Halina Brooke, a Phoenix-based therapist.
Brooke has heard from college students who have felt “gaslighted” when they’ve shared fears about antisemitism on campus and from parents worried their children’s eating disorders will reappear because of anxieties around antisemitism. Many of those seeking referrals for varying mental health considerations—dealing with ADHD or grief, for example—now realize they need a therapist who also “gets their Jewish side,” Brooke said.
And it’s not only patients craving Jewish solidarity. Therapists are feeling it, too. The collective was born out of a troubling incident on an internet professional forum in 2020—around the time of heightened protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd—when a therapist queried colleagues about culturally appropriate services and support for a Jewish client.
The response to the query was negative. “One person jumped in and said, ‘It is inappropriate to center Jews right now, because we shouldn’t be centering white people,’ ” Brooke recalled.
The first therapist then expressed contrition for even making the request. Brooke and other Jews on the forum were shocked by the antisemitism and by the callousness displayed toward a therapist and her patient. The Jewish practitioners started their own Facebook group, and it mushroomed into the collective, with mental health and wellness professionals in 15 countries, the majority in the United States.
In addition to matching clients and therapists, the collective coordinates training and retreats—including a planned December solidarity mission to Israel—and has waded into advocacy. They’ve lobbied to remove what they see as antisemitic content from a national therapy licensure exam, counseled Jewish graduate students on navigating campus tensions and even advised a Toronto Muslim community on establishing a similar therapists’ collective.
The sting of colleagues’ betrayal has eroded some Jewish counselors’ well-being, say those involved. “Jews are very aligned with social justice and supporting other marginalized communities,” Brooke observed. “But there’s been such intense vitriol and exclusion in our professional spaces, such lack of peer support, that therapists are anxious and fearful.”
Ronni Troodler, the program manager for Orthodox social services at the Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Greater Philadelphia, affirmed that impression. She also lamented that the widespread movement for diversity, equity and inclusion has often excluded Jews as a minority category. Such internecine tensions, Troodler said, “feel unprecedented in a profession built on human relationships.”
Since October 7, Troodler said, she has witnessed signs of heightened mental health distress among her Orthodox Jewish clients, many of whom are aware that they can be targeted because of their outwardly Jewish appearance, including hair coverings and clothing choices. The signs include increased hyperarousal, disordered eating and sleeping and loss of executive function.
Those clients, however, have one advantage, Troodler said. Their close-knit communal bonds provide support and refuge.
That was Kosdon’s own finding while pursuing her Ph.D. at the Wright Institute graduate school of psychology in Berkeley, Calif. “Research shows that the more you involve yourself in a Jewish community, the less likely you are to experience these negative impacts of anxiety and depression,” said the Los Angeles psychologist whose dissertation was on the mental health impacts of antisemitism. “It’s a protective factor.”
Her very thesis was controversial in progressive Berkeley, where complaints recently filed with the United States Department of Education against local public schools allege that the schools failed to stop teachers and students engaging in “severe and persistent” harassment and discrimination against Jewish children. The concerns about antisemitism, and implicit Jewish victimization, at the core of Kosdon’s thesis ran counter to prevailing notions on her campus that as white people, Jews were too powerful to be victims. When she tried to talk about the dissertation with peers, “I was told, ‘Be careful about what you say. Try not to offend people,’ ” she recalled.
Her research—and subsequent experiences as a practitioner—has revealed the toll of that dynamic. “People hide their identities,” Kosdon said. “They figure out whether or not a person is safe or not to tell that they’re Jewish. All that is associated with anxiety and depression.”
After October 7, Ashley, a patient of Brooke’s, the founder of the Jewish Therapist Collective, was spending significant time defending Israel on the social media platform Reddit—and feeling her mental health deteriorate from the vitriol she encountered there.
Like many Jews in the United States, the 33-year-old Chicago native, who did not want to reveal her last name, has significant ties to Israel. She made aliyah at 16 but returned a year ago, moving to Phoenix to be with her family. Even though she was living in America, Ashley did not delete her Israeli emergency-alert app from her phone.
Listening to those alerts on October 7, “I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t get food down. I couldn’t sleep,” she recalled. The anxiety, depression and eating disorders she’d battled for years flared up, and from October through January, Ashley was in a deep depression, using pot and smoking cigarettes while watching news from Israel.
She praised her therapists, including Brooke, for getting her past that low by upping her antidepressant dose and urging her to impose a 30-minute daily limit on social media.
Affirming Kosdon’s findings, Ashley said she has been most helped by connecting with her local Jewish community. Indeed, while her secular family never understood her connection to Israel, which Ashley said came from her summers at Jewish camp, after October 7, she found solace volunteering at the local Jewish community center.
“I needed to be around other Jews,” she said, “people who understood and were going through the same emotions.”
A hearing on Capitol Hill sponsored by Jewish Federations of North America, Hadassah, the American Jewish Medical Association, and the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law shed light on the growing problem of discrimination and bias against Jews in the health care sector, including medical schools and major hospital centers.
"This isn't the first time in the history of our country that the Jewish community has experienced discrimination in medical care," said Jewish Federations of North America President and CEO Eric D. Fingerhut.
"Many of us know that the whole advent of Jewish hospitals across the country came into being because Jewish physicians couldn't practice in the mainstream of medical care and because Jewish patients weren't being treated equally and fairly in their times of need. We are not willing to go back there," he added, calling on Congress to investigate the phenomenon.
According to one study, nearly 40% of Jewish medical professionals reported direct exposure to antisemitism, while only 1.9% of participants in healthcare anti-bias training reported that they covered anti-Jewish bias.
The panel featured a physician, medical student, and psychiatrist who gave first-hand accounts of their experiences, as well as experts. In their stories they recounted numerous examples including:
"The notion that Zionism, which is to say a core component of Jewish identity, is a mental illness that has to be treated and cured, is actually something that we are now seeing in the mental health space that should not be funded even a penny of federal money or state money, and to the extent that Congress is appropriating any money that is going to this treatment, that has to stop," said Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
Michelle Stravitz, CEO of the American Jewish Medical Association, added: "In the past year, we have seen an alarming rise in antisemitism, and more concerning the normalization, the acceptance and the systemic nature of it. Antisemitism is the latest disease in America, and the cure is in our hands."
Hadassah Government Relations Director Elizabeth Cullen noted that unlike the current atmosphere in US medical establishments, Israeli hospitals were often a beacon of coexistence and cooperation.
"At Hadassah hospitals, Arab and Jewish Israelis work side by side to treat all patients," she said. "Our emergency room is led by the first Arab female physician to lead a hospital emergency room in all of Israel, before and during the war. Israeli Hadassah professionals and Palestinian mental health professionals have collaborated in partnership to develop and share best practices for addressing trauma and mental health needs in both Israeli and Palestinian children and teens in Jerusalem. In the middle of a war we are leading by example."
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), the newly elected co-chair of the bipartisan task force to combat antisemitism, said that when this kind of antisemitism goes unchecked, it has implications for all of society.
"The idea that somehow your religious background or your identity would inform or impact the type of care that you get is not only antisemitic. It's not only anti-American. It is anti-democratic."
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), himself a pharmacist, expressed disgust at the testimony, and vowed action.
"I don't know that you could get anything worse than that," he said, adding, "I serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee and on the Health Subcommittee, and it's something that we certainly want to be aware of, and certainly something that we want to combat and make sure that we can stamp out."
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) expressed alarm at some the incidents that were reported.
"I'm utterly shocked and astonished at the things you're telling me, that this is taking place in medical schools and doctors practices and among medical students. I mean, it's just a profoundly troubling, disturbing thing," he said. “Antisemitism is the pathway to the destruction of liberal democracy, and so it’s not just of concern to the Jewish community. It’s a concern of everybody.”
Jewish Federations will continue leading efforts to combat antisemitism in healthcare, as well as college campuses, K-12 schools, unions, trade associations, business groups, and city councils.
"This isn't the first time in the history of our country that the Jewish community has experienced discrimination in medical care," said Jewish Federations of North America President and CEO Eric D. Fingerhut.
"Many of us know that the whole advent of Jewish hospitals across the country came into being because Jewish physicians couldn't practice in the mainstream of medical care and because Jewish patients weren't being treated equally and fairly in their times of need. We are not willing to go back there," he added, calling on Congress to investigate the phenomenon.
According to one study, nearly 40% of Jewish medical professionals reported direct exposure to antisemitism, while only 1.9% of participants in healthcare anti-bias training reported that they covered anti-Jewish bias.
The panel featured a physician, medical student, and psychiatrist who gave first-hand accounts of their experiences, as well as experts. In their stories they recounted numerous examples including:
- Efforts to create a blacklists of "Zionist" psychiatric providers, including those who said they would accept Zionists as patients
- Denying Jewish employees at medical establishments the chance to form Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
- Denial of Jewish student clubs applications at medical schools, while similar requests from other minority groups were approved
- Jewish patients feeling they had to hide their identities when medical practitioners (who were not Palestinian or of Middle East descent) refused requests not to wear political pro-Palestinian pins and accessories, despite the fact that they went against existing dress code rules
- Medical students being taught, incorrectly, that all Jews are "white, privileged oppressors," and forced to view overtly antisemitic depictions of Jews in slides
- Existing Jewish medical student groups being ostracized and excluded from events having nothing to do with the Israel or its war with Hamas
- A medical school refusing to reschedule an event on cultural sensitivity planned on Yom Kippur despite requests by Jewish Medical students to participate
- Efforts to promote approaches to "decolonize" mental health patients, in which Zionism is characterized as a mental disorder that must be "cured"
"The notion that Zionism, which is to say a core component of Jewish identity, is a mental illness that has to be treated and cured, is actually something that we are now seeing in the mental health space that should not be funded even a penny of federal money or state money, and to the extent that Congress is appropriating any money that is going to this treatment, that has to stop," said Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
Michelle Stravitz, CEO of the American Jewish Medical Association, added: "In the past year, we have seen an alarming rise in antisemitism, and more concerning the normalization, the acceptance and the systemic nature of it. Antisemitism is the latest disease in America, and the cure is in our hands."
Hadassah Government Relations Director Elizabeth Cullen noted that unlike the current atmosphere in US medical establishments, Israeli hospitals were often a beacon of coexistence and cooperation.
"At Hadassah hospitals, Arab and Jewish Israelis work side by side to treat all patients," she said. "Our emergency room is led by the first Arab female physician to lead a hospital emergency room in all of Israel, before and during the war. Israeli Hadassah professionals and Palestinian mental health professionals have collaborated in partnership to develop and share best practices for addressing trauma and mental health needs in both Israeli and Palestinian children and teens in Jerusalem. In the middle of a war we are leading by example."
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), the newly elected co-chair of the bipartisan task force to combat antisemitism, said that when this kind of antisemitism goes unchecked, it has implications for all of society.
"The idea that somehow your religious background or your identity would inform or impact the type of care that you get is not only antisemitic. It's not only anti-American. It is anti-democratic."
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), himself a pharmacist, expressed disgust at the testimony, and vowed action.
"I don't know that you could get anything worse than that," he said, adding, "I serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee and on the Health Subcommittee, and it's something that we certainly want to be aware of, and certainly something that we want to combat and make sure that we can stamp out."
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) expressed alarm at some the incidents that were reported.
"I'm utterly shocked and astonished at the things you're telling me, that this is taking place in medical schools and doctors practices and among medical students. I mean, it's just a profoundly troubling, disturbing thing," he said. “Antisemitism is the pathway to the destruction of liberal democracy, and so it’s not just of concern to the Jewish community. It’s a concern of everybody.”
Jewish Federations will continue leading efforts to combat antisemitism in healthcare, as well as college campuses, K-12 schools, unions, trade associations, business groups, and city councils.
With the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, instances of antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen rapidly in the United States, including at colleges and universities across the country.
College campuses have long been homes for student activism and academic debate. The past year has been no exception. Campus leaders have been faced with the challenge of balancing students’ rights for free speech with protecting student safety. Many protests have been nonviolent, but some students have experienced hostile environments, hate speech, and incidents of violence based on perceived or actual religious affiliation or nationality.
The attacks threaten students’ sense of safety and well-being. Recent research from Penn State’s Center for Collegiate Mental Health found that experiencing discrimination was strongly related to increased general distress, social isolation, and suicidal ideation.
To protect the mental health of all students, The Jed Foundation (JED) suggests colleges and universities take the following actions to engage students and support their mental health during this time and beyond.
As campuses make decisions about measures to protect students, they should be clearly communicated to the campus community. Expectations about student conduct — whether it’s in person or online — should be made clear at all times through prominent dissemination of current and enhanced code-of-conduct and anti-harassment policies.
Be mindful not to pathologize students who have been affected. Many students pull from sources of strength within their own communities to navigate difficult times in a healthy way.
If students express that they feel unsafe, believe them. Validate their feelings, and connect them with appropriate support. Facilitators and students can also be trained to watch for signs that young people are struggling and how to connect them to additional support if needed.
In a connected community, debates with opposing viewpoints are seen as signs of a healthy and diverse community, even if they stir up emotions. Campus leaders are tasked with inviting such debate and free speech while also protecting students and faculty from physical threats, hate speech, and discriminatory taunts.
As difficult as this moment is, it offers a chance to build in programs that celebrate the diverse identities and backgrounds that make up your student body. Consider:
College campuses have long been homes for student activism and academic debate. The past year has been no exception. Campus leaders have been faced with the challenge of balancing students’ rights for free speech with protecting student safety. Many protests have been nonviolent, but some students have experienced hostile environments, hate speech, and incidents of violence based on perceived or actual religious affiliation or nationality.
The attacks threaten students’ sense of safety and well-being. Recent research from Penn State’s Center for Collegiate Mental Health found that experiencing discrimination was strongly related to increased general distress, social isolation, and suicidal ideation.
To protect the mental health of all students, The Jed Foundation (JED) suggests colleges and universities take the following actions to engage students and support their mental health during this time and beyond.
Communicate Clearly
In moments of uncertainty and fear, letting students know the measures being taken to keep them safe can bring relief and bolster feelings of safety and security.Share Enhanced Safety and Security Measures
Physical and virtual safety is critical to students’ mental health and emotional well-being. Students should feel safe when they enter classrooms, move through campus, and engage online. Without a sense of physical safety, learning is not possible and mental health declines.As campuses make decisions about measures to protect students, they should be clearly communicated to the campus community. Expectations about student conduct — whether it’s in person or online — should be made clear at all times through prominent dissemination of current and enhanced code-of-conduct and anti-harassment policies.
Disseminate Policies for Reporting Bias Incidents
Clearly define for students what constitutes discrimination, harassment, hate speech, and violence. Equally as important, articulate and consistently apply bias-response protocols to enable students to take action if they experience or observe violations of the campus policies. When institutions outline these processes, they empower students to respond to a harmful situation and help them feel supported. They also help protect students most at risk and promote a sense of overall campus safety, which influences the experiences of all students, not just those directly affected.Respond to Student Concerns and Distress
It can be difficult for students to go about their daily lives amid ongoing protests, and they may benefit from help to process their experiences. Students will have different responses, so support can take many forms.Facilitate Listening Sessions
Help students process their emotions and find appropriate support systems by creating facilitated conversations in which they can come together and share their experiences in a supportive environment. Providing students with an avenue to voice their thoughts and feelings can be therapeutic.Be mindful not to pathologize students who have been affected. Many students pull from sources of strength within their own communities to navigate difficult times in a healthy way.
If students express that they feel unsafe, believe them. Validate their feelings, and connect them with appropriate support. Facilitators and students can also be trained to watch for signs that young people are struggling and how to connect them to additional support if needed.
Have Campus Leadership Play an Active Role
The participation of campus leaders, such as the university president and student council representatives, provides assurance to students that their concerns are being taken seriously and empowers them to advocate for the measures they need to feel safe. Campus leaders are well served by being visible at protests when possible — engaging in casual dialogue to listen to and validate students’ concerns.Actively Support Student Mental Health
Students with direct experience with bias, hate crimes, or violence are at increased risk of mental health symptoms, even if they are not the target of current hateful actions. It’s important to acknowledge, however, that attacks on groups of people on campuses can affect the mental well-being of all students.- Have a sufficient number of mental health practitioners on call to meet the demands for counseling.
- Offer opportunities for social and peer support groups to come together to help students build connections with others who share similar experiences.
- Communicate with all students about what support is available to them.
- Encourage everyone on campus to identify and reach out to someone who may be struggling.
- JED’s article How to Help Students Cope With Safety Threats offers ways faculty can support students in this moment.
- JED’s Faculty Guide to Supporting Student Mental Health offers clear ways to recognize and support students who are struggling.
- Students can find resources for opening conversations around mental health in JED’s Mental Health Resource Center and from Seize The Awkward.
Promote Campus Connectedness and a Culture of Caring
People have an innate need for belonging, but college students are unique in that this may be the first time they are away from home and less able to rely on their ties to family and friends from afar. It’s essential for colleges to create opportunities for connectedness to help students thrive.In a connected community, debates with opposing viewpoints are seen as signs of a healthy and diverse community, even if they stir up emotions. Campus leaders are tasked with inviting such debate and free speech while also protecting students and faculty from physical threats, hate speech, and discriminatory taunts.
Empower Students to Work Together for an Improved Campus Climate
The current political situation is complex. Teaching students how to navigate issues like these will serve the community now and in the future. Consider offering:- Conversations between campus leaders and student protesters to make sure their concerns are heard.
- Teach-ins on antisemitism and Islamophobia.
- Workshops to coach students on navigating complex conversations, including explorations of how individuals interpret language differently based on their personal experiences and background.
- Bystander-intervention training, so students know how to respond in violent or discriminatory situations.
Enhance Campus Connection Through Celebration of Identities
All human beings feel more connected and supported when they feel seen and understood. Religion and religious communities are often a source of hope and strength for students and a big part of who they are, so it is especially unsettling when it’s the reason for harm directed at them. They may experience feelings of fear, shame, isolation, or anger as a result.As difficult as this moment is, it offers a chance to build in programs that celebrate the diverse identities and backgrounds that make up your student body. Consider:
- Engaging with student religious community leaders to identify effective ways to increase awareness of religious identities and practices.
- Offering events and messages that promote ongoing celebration, inclusion, and belonging of these identities.
- Creating interfaith organizations that can advance understanding across all religions on campus.
- Implementing curricular changes that incorporate Jewish and Muslim culture and history.
The Hamas‐led terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, were an inflection point that spurred a global rise in antisemitism. College and university campuses were particularly affected. Given the adverse impacts of prejudice and discrimination for mental health and the dearth of research on psychosocial effects of antisemitism, examining stress, coping, and mental health among Jewish students within this context is crucial. In this study, we used longitudinal data and multilevel modelling in the months after the events of October 7 to examine within‐ and between‐person effects of antisemitism‐related stress, stress associated with the Israel‐Palestine conflict, and approach and avoidance coping on depressive symptoms among a sample of 253 Jewish college and university students. Within‐person results indicated that increases from one's usual level of antisemitism‐related stress and stress attributable to the Israel‐Palestine conflict were independently associated with heightened depressive symptoms. Increased use of avoidance coping was also associated with heightened depressive symptoms, whereas the inverse was true for approach coping which had a protective effect. Similar effects were observed at the between‐person level. Results from the present work draw attention to both the potentially detrimental effects of stress associated with antisemitism, but also highlight coping as a target for intervention to potentially combat such effects. The findings also point to a path forward where campuses can remain open areas of inquiry by fostering resilience at both the community and individual level.
Keywords: antisemitism, coping, depressive symptoms, mental health, stress, students
Coinciding with the rising incidence of reports of antisemitism in the wake of October 7 were reports of Jewish students being challenged on the veracity of their claims of such incidents (Anti‐Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse 2023; Subcommittee on Antisemitism and Anti‐Israeli Bias 2024). While the questioning and delegitimisation of claims of antisemitism are not novel within academia (Hirsh 2023), the scepticism was at odds with the increasing trend towards the centring of ‘lived experience’ and harms‐based views of discrimination espoused on college and university campuses in recent years (Freeman and Stewart 2021; Haidt 2016; Lilienfeld 2020). For example, this disconnect can be observed in the heightened campus sensitivities to ‘microaggressions’ targeting non‐Jewish minorities but apparent ambivalence towards overt acts of discrimination targeting Jewish students (Abrams and Armeni 2023; Brym 2024). Given the adverse effects of experiencing prejudice and discrimination on mental health (Emmer, Dorn, and Mata 2024; Livingston et al. 2020; Pascoe and Smart Richman 2009), Jewish students' need to contend with experiences of antisemitism, combined with a lack of recognition and institutional or administrative action taken to address their concerns (Santos and Yogev 2024), may have had adverse effects for mental health during this period. This is in addition to potential mental health impacts of stress directly attributable to the ongoing geopolitical conflict and exposure to the humanitarian impacts via social and news media (Holman, Garfin, and Silver 2024). Given that college and university students are a population at high risk for mental health concerns (Pedrelli et al. 2015), examining the effect of such stressors is crucial.
With the rise in reported instances of antisemitism on college and university campuses, it is critical to understand how Jewish students are coping with these experiences. Given the central role that coping responses play in mitigating the adverse effects of stress on well‐being (DeLongis and Holtzman 2005; Folkman et al. 1986; Segerstrom and Smith 2019; Trudel‐Fitzgerald et al. 2023), such examination is key to understanding the individual‐level impacts of antisemitism, as well as in identifying ways to promote resilience. The approach/avoidance distinction has been theorized to identify adaptive and maladaptive responses across a range of contexts (Taylor and Stanton 2007). Coping responses that involve turning one's attention towards the source of stress or one's emotional reaction to it (approach) have been found to be more effective and associated with positive mental health impacts whereas those that involve directing one's attention away from the source of stress (avoidance) are often associated with worse mental health (Aldao, Nolen‐Hoeksema, and Schweizer 2010; Taylor and Stanton 2007). Although this distinction can be overly simplistic when applied unilaterally, the distinction is useful in contexts that involve managing stressors that are unremitting or chronic (DeLongis and Newth 2001)—characteristics applicable to the sustained rise in antisemitism reported across multiple jurisdictions following the October 7 terrorist attacks (Anti‐Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse 2023). Evidence that approach and avoidance coping in response to discrimination‐related stress are associated with positive and negative mental health outcomes, respectively, among a range of affected populations (Barnes and Lightsey Jr 2005; Foster 2000; Jacob et al. 2023; Sanders Thompson 2006; Villegas‐Gold and Yoo 2014) further implores us to consider this distinction in the present context.
While adverse psychological and mental health impacts among Jewish students in the aftermath of October 7 are beginning to emerge, research on coping responses among this population remains limited (Anti‐Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse 2023; Santos and Yogev 2024). That said, work examining coping responses in the wake October 7 among Jewish diaspora more broadly has pointed to approach coping as a potentially adaptive response. Specifically, in the limited number of studies that have examined the topic, recruiting social support or obtaining informational resources from community members are often cited responses to heightened stress, and preliminary evidence of their efficacy has been documented (Bankier‐Karp and Graham 2024; Reingold and Reznik 2024). In the present study, we build on this work and examine the potential protective effect of approach coping responses, such as seeking advice or support from others, on depressive symptoms. In addition, we explore whether avoidance coping responses, such as refusing to think or talk about one's stress, were associated with heightened depressive symptoms. We examine the effect of these responses in conjunction with the effect of stress resulting from antisemitism, as well as that attributable to concerns about the ongoing Israel‐Palestine conflict.
To investigate both within‐ and between‐person effects of these sources of stress, we used multilevel modelling and longitudinal data collected weekly during the early months of 2024. Specifically, we isolated the effects of individual differences to examine whether deviations from an individual's typical level of approach coping, avoidance coping, antisemitism‐related stress, and conflict‐related stress were associated with corresponding changes in depressive symptoms at a given timepoint. We hypothesised that at the within‐person level, intra‐personal increases from one's average level of antisemitism‐related stress, conflict‐related stress, and avoidance coping would be associated with increases in depressive symptoms, with the inverse being true for approach coping, with intrapersonal increases from one's average level of approach coping expected to exert a protective effect against heightened depressive symptoms. We expected similar effects at the between‐person level, with those students who tended to report higher levels of antisemitism‐related stress, conflict‐related stress, more avoidance coping, and less approach coping experiencing more depressive symptoms.
A total of 356 Jewish students responded to the baseline survey of whom 71% had complete data on requisite variables on at least one timepoint. Using listwise deletion to account for missing data at each timepoint resulted in a dataset contained 812 survey responses belonging to 253 participants. The mean number of surveys per participant was 3.47 (SD = 3.88) with 56% of participants providing data on more than one timepoint. Women and men comprised 59% and 34% of the sample respectively, with 7% of participants identifying as another gender. Participants represented 108 different schools, the majority located in Canada (62%) followed by the United States (30%), with the remaining 8% attending schools throughout Europe. The mean age of the sample was 23.40 (SD = 6.05). There were no significant differences on demographic variables between the analytic sample and participants excluded due to missing data (p > 0.05).
Approach coping was assessed with seven items from the from the WOC. Items included those that involved orienting attention towards the source of stress or one's emotional reaction. Approach coping items included responses such as ‘I made a plan of action and followed it’, ‘I talked to someone about how I was feeling’, and ‘I asked a relative or friend I respected for advice’. Reliability of the scale (ω) at first assessment was 0.71. Avoidance coping was also assessed with a subset of seven items from the WOC. Avoidance coping items included responses that involved distraction or re‐orienting one's attention away from the source stress and emotional reactions. For example, ‘I tried to keep my feelings to myself’, ‘I tried to forget the whole thing’, and ‘I went on as if nothing had happened’ were included in the measure of avoidance coping. At first assessment, ω = 0.65.
Restricted maximum likelihood (REML) was used to estimate all models. To capture the contributions of antisemitism and conflict stress on depressive symptoms, as well as the contribution of how participants coped, over and above the effect of general stress and covariates, modelling was done in three stages. In the first stage, only covariates and general stress were included in the model (Model 1). Next, antisemitism stress and conflict stress were added (Model 2). In the final model, approach and avoidance coping were added (Model 3). To account for serial dependence of residuals, a first order autoregressive error structure was included. Random slopes were excluded due to model non‐convergence. Likelihood ratio tests (LRTs) were used to compare nested models, and test if inclusion of additional parameters was justified at the cost of decreased parsimony. To do so, models were re‐fit using maximum likelihood (ML) estimation. Analyses were run in R version 4.3.2 (R Core Team 2023) and RStudio version 2024.04.2 + 764 (RStudio Team 2024) using the nlme package (Pinheiro, Bates, and R Core Team 2024) for multilevel modelling and r2mlm (Shaw et al. 2022) for computing and comparing R 2 values.
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Note: Values below the diagonal are between‐person correlations, values above the diagonal are within‐person correlations. Means and standard deviations are based on person‐means.
Abbreviation: ICC, Intraclass correlation coefficient.
*p ≤ 0.05. **p ≤ 0.01. ***p ≤ 0.001.
Table 2 presents multilevel models predicting depressive symptoms. In all models, effects of demographic covariates were nonsignificant. As expected, general stress was a potent contributor to depressive symptoms in all models demonstrating both within‐ (PC) and between‐person (PM) effects over and above those of focal predictors. In Model 1, predictor variables accounted for 40% of outcome variance. Adding variables capturing the within‐ and between‐person components of antisemitism stress and conflict stress to Model 2 improved model fit, X 2(4) = 99.52, p < 0.001. In Model 2, an additional 2% and 6% of variance explained could be attributed to the within‐ and between‐person components of the predictors respectively (computed using the formulae for ΔR t 2(f1) and ΔR t 2(f2); Rights and Sterba 2020). Only the between‐person effect of antisemitism stress was nonsignificant. The results suggest that increases from one's average level of antisemitism stress, but not average levels of antisemitism stress, were associated with heightened depressive symptoms. By contrast, both higher average levels of conflict stress as well as increases from one's average level of conflict stress were associated with increased depressive symptoms. Adding coping to Model 3 improved overall model fit X 2(4) = 13.13, p = 0.011. In line with hypotheses, increases in approach coping from one's usual level were associated with reduced depressive symptoms and the inverse was true for avoidance; however, results did not surface between‐person effects. Accordingly, the change in R 2 for this model was driven by the within‐person components of coping variables which accounted for an additional 0.3% of outcome variance (ΔR t 2(f1)).
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Note: Unstandardised regression coefficients. All models fit using restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimation.
Abbreviations: PC, person‐centred (within‐person effect); PM, person‐mean (between‐person effect).
*p ≤ 0.05. **p ≤ 0.01. ***p ≤ 0.001.
As a follow‐up to our analyses, we re‐ran Model three excluding covariates and revealed the same pattern of effects. Results from this model are presented in Supplemental Table S1. Additionally, we ran Model 3 with only North American participants to test for potential regional differences between Canada and the United States. To do so, location was dummy‐coded (Canada = 1, United States = 0). Results from this model are presented in Supplemental Table S2 and revealed a significant effect of location with greater depressive symptom scores reported among those attending schools in the United States, b = −1.17, SE = 0.57, p = 0.041. Effects of focal variables were consistent with results from models including the full sample that we report here.
Of primary interest in the present work was the role that coping responses play in students' experiences of depressive symptoms during this period of heightened stress. As expected, bivariate associations revealed that both approach and avoidance coping were positively associated with all types of stress as well as depressive symptoms. This finding indicates that those who experienced greater stress and depressive symptoms were also more likely to invoke coping responses—an expected finding given the increased need for coping among such individuals (Lazarus 2000). However, when controlling for covariates and within‐person variability, we observed no additional effect of coping at the between‐person level. This lack of observed effect may point to the importance of within‐person changes from one's usual level of engagement in a specific coping response, rather than stable, trait‐like differences in typical patterns of responding (Blaxton and Bergeman 2017; DeLongis and Holtzman 2005; Tennen et al. 2000). In accordance with this and in line with our hypotheses, we found that within‐person increases in approach and avoidance coping were associated with decreases and increases in depressive symptoms respectively.
Our findings provide preliminary support for the view of approach and avoidance coping as adaptive and maladaptive responses to antisemitism respectively and point to them as potentially actionable targets for intervention to improve the well‐being of Jewish students in the present context. Such interventions could involve targeting stress appraisals that precede coping responses by providing resources to cope with or modify the environment, in order to enable approach‐oriented responses. Specifically, in revealing the potentially detrimental effects of coping with antisemitism through avoidance, our results suggest that institutional responses that downplay its existence or stifle speech about its impacts may inadvertently worsen outcomes for affected students by promoting such responses. This is consistent with work indicating the harms of neglecting to acknowledge or downplaying experiences of discrimination (Briscoe 2024; Schraub 2016; Yi et al. 2023). As such, institutional interventions aimed at fostering environments that signal openness to discourse and provide opportunities for students to voice their concerns about antisemitism may be an avenue to explore. Such interventions might increase the perceived availability of coping resources for Jewish students and is consistent with preeminent models of stress and coping that centre the role of appraisal in coping processes (DeLongis and Holtzman 2005; Folkman et al. 1986) as well as models that frame approach and avoidance as motivational constructs. For example, the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat (BPS) suggests that approach‐oriented responses to stress are more often enacted when one perceives coping resources to be sufficient to meet environmental demands (Blascovich 2008). As such, increasing resources to cope at the institutional level by implementing the responses described above might promote student engagement in approach‐oriented coping and ultimately well‐being. While speculative, this line of reasoning pre‐empts the empirical question of the role of school and campus climate in the mental health of Jewish students in the current context. Our follow‐up analyses revealing an effect of location, with students in the United States reporting higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to those in Canada, supports this potential. While not the focus of the present study, these results suggest the need for more granular investigation of regional differences as well as differences between universities to gain a comprehensive understanding of student experiences.
While examining within‐person effects as we have done here provides greater support for investigating stress and coping processes than do cross‐sectional analyses, our analyses cannot establish temporal ordering in these effects. Namely, it is possible that heightened depressive symptoms may have preceded increased/decreased engagement in coping responses. The same possibility of reversed directionality can be applied to the within‐person increases in stress. More concretely, it stands to reason that intraindividual increases in depressive symptoms may have precipitated increased sensitivity to environmental threats, thereby heightening one's propensity to perceive such threats as antisemitic, or reducing students' capacity to respond adaptively to such incidents (Hong 2007). Nuanced examination of the sequence of cognitive appraisals that precede perceptions of antisemitic incidents and students' resources to cope will provide greater insight into this process. While prior work has documented intrapersonal lagged effects of discrimination on mental health, with within‐person increases in reports of discrimination predicting next‐day worsening of mental health symptoms (Potter, Brondolo, and Smyth 2019), this has yet to be examined in the context of antisemitism and will require more closely spaced assessments that can establish temporal ordering of antisemitic incidents and variation in mood states. This could be achieved through daily diary or ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods (Bolger and Laurenceau 2013)—methodologies largely absent in the literature on antisemitism at time of writing. Given the role of stress reactivity in transmitting and perpetuating the adverse health effects of discrimination among other minority populations (Emmer, Dorn, and Mata 2024; Leger et al. 2022), such examination is crucial and sorely needed.
In addition to temporal ordering of effects, there are limitations to the present work that necessitate caution in interpreting and generalizing the observed effects beyond the present sample. In particular, the self‐selected nature of the present sample must be noted. While the study garnered a great deal of attention on social media (with one post garnering over 14,000 views), the total number of Jewish students who were willing to participate was lower than we expected based on our past research using similar strategies for recruitment (e.g., Morstead et al. 2024) and may have been impacted by the chilling effect perpetuated by hateful comments that often surfaced when the post was re‐shared. Additionally, we received reports via email from students hesitant to participate for fear of doxing and social ostracization. In addition, a contingent of students may have been dissuaded from responding to the survey out of disagreement with our characterization of the study as an investigation into experiences of antisemitism. Jewish students who objected to the characterization of on‐ and off‐campus hostility toward Jewish individuals and organizations as antisemitism and instead view it as a manifestation of anti‐Zionism may not have felt compelled to participate. We limited the possibility of this by invoking the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism but deliberately excluding the example statements—the most hotly contested elements of the definition given their inclusion of reference to Israel (Della Pergola 2024; Penslar 2022)—from the body of our survey. Nonetheless, our recruitment of Jewish students from mainstream Jewish organizations likely resulted in underrepresentation of Jewish students who identify as anti‐Zionist. While a minority, this contingent is overrepresented among young adult Jewish populations and should not be overlooked (Fine 2024; Pew Research Center 2021). Future work that is inclusive of this population will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the mental health and diversity of experiences of Jewish students during this period. Such investigation will provide insight into how individual differences in conceptualizations of antisemitism contribute to threat appraisals, coping responses, and well‐being outcomes.
For better and for worse, college and university students are often at the forefront of political and cultural change and are a particularly key demographic to attend to during periods of instability (Murphy et al. 2024). Limitations notwithstanding, our study provides key insights into an understudied subset of this population during a uniquely stressful time. Jewish university and college students today are facing a spike in antisemitism (Anti‐Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse 2023; Brym 2024; European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 2024; Halamish 2024; Huffnagle 2024). In this context, it is critically important that mental health advocates, public health officials, and clinicians develop tools to aid students encountering these challenges. Insights gleaned from this work will benefit not only Jewish students but may be applicable in countering hate and discrimination against a range of minority groups and populations. Research investigating successful coping strategies is key to developing and implementing effective interventions for treating those experiencing psychological distress in these contexts, as well as addressing contextual factors that might mitigate these adverse effects. As a pervasive, shape‐shifting, and divisive phenomenon, countering antisemitism requires systemic and structural change, and the identification and challenging of societal narratives that perpetuate it (Nelson 2024; Waxman, Schraub, and Hosein 2022). This will remain an ongoing challenge for the foreseeable future. As such, investigating and intervening in how individuals interpret and respond to potentially antisemitic incidents is crucial in returning a sense of agency to individuals, and providing a means to promote resilience, even in the absence of societal change. Crucially, returning agency and fostering resilience at the individual level will enable students to cope with discomforting ideas and engage meaningfully with conflicting views. This development that will allow campuses to remain areas for open inquiry where meaningful progress on significant global challenges can be made.
SMI-41-e3529-s001.docx (46.8KB, docx)
Funding: This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada by grant 435‐2016‐1350 to A.D. and by a graduate fellowship to T.M.
SMI-41-e3529-s001.docx (46.8KB, docx)
Keywords: antisemitism, coping, depressive symptoms, mental health, stress, students
1. Introduction
Antisemitism underwent a global surge following the Hamas‐led terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, that further intensified when Israel launched its military response (Anti‐Defamation League, The Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University, and The Irwin Cotler Institute at Tel Aviv University 2024; Brym 2024; European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 2024; Halamish 2024; Huffnagle 2024). The anti‐Israel sentiment prevalent on college and university campuses across the western world led to elite institutions becoming epicentres of anti‐Israel protests that often devolved into antisemitic rhetoric and, in some cases, discrimination and harassment of Jewish students (Anti‐Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse 2023; Nelson, Friedland, and O’Connell 2024; Santos and Yogev 2024; Selznick and Greene 2024; Wright et al. 2023; Wright et al. 2024b). Although this surge was unsurprising to those aware of the long history of antisemitism in academia (Harris 2009; Small 2013), and those cognisant of the rising rates of antisemitism on campuses that preceded the October 7 attacks (Kenedy 2022; Rubin 2019), the sudden increase was likely unanticipated by many young, politically left‐leaning students who viewed antisemitism as primarily a right‐wing issue, with little foothold in academic settings increasingly dominated by progressive ideologies (Wright et al. 2024; Wright et al. 2024a).Coinciding with the rising incidence of reports of antisemitism in the wake of October 7 were reports of Jewish students being challenged on the veracity of their claims of such incidents (Anti‐Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse 2023; Subcommittee on Antisemitism and Anti‐Israeli Bias 2024). While the questioning and delegitimisation of claims of antisemitism are not novel within academia (Hirsh 2023), the scepticism was at odds with the increasing trend towards the centring of ‘lived experience’ and harms‐based views of discrimination espoused on college and university campuses in recent years (Freeman and Stewart 2021; Haidt 2016; Lilienfeld 2020). For example, this disconnect can be observed in the heightened campus sensitivities to ‘microaggressions’ targeting non‐Jewish minorities but apparent ambivalence towards overt acts of discrimination targeting Jewish students (Abrams and Armeni 2023; Brym 2024). Given the adverse effects of experiencing prejudice and discrimination on mental health (Emmer, Dorn, and Mata 2024; Livingston et al. 2020; Pascoe and Smart Richman 2009), Jewish students' need to contend with experiences of antisemitism, combined with a lack of recognition and institutional or administrative action taken to address their concerns (Santos and Yogev 2024), may have had adverse effects for mental health during this period. This is in addition to potential mental health impacts of stress directly attributable to the ongoing geopolitical conflict and exposure to the humanitarian impacts via social and news media (Holman, Garfin, and Silver 2024). Given that college and university students are a population at high risk for mental health concerns (Pedrelli et al. 2015), examining the effect of such stressors is crucial.
With the rise in reported instances of antisemitism on college and university campuses, it is critical to understand how Jewish students are coping with these experiences. Given the central role that coping responses play in mitigating the adverse effects of stress on well‐being (DeLongis and Holtzman 2005; Folkman et al. 1986; Segerstrom and Smith 2019; Trudel‐Fitzgerald et al. 2023), such examination is key to understanding the individual‐level impacts of antisemitism, as well as in identifying ways to promote resilience. The approach/avoidance distinction has been theorized to identify adaptive and maladaptive responses across a range of contexts (Taylor and Stanton 2007). Coping responses that involve turning one's attention towards the source of stress or one's emotional reaction to it (approach) have been found to be more effective and associated with positive mental health impacts whereas those that involve directing one's attention away from the source of stress (avoidance) are often associated with worse mental health (Aldao, Nolen‐Hoeksema, and Schweizer 2010; Taylor and Stanton 2007). Although this distinction can be overly simplistic when applied unilaterally, the distinction is useful in contexts that involve managing stressors that are unremitting or chronic (DeLongis and Newth 2001)—characteristics applicable to the sustained rise in antisemitism reported across multiple jurisdictions following the October 7 terrorist attacks (Anti‐Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse 2023). Evidence that approach and avoidance coping in response to discrimination‐related stress are associated with positive and negative mental health outcomes, respectively, among a range of affected populations (Barnes and Lightsey Jr 2005; Foster 2000; Jacob et al. 2023; Sanders Thompson 2006; Villegas‐Gold and Yoo 2014) further implores us to consider this distinction in the present context.
While adverse psychological and mental health impacts among Jewish students in the aftermath of October 7 are beginning to emerge, research on coping responses among this population remains limited (Anti‐Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse 2023; Santos and Yogev 2024). That said, work examining coping responses in the wake October 7 among Jewish diaspora more broadly has pointed to approach coping as a potentially adaptive response. Specifically, in the limited number of studies that have examined the topic, recruiting social support or obtaining informational resources from community members are often cited responses to heightened stress, and preliminary evidence of their efficacy has been documented (Bankier‐Karp and Graham 2024; Reingold and Reznik 2024). In the present study, we build on this work and examine the potential protective effect of approach coping responses, such as seeking advice or support from others, on depressive symptoms. In addition, we explore whether avoidance coping responses, such as refusing to think or talk about one's stress, were associated with heightened depressive symptoms. We examine the effect of these responses in conjunction with the effect of stress resulting from antisemitism, as well as that attributable to concerns about the ongoing Israel‐Palestine conflict.
To investigate both within‐ and between‐person effects of these sources of stress, we used multilevel modelling and longitudinal data collected weekly during the early months of 2024. Specifically, we isolated the effects of individual differences to examine whether deviations from an individual's typical level of approach coping, avoidance coping, antisemitism‐related stress, and conflict‐related stress were associated with corresponding changes in depressive symptoms at a given timepoint. We hypothesised that at the within‐person level, intra‐personal increases from one's average level of antisemitism‐related stress, conflict‐related stress, and avoidance coping would be associated with increases in depressive symptoms, with the inverse being true for approach coping, with intrapersonal increases from one's average level of approach coping expected to exert a protective effect against heightened depressive symptoms. We expected similar effects at the between‐person level, with those students who tended to report higher levels of antisemitism‐related stress, conflict‐related stress, more avoidance coping, and less approach coping experiencing more depressive symptoms.
2. Method
2.1. Data Collection and Participants
Data for the present study come from an online baseline survey and 17 weekly follow‐up assessments. Data collection began in January 2024 with follow‐up assessments distributed weekly through mid‐May. Participants were able to join the study at any point during the study period by completing the baseline survey accessible via the study website. Any college or university student who identified as Jewish was invited to take part in the study. Recruitment was done primarily through social media by reaching out to organisations that cater to Jewish students and young adults and requesting that they share our study with their networks. The same request was made of members of the Jewish community with prominent followings on social media. All study procedures were approved by the University of British Columbia Behavioural Research Ethics Board (H23‐04062). To encourage participation and given concern for security expressed by prospective participants, consent documents included the assurance that survey responses would not be uploaded to a publicly accessible platform.A total of 356 Jewish students responded to the baseline survey of whom 71% had complete data on requisite variables on at least one timepoint. Using listwise deletion to account for missing data at each timepoint resulted in a dataset contained 812 survey responses belonging to 253 participants. The mean number of surveys per participant was 3.47 (SD = 3.88) with 56% of participants providing data on more than one timepoint. Women and men comprised 59% and 34% of the sample respectively, with 7% of participants identifying as another gender. Participants represented 108 different schools, the majority located in Canada (62%) followed by the United States (30%), with the remaining 8% attending schools throughout Europe. The mean age of the sample was 23.40 (SD = 6.05). There were no significant differences on demographic variables between the analytic sample and participants excluded due to missing data (p > 0.05).
2.2. Measures
2.2.1. Depressive Symptoms
Depressive symptoms were assessed in each survey using the 10‐item version of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale (CESD‐10; Andresen et al. 1994). The scale includes items such as ‘I felt depressed’ and ‘I was bothered by things that usually don't bother me’ and participants rated how often the statements characterised their experiences in the past week ranging from 0 (rarely or none of the time) to 3 (all the time). Responses were summed to create a composite score. The 10‐item version of the scale has been widely used with community and college student samples and has similar psychometric properties to the full version (Bradley, Bagnell, and Brannen 2010). Reliability of the scale (coefficient omega, ω) at first assessment was 0.86.2.2.2. Antisemitism‐Related Stress
Antisemitism‐related stress (antisemitism stress) was assessed at each timepoint by having participants rate on a four‐point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 4 (a great deal) the extent antisemitism on and off campus had contributed to their stress in the past week. Responses to the questions ‘to what extent has antisemitism on campus contributed to your stress in the past week?’ and ‘to what extent has antisemitism in general contributed to your stress in the past week?’ were summed to create a composite score. The Spearman‐Brown reliability coefficient for the two‐item measure at first assessment was 0.78.2.2.3. Israel‐Palestine Conflict Stress
Stress relating to the events of October 7 and the war that ensued (conflict stress) was assessed with the question ‘to what extent has the Israel‐Palestine conflict contributed to your stress in the past week?’ Participants responded on a four‐point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 4 (a great deal).2.2.4. Coping
If participants indicated experiencing antisemitism‐related stress or stress related to the Israel‐Palestine conflict in the past week, they were presented with a list of potential coping responses and asked to indicate the extent they had used each method to cope. Coping responses were drawn from the Ways of Coping (WOC) Questionnaire and rated on a scale ranging from 0 (not at all or not applicable) to 3 (a great deal; Folkman et al. 1986; Lee‐Baggley, Preece, and DeLongis 2005). Participants who indicated they had not experienced stress related to antisemitism or the Israel‐Palestine conflict in the past week (and thus had no need to initiate of a coping response), were not presented with the question and coded as 0 on coping variables for that timepoint.Approach coping was assessed with seven items from the from the WOC. Items included those that involved orienting attention towards the source of stress or one's emotional reaction. Approach coping items included responses such as ‘I made a plan of action and followed it’, ‘I talked to someone about how I was feeling’, and ‘I asked a relative or friend I respected for advice’. Reliability of the scale (ω) at first assessment was 0.71. Avoidance coping was also assessed with a subset of seven items from the WOC. Avoidance coping items included responses that involved distraction or re‐orienting one's attention away from the source stress and emotional reactions. For example, ‘I tried to keep my feelings to myself’, ‘I tried to forget the whole thing’, and ‘I went on as if nothing had happened’ were included in the measure of avoidance coping. At first assessment, ω = 0.65.
2.2.5. Covariates
General stress was included as a covariate in models to isolate its effect and capture the independent contribution of stress relating to antisemitism and the Israel‐Palestine conflict to depressive symptoms. General stress was computed as the mean of five items from the College Student Stress Scale (CSSS; Feldt 2008). At each timepoint, participants indicated the extent they had felt ‘anxious or distressed’ in the past week on a five‐point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (very often) in five domains (relationships, family, financial, academic, and housing matters). At first assessment, ω = 0.76. Demographic variables including age, gender, and school location were assessed at baseline and were also included as covariates in study models.2.3. Analytic Strategy
Multilevel modelling was used to account for the hierarchical nesting of weekly survey responses (level 1) within participants (level 2). To capture both within‐ and between‐person effects, level 1 stress and coping variables were person‐mean centred (PC) and entered in the model at level 1, with person‐means (PM) reintroduced as grand‐mean centred predictors at level 2. This approach allows for capturing the effect of deviation from one's average level of a variable on a given timepoint (PC, within‐person effect), as well as the effect of one's average level of a variable compared to that of others in the sample (PM, between‐person effect). Age was also grand‐mean centred and entered at level 2. Gender and school location were entered as dummy codes into models. The former included three levels (women, men and other) with men as the reference group. The latter was a single variable indicating whether a participant was attending school in North America with those attending school in Europe as the reference group.Restricted maximum likelihood (REML) was used to estimate all models. To capture the contributions of antisemitism and conflict stress on depressive symptoms, as well as the contribution of how participants coped, over and above the effect of general stress and covariates, modelling was done in three stages. In the first stage, only covariates and general stress were included in the model (Model 1). Next, antisemitism stress and conflict stress were added (Model 2). In the final model, approach and avoidance coping were added (Model 3). To account for serial dependence of residuals, a first order autoregressive error structure was included. Random slopes were excluded due to model non‐convergence. Likelihood ratio tests (LRTs) were used to compare nested models, and test if inclusion of additional parameters was justified at the cost of decreased parsimony. To do so, models were re‐fit using maximum likelihood (ML) estimation. Analyses were run in R version 4.3.2 (R Core Team 2023) and RStudio version 2024.04.2 + 764 (RStudio Team 2024) using the nlme package (Pinheiro, Bates, and R Core Team 2024) for multilevel modelling and r2mlm (Shaw et al. 2022) for computing and comparing R 2 values.
3. Results
Univariate and bivariate statistics are presented in Table 1. Intraclass correlations (ICCs) ranged from 0.43 (avoidance coping) to 0.76 (general stress) reflecting substantial stability in participants scores across timepoints. Of note, participants' levels of depressive symptoms were elevated according to established cut‐offs. The mean CESD score, 14.06, exceeds the often‐cited benchmarks of 8 and 10 used to identify cases of potential concern and worthy of clinical follow‐up in community samples (Andresen et al. 1994). All correlations were significantly associated with depressive symptoms, except for approach coping which was non‐significant at the within‐person level. These findings are consistent with theory and are further explicated by results from multivariate models.TABLE 1.
Means, standard deviations, intraclass correlations, and within‐ and between‐person correlations among study variables. | Variable | M (SD) | ICC | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Depressive symptoms | 14.09 (6.15) | 0.65 | | 0.38*** | 0.34*** | 0.35*** | 0.06 | 0.21*** |
2 | General stress | 2.67 (0.75) | 0.76 | 0.71*** | | 0.19*** | 0.23*** | 0.08* | 0.20*** |
3 | Antisemitism stress | 5.50 (1.69) | 0.61 | 0.54*** | 0.45*** | | 0.58*** | 0.32*** | 0.27*** |
4 | Conflict stress | 3.03 (0.85) | 0.54 | 0.54*** | 0.35*** | 0.79*** | | 0.33*** | 0.30*** |
5 | Approach coping | 2.09 (0.67) | 0.61 | 0.40*** | 0.32*** | 0.57*** | 0.61*** | | 0.50*** |
6 | Avoidance coping | 2.29 (0.67) | 0.43 | 0.33*** | 0.42*** | 0.42*** | 0.36*** | 0.30*** | |
Note: Values below the diagonal are between‐person correlations, values above the diagonal are within‐person correlations. Means and standard deviations are based on person‐means.
Abbreviation: ICC, Intraclass correlation coefficient.
*p ≤ 0.05. **p ≤ 0.01. ***p ≤ 0.001.
Table 2 presents multilevel models predicting depressive symptoms. In all models, effects of demographic covariates were nonsignificant. As expected, general stress was a potent contributor to depressive symptoms in all models demonstrating both within‐ (PC) and between‐person (PM) effects over and above those of focal predictors. In Model 1, predictor variables accounted for 40% of outcome variance. Adding variables capturing the within‐ and between‐person components of antisemitism stress and conflict stress to Model 2 improved model fit, X 2(4) = 99.52, p < 0.001. In Model 2, an additional 2% and 6% of variance explained could be attributed to the within‐ and between‐person components of the predictors respectively (computed using the formulae for ΔR t 2(f1) and ΔR t 2(f2); Rights and Sterba 2020). Only the between‐person effect of antisemitism stress was nonsignificant. The results suggest that increases from one's average level of antisemitism stress, but not average levels of antisemitism stress, were associated with heightened depressive symptoms. By contrast, both higher average levels of conflict stress as well as increases from one's average level of conflict stress were associated with increased depressive symptoms. Adding coping to Model 3 improved overall model fit X 2(4) = 13.13, p = 0.011. In line with hypotheses, increases in approach coping from one's usual level were associated with reduced depressive symptoms and the inverse was true for avoidance; however, results did not surface between‐person effects. Accordingly, the change in R 2 for this model was driven by the within‐person components of coping variables which accounted for an additional 0.3% of outcome variance (ΔR t 2(f1)).
TABLE 2.
Results from multilevel models predicting depressive symptoms.Predictor | Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 3 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fixed effects | ||||||
Est. | SE | Est. | SE | Est. | SE | |
Intercept | 12.63*** | 1.16 | 12.73*** | 1.07 | 12.74*** | 1.08 |
Age | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.04 |
Gender (women) | 0.20 | 0.61 | −0.04 | 0.56 | −0.14 | 0.57 |
Gender (other) | 0.94 | 1.20 | 0.95 | 1.12 | 0.79 | 1.14 |
Location (North America) | 1.03 | 1.10 | 1.15 | 1.03 | 1.20 | 1.04 |
PC general stress | 3.69*** | 0.40 | 3.05*** | 0.39 | 2.90*** | 0.39 |
PM general stress | 5.44*** | 0.39 | 4.52*** | 0.40 | 4.31*** | 0.42 |
PC antisemitism stress | | | 0.59*** | 0.15 | 0.63*** | 0.15 |
PM antisemitism stress | | | 0.39 | 0.26 | 0.33 | 0.27 |
PC conflict stress | | | 1.12*** | 0.29 | 1.17*** | 0.29 |
PM conflict stress | | | 1.48** | 0.50 | 1.48** | 0.52 |
PC approach coping | | | | | −1.14** | 0.38 |
PM approach coping | | | | | −0.15 | 0.50 |
PC avoidance coping | | | | | 0.71* | 0.30 |
PM avoidance coping | | | | | 0.83 | 0.48 |
Random effects | ||||||
Variance | ||||||
Level 1 | 13.40 | 11.94 | 11.66 | |||
Level 2 | 12.20 | 10.20 | 10.50 | |||
Goodness of fit | ||||||
AIC | 4683.868 | 4597.605 | 4592.599 | |||
BIC | 4730.777 | 4663.207 | 4676.855 |
Note: Unstandardised regression coefficients. All models fit using restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimation.
Abbreviations: PC, person‐centred (within‐person effect); PM, person‐mean (between‐person effect).
*p ≤ 0.05. **p ≤ 0.01. ***p ≤ 0.001.
As a follow‐up to our analyses, we re‐ran Model three excluding covariates and revealed the same pattern of effects. Results from this model are presented in Supplemental Table S1. Additionally, we ran Model 3 with only North American participants to test for potential regional differences between Canada and the United States. To do so, location was dummy‐coded (Canada = 1, United States = 0). Results from this model are presented in Supplemental Table S2 and revealed a significant effect of location with greater depressive symptom scores reported among those attending schools in the United States, b = −1.17, SE = 0.57, p = 0.041. Effects of focal variables were consistent with results from models including the full sample that we report here.
4. Discussion
The present study adds to a body of work in its infancy on the psychosocial correlates and consequences of antisemitism at a time when there has been an increase that is unprecedented in recent history (Anti‐Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse 2023). Jewish college and university students were at the forefront of this increase making them a group particularly at risk for experiencing adverse outcomes. We found that experiencing antisemitism was associated with a within‐person increase in depressive symptoms. That is, we found that on occasions when students reported greater antisemitism than their usual, they also tended to report higher than usual levels of depressive symptoms. This finding is noteworthy because it accounts for the propensity of some students to habitually perceive higher levels of antisemitism—a tendency likely influenced by incidence of antisemitic events, as well as individual differences that predispose some to interpret events as threatening or hostile (Denissen and Penke 2008; Mellentin et al. 2015). Furthermore, we found that this effect emerged controlling for the effect of stress attributable to the Israel‐Palestine conflict, as well as other common sources of student stress (housing, finances, etc.). Given that increases in antisemitism can often coincide with escalation of conflict in Israel (Enstad 2023; LaFreniere Tamez, Anastasio, and Perliger 2024; Vergani et al. 2022), accounting for stress attributable to this source is key. The need for such consideration is demonstrated by our finding that such stress was also related to increases in depressive symptoms at both the between‐ and within‐person level.Of primary interest in the present work was the role that coping responses play in students' experiences of depressive symptoms during this period of heightened stress. As expected, bivariate associations revealed that both approach and avoidance coping were positively associated with all types of stress as well as depressive symptoms. This finding indicates that those who experienced greater stress and depressive symptoms were also more likely to invoke coping responses—an expected finding given the increased need for coping among such individuals (Lazarus 2000). However, when controlling for covariates and within‐person variability, we observed no additional effect of coping at the between‐person level. This lack of observed effect may point to the importance of within‐person changes from one's usual level of engagement in a specific coping response, rather than stable, trait‐like differences in typical patterns of responding (Blaxton and Bergeman 2017; DeLongis and Holtzman 2005; Tennen et al. 2000). In accordance with this and in line with our hypotheses, we found that within‐person increases in approach and avoidance coping were associated with decreases and increases in depressive symptoms respectively.
Our findings provide preliminary support for the view of approach and avoidance coping as adaptive and maladaptive responses to antisemitism respectively and point to them as potentially actionable targets for intervention to improve the well‐being of Jewish students in the present context. Such interventions could involve targeting stress appraisals that precede coping responses by providing resources to cope with or modify the environment, in order to enable approach‐oriented responses. Specifically, in revealing the potentially detrimental effects of coping with antisemitism through avoidance, our results suggest that institutional responses that downplay its existence or stifle speech about its impacts may inadvertently worsen outcomes for affected students by promoting such responses. This is consistent with work indicating the harms of neglecting to acknowledge or downplaying experiences of discrimination (Briscoe 2024; Schraub 2016; Yi et al. 2023). As such, institutional interventions aimed at fostering environments that signal openness to discourse and provide opportunities for students to voice their concerns about antisemitism may be an avenue to explore. Such interventions might increase the perceived availability of coping resources for Jewish students and is consistent with preeminent models of stress and coping that centre the role of appraisal in coping processes (DeLongis and Holtzman 2005; Folkman et al. 1986) as well as models that frame approach and avoidance as motivational constructs. For example, the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat (BPS) suggests that approach‐oriented responses to stress are more often enacted when one perceives coping resources to be sufficient to meet environmental demands (Blascovich 2008). As such, increasing resources to cope at the institutional level by implementing the responses described above might promote student engagement in approach‐oriented coping and ultimately well‐being. While speculative, this line of reasoning pre‐empts the empirical question of the role of school and campus climate in the mental health of Jewish students in the current context. Our follow‐up analyses revealing an effect of location, with students in the United States reporting higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to those in Canada, supports this potential. While not the focus of the present study, these results suggest the need for more granular investigation of regional differences as well as differences between universities to gain a comprehensive understanding of student experiences.
While examining within‐person effects as we have done here provides greater support for investigating stress and coping processes than do cross‐sectional analyses, our analyses cannot establish temporal ordering in these effects. Namely, it is possible that heightened depressive symptoms may have preceded increased/decreased engagement in coping responses. The same possibility of reversed directionality can be applied to the within‐person increases in stress. More concretely, it stands to reason that intraindividual increases in depressive symptoms may have precipitated increased sensitivity to environmental threats, thereby heightening one's propensity to perceive such threats as antisemitic, or reducing students' capacity to respond adaptively to such incidents (Hong 2007). Nuanced examination of the sequence of cognitive appraisals that precede perceptions of antisemitic incidents and students' resources to cope will provide greater insight into this process. While prior work has documented intrapersonal lagged effects of discrimination on mental health, with within‐person increases in reports of discrimination predicting next‐day worsening of mental health symptoms (Potter, Brondolo, and Smyth 2019), this has yet to be examined in the context of antisemitism and will require more closely spaced assessments that can establish temporal ordering of antisemitic incidents and variation in mood states. This could be achieved through daily diary or ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods (Bolger and Laurenceau 2013)—methodologies largely absent in the literature on antisemitism at time of writing. Given the role of stress reactivity in transmitting and perpetuating the adverse health effects of discrimination among other minority populations (Emmer, Dorn, and Mata 2024; Leger et al. 2022), such examination is crucial and sorely needed.
In addition to temporal ordering of effects, there are limitations to the present work that necessitate caution in interpreting and generalizing the observed effects beyond the present sample. In particular, the self‐selected nature of the present sample must be noted. While the study garnered a great deal of attention on social media (with one post garnering over 14,000 views), the total number of Jewish students who were willing to participate was lower than we expected based on our past research using similar strategies for recruitment (e.g., Morstead et al. 2024) and may have been impacted by the chilling effect perpetuated by hateful comments that often surfaced when the post was re‐shared. Additionally, we received reports via email from students hesitant to participate for fear of doxing and social ostracization. In addition, a contingent of students may have been dissuaded from responding to the survey out of disagreement with our characterization of the study as an investigation into experiences of antisemitism. Jewish students who objected to the characterization of on‐ and off‐campus hostility toward Jewish individuals and organizations as antisemitism and instead view it as a manifestation of anti‐Zionism may not have felt compelled to participate. We limited the possibility of this by invoking the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism but deliberately excluding the example statements—the most hotly contested elements of the definition given their inclusion of reference to Israel (Della Pergola 2024; Penslar 2022)—from the body of our survey. Nonetheless, our recruitment of Jewish students from mainstream Jewish organizations likely resulted in underrepresentation of Jewish students who identify as anti‐Zionist. While a minority, this contingent is overrepresented among young adult Jewish populations and should not be overlooked (Fine 2024; Pew Research Center 2021). Future work that is inclusive of this population will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the mental health and diversity of experiences of Jewish students during this period. Such investigation will provide insight into how individual differences in conceptualizations of antisemitism contribute to threat appraisals, coping responses, and well‐being outcomes.
For better and for worse, college and university students are often at the forefront of political and cultural change and are a particularly key demographic to attend to during periods of instability (Murphy et al. 2024). Limitations notwithstanding, our study provides key insights into an understudied subset of this population during a uniquely stressful time. Jewish university and college students today are facing a spike in antisemitism (Anti‐Defamation League, Hillel International, and College Pulse 2023; Brym 2024; European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 2024; Halamish 2024; Huffnagle 2024). In this context, it is critically important that mental health advocates, public health officials, and clinicians develop tools to aid students encountering these challenges. Insights gleaned from this work will benefit not only Jewish students but may be applicable in countering hate and discrimination against a range of minority groups and populations. Research investigating successful coping strategies is key to developing and implementing effective interventions for treating those experiencing psychological distress in these contexts, as well as addressing contextual factors that might mitigate these adverse effects. As a pervasive, shape‐shifting, and divisive phenomenon, countering antisemitism requires systemic and structural change, and the identification and challenging of societal narratives that perpetuate it (Nelson 2024; Waxman, Schraub, and Hosein 2022). This will remain an ongoing challenge for the foreseeable future. As such, investigating and intervening in how individuals interpret and respond to potentially antisemitic incidents is crucial in returning a sense of agency to individuals, and providing a means to promote resilience, even in the absence of societal change. Crucially, returning agency and fostering resilience at the individual level will enable students to cope with discomforting ideas and engage meaningfully with conflicting views. This development that will allow campuses to remain areas for open inquiry where meaningful progress on significant global challenges can be made.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.Supporting information
Supporting Information S1SMI-41-e3529-s001.docx (46.8KB, docx)
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Ilana Katz, Talia Rockman, Greg Werker, and Janet Werker for their comments on an earlier draft.Funding: This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada by grant 435‐2016‐1350 to A.D. and by a graduate fellowship to T.M.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.References
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Associated Data
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.Data Citations
- Pinheiro, J. , Bates D.. and R Core Team . 2024. Nlme: Linear and Nonlinear Mixed Effects Models.”[Computer software]. https://CRAN.R‐project.org/package=nlme.
Supplementary Materials
Supporting Information S1SMI-41-e3529-s001.docx (46.8KB, docx)
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
Is antisemitism a psychological disease?
Accusing Israel of crimes in a process of psychological projection, in order to purge pathological guilt associated with the Holocaust, has a long, unsavory history in post-Holocaust Germany.
Two Jewish German philosophers made what is perhaps the best case for grounding contemporary antisemitism in social psychology – the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) formulated the theory of guilt-defensiveness antisemitism to explain post-1945 German responses to the Holocaust.This theory holds that pathological guilt about the Holocaust causes Germans to lash out at Jews. Put simply, it says that Germans are immersed in culpability about the crimes against humanity committed directly or indirectly by themselves or by their family members, and shift the blame to Jews in order to purge their distorted emotions.
A 2017 German federal government report revealed that 40% of Germans hold modern antisemitic views.The study showed that nearly 33 million Germans – some 40% of the population of 82 million – are infected with a contemporary antisemitism: hatred of the Jewish state. According to the study, these millions of Germans agree with the following statement: “Based on Israel’s policies, I can understand people having something against the Jews.”Accusing Israel of crimes in a process of psychological projection – in order to purge pathological guilt associated with the Holocaust – has a long, unsavory history in post-Holocaust Germany.
Thank you for the free bumps to my thread. I now have you on ignore but thank you for continuing to prove my point and you marginalize yourself by the Barbra Streisand effect.
Play a game with some AI on this
Maybe try it to find analogue of bacteria a…Semites are vermin human scum and should be erased from the face of the earth (apologies for those few of you that are decent and worthy human beings).
So the all can see what a piece of shit you are
For someone who hates hitler, you sound just like him.
...In connection with the Jewish question I have this to say: it is a shameful spectacle to see how the whole democratic world is oozing sympathy for the poor tormented Jewish people, but remains hard-hearted and obdurate when it comes to helping them which is surely, in view of its attitude, an obvious duty. The arguments that are brought up as an excuse for not helping them actually speak for us Germans and Italians.
For this is what they say:
1. "We," that is the democracies, "are not in a position to take in the Jews." Yet in these empires there are not 10 people to the square kilometer. While Germany, with her 135 inhabitants to the square kilometer, is supposed to have room for them!
2. They assure us: We cannot take them unless Germany is prepared to allow them a certain amount of capital to bring with them as immigrants.
For hundreds of years Germany was good enough to receive these elements, although they possessed nothing except infectious political and physical diseases. What they possess today, they have by a very large extent gained at the cost of the less astute German nation by the most reprehensible manipulations.
Today we are merely paying this people what it deserves. When the German nation was, thanks to the inflation instigated and carried through by Jews, deprived of the entire savings which it had accumulated in years of honest work, when the rest of the world took away the German nation's foreign investments, when we were divested of the whole of our colonial possessions, these philanthropic considerations evidently carried little noticeable weight with democratic statesmen.
Today I can only assure these gentlemen that, thanks to the brutal education with which the democracies favored us for fifteen years, we are completely hardened to all attacks of sentiment. After more than eight hundred thousand children of the nation had died of hunger and undernourishment at the close of the War, we witnessed almost one million head of milking cows being driven away from us in accordance with the cruel paragraphs of a dictate which the humane democratic apostles of the world forced upon us as a peace treaty. We witnessed over one million German prisoners of war being retained in confinement for no reason at all for a whole year after the War was ended. We witnessed over one and a half million Germans being torn away from all that they possessed in the territories lying on our frontiers, and being whipped out with practically only what they wore on their backs. We had to endure having millions of our fellow countrymen torn from us without their consent, and without their being afforded the slightest possibility of existence. I could supplement these examples with dozens of the most cruel kind. For this reason we ask to be spared all sentimental talk. The German nation does not wish its interests to be determined and controlled by any foreign nation. France to the French, England to the English, America to the Americans, and Germany to the Germans. We are resolved to prevent the settlement in our country of a strange people which was capable of snatching for itself all the leading positions in the land, and to oust it. For it is our will to educate our own nation for these leading positions. We have hundreds of thousands of very intelligent children of peasants and of the working classes. We shall have them educated - in fact we have already begun and we wish that one day they, and not the representatives of an alien race, may hold the leading positions in the State together with our educated classes. Above all, German culture, as its name alone shows, is German and not Jewish, and therefore its management and care will be entrusted to members of our own nation. If the rest of the world cries out with a hypocritical mien against this barbaric expulsion from Germany of such an irreplaceable and culturally eminently valuable element, we can only be astonished at the conclusions they draw from this situation. For how thankful they must be that we are releasing these precious apostles of culture, and placing them at the disposal of the rest of the world. In accordance with their own declarations they cannot find a single reason to excuse themselves for refusing to receive this most valuable race in their own countries. Nor can I see a reason why the members of this race should be imposed upon the German nation, while in the States, which are so enthusiastic about these "splendid people," their settlement should suddenly be refused with every imaginable excuse. I think that the sooner this problem is solved the better; for Europe cannot settle down until the Jewish question is cleared up. It may very well be possible that sooner or later an agreement on this problem may be reached in Europe, even between those nations which otherwise do not so easily come together.
The world has sufficient space for settlements, but we must once and for all get rid of the opinion that the Jewish race was only created by God for the purpose of being in a certain percentage a parasite living on the body and the productive work of other nations. The Jewish race will have to adapt itself to sound constructive activity as other nations do, or sooner or later it will succumb to a crisis of an inconceivable magnitude.
One thing I should like to say on this day which may be memorable for others as well as for us Germans: In the course of my life I have very often been a prophet, and have usually been ridiculed for it. During the time of my struggle for power it was in the first instance the Jewish race which only received my prophecies with laughter when I said that I would one day take over the leadership of the State, and with it that of the whole nation, and that I would then among many other things settle the Jewish problem. Their laughter was uproarious, but I think that for some time now they have been laughing on the other side of their face. Today I will once more be a prophet: If the international Jewish financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the Bolshevization of the earth, and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!
...The nations are no longer willing to die on the battlefield so that this unstable international race may profiteer from a war or satisfy its Old Testament vengeance. The Jewish watchword "Workers of the world unite" will be conquered by a higher realization, namely "Workers of all classes and of all nations, recognize your common enemy!"
The Holocaust was the largest manifestation of anti-Semitism in recent history. When we speak about the Holocaust today, powerful and horrific images come to mind. We are reminded of the horrors which Jews and other persecuted groups faced: forced labor, starvation, humiliation, and torture which often resulted in death. We see the systematic effort to wipe out an entire population from the face of the earth. We see everyday people turning their backs on neighbors and friends in their plea for help. And we see the collective spirit of the world ignoring these atrocities and denying any responsibility for their outcome.
Though attitudes towards Jews have come a long way since the mid-19th Century, anti-Semitism is still present in our world today. A nationwide survey released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in November 2007 shows that the number of Americans who hold anti-Semitic attitudes has held constant since their previous survey, released on April 4, 2005. This survey showed a slight decline in the number of Americans who held anti-Semitic attitudes, from its 2002 findings.
The 2005 Survey of American Attitudes Toward Jews in America, a national poll of 1,600 American adults conducted by the ADL, found that 14% of Americans hold views about Jews that are "unquestionably anti-Semitic," compared to 17% in 2002. Previous ADL surveys over the last decade had also indicated that anti-Semitism was in decline.
In 2014 and 2015, the ADL conducted a survey of worldwide anti-Semitic attitudes. The ADL Global 100 surveyed over 100 countries, encompassing nearly 86% of the world's population, and found that 1.09 billion people hold anti-Semitic attitudes and that 35% of people have never heard of the Holocaust.
Huh 14-17%.... Sounds like they are a minority.
Though attitudes towards Jews have come a long way since the mid-19th Century, anti-Semitism is still present in our world today. A nationwide survey released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in November 2007 shows that the number of Americans who hold anti-Semitic attitudes has held constant since their previous survey, released on April 4, 2005. This survey showed a slight decline in the number of Americans who held anti-Semitic attitudes, from its 2002 findings.
The 2005 Survey of American Attitudes Toward Jews in America, a national poll of 1,600 American adults conducted by the ADL, found that 14% of Americans hold views about Jews that are "unquestionably anti-Semitic," compared to 17% in 2002. Previous ADL surveys over the last decade had also indicated that anti-Semitism was in decline.
In 2014 and 2015, the ADL conducted a survey of worldwide anti-Semitic attitudes. The ADL Global 100 surveyed over 100 countries, encompassing nearly 86% of the world's population, and found that 1.09 billion people hold anti-Semitic attitudes and that 35% of people have never heard of the Holocaust.
Huh 14-17%.... Sounds like they are a minority.
740 BCEDuring the Assyrian captivity (or the Assyrian exile), several thousand Israelites of ancient Samaria are resettled as captives by Assyria. The Northern Kingdom of Israel is then conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire.586 BCEDuring the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II, the Neo-Babylonian Empire destroys the temple in Jerusalem and captures the Kingdom of Judah, expelling as many as 10,000 families to Babylon. Judeans are seen here by the Babylonians as a uniform group, marking the beginning of collective persecution.[citation needed]475 BCEHaman is said in the Book of Esther to attempt genocide against the Jews. While this book is considered fictional by historians,[4]it alludes to a history of conquest by non-Levantine groups for the people of Judea.[citation needed]175 BCE–165 BCEThe Deuterocanonical First and Second Books of the Maccabees record that Antiochus IV Epiphanes attempts to erect a statue of Zeus in Jerusalem and persecutes Jews who follow Jewish law. He arrests a mother and her seven sons and tries to force them to eat pork. When they refuse, he tortures and kills the sons one by one. The Talmud tells a similar story,[5] as do 4 Maccabees and Josippon.[6] The festival of Hanukkah commemorates the uprising of the Maccabees against this attempt.[7]139 BCEGnaeus Cornelius Scipio Hispanus expels all Jews from the city of Rome.[8]63 BCE12,000 Jews are killed by the Romans[citation needed] and many more are sent into the diaspora during Pompey's conquest of the East.[9]59 BCECicero criticizes Jews, claiming they are too influential in public assemblies. He also refers to Jews and Syrians as "races born to be slaves."[10]
19 CERoman Emperor Tiberius expels Jews from Rome.[8] Their expulsion is recorded by the Roman historical writers Suetonius, Josephus, and Cassius Dio.38 CEThousands of Jews killed by mobs in the Alexandrian pogrom, as recounted by Philo of Alexandria in Flaccus. Synagogues are defiled, Jewish leaders are publicly scourged, and the Jewish population is confined to one quarter of the city.[11]50 CEJews are ordered by Roman Emperor Claudius "not to hold meetings", in the words of Cassius Dio (Roman History, 60.6.6). Claudius later expelled Jews from Rome, according to both Suetonius ("Lives of the Twelve Caesars", Claudius, Section 25.4) and Acts 18:2.66 CEUnder the command of Tiberius Julius Alexander, Roman soldiers killed about 50,000 Jews in the Alexandria riot.66–73 CEThe First Jewish–Roman War against the Romans is crushed by Vespasian and Titus. Titus refuses to accept a wreath of victory, because there is "no merit in vanquishing people forsaken by their own God." (Philostratus, Vita Apollonii)[citation needed]. The events of this period were recorded in detail by the Jewish–Roman historian Josephus. His record is largely sympathetic to the Roman point of view and it was written in Rome under Roman protection; hence it is considered a controversial source. Josephus describes the Jewish revolt as being led by "tyrants," to the detriment of the city, and he describes Titus as having "moderation" in his escalation of the Siege of Jerusalem (70).70 CEOver 1,000,000 Jews perish and 97,000 are taken as slaves following the destruction of the Second Temple.[12]70 CEPogrom against jews in Damascus[13]94 CEFabrications of Apion in Alexandria, Egypt, including the first recorded case of blood libel. Juvenal writes anti-Jewish poetry. Josephus picks apart contemporary and old antisemitic myths in his work Against Apion.[14]96 CETitus Flavius Clemens, nephew of the Roman Emperor Vespasian and supposed convert to Judaism is put to death on charges of atheism.100 CETacitus writes anti-Jewish polemic in his Histories (book 5). He reports on several old myths of ancient antisemitism (including that of the donkey's head in the Holy of Holies), but the key to his view that Jews "regard the rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies" is his analysis of the extreme differences between monotheistic Judaism and the polytheism common throughout the Roman world.
115–117Thousands of Jews are killed during civil unrest in Egypt, Cyprus, and Cyrenaica, as recounted by Cassius Dio.119Roman Emperor Hadrian bans circumcision, making Judaism de facto illegal.132–135Crushing of the Bar Kokhba revolt. According to Cassius Dio 580,000 Jews are killed. Hadrian orders the expulsion of Jews from Judea, which is merged with Galilee in order to form the province of Syria Palaestina. Although large Jewish populations remain in Samaria and Galilee, with Tiberias as the headquarters of exiled Jewish patriarchs, this is the start of the Jewish diaspora. Hadrian constructs a pagan temple to Jupiter at the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, builds Aelia Capitolina among the ruins of Jerusalem.[15]136Hadrian renames Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina and builds a Roman monument over the site of the Temple Mount.[16][17] Jews are banned from visiting. Judea is renamed to Syria Palestina, referring to the Greek words for both the Levant as well as the region at the time.[18]167Earliest known accusation of Jewish deicide (the notion that Jews were held responsible for the death of Jesus), made in a sermon On the Passover, attributed to Melito of Sardis.175Apollinaris the Apologist writes two books against the Jews.
259The Jewish community of Nehardea is destroyed.[19][20][21]
306The Synod of Elvira bans intermarriage and sexual intercourse between Christians and Jews and forbids Jews and Christians from eating together.[22]315Constantine I enacts various laws regarding the Jews: Jews are not allowed to own Christian slaves or to circumcise their slaves. Conversion of Christians to Judaism is outlawed. Congregations for religious services are restricted, but Jews are also allowed to enter the restituted Jerusalem on the anniversary of the Temple's destruction.325Jews are expelled and banned from Jerusalem.325First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. The Christian Church separates the calculation of the date of Easter from the Jewish Passover: "It was ... declared improper to follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival, because, their hands having been stained with crime, the minds of these wretched men are necessarily blinded.... Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries. ... avoiding all contact with that evil way. ... who, after having compassed the death of the Lord, being out of their minds, are guided not by sound reason, but by an unrestrained passion, wherever their innate madness carries them. ... a people so utterly depraved. ... Therefore, this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may no more have any thing in common with those parricides and the murderers of our Lord. ... no single point in common with the perjury of the Jews."[23][24]330Rabbah bar Nahmani is forced to flee to the forest where he dies.339Intermarriage between Christians and Jews is banned in the Roman Empire, declaring the punishment death.351Book burning of Jewish texts in Persia.[citation needed]351–352Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus. Jews rise up against the corrupt rule of Gallus. Many towns are destroyed, thousands are killed.353Constantius II institutes a law stating that any Christian who converts to Judaism will have their property confiscated.380St. Gregory of Nyssa calls Jews "murders of the Lord, assassins of the prophets, rebels and detesters of God, companions of the devils, a race of vipers."[25]386John Chrysostom of Antioch writes eight homilies called Adversus Judaeos (lit: Against the Judaizers). See also: Christianity and antisemitism.3881 August: A Christian mob incited by the local bishop plunders and burns down a synagogue in Callinicum. Theodosius I orders that those responsible be punished, and the synagogue is rebuilt at the Christians' expense. Ambrose of Milan insists in his letter that the whole case be dropped. He interrupts the liturgy in the emperor's presence with an ultimatum that he will not continue until the case is dropped. Theodosius complies.[26]399The Western Roman Emperor Honorius calls Judaism superstitio indigna (unworthy superstition) and confiscates gold and silver collected by the synagogues for Jerusalem.
408Roman laws pass which prohibit Jews from setting fire to Haman, stating that they are mocking Christianity.415A Jewish uprising in Alexandria claims the lives of many Christians.[27] Bishop Cyril forces his way into the synagogue, expels the Jews (some authors estimate the numbers of Jews expelled up to 100 thousand[28][29]) and gives their property to the mob. Later, near Antioch, Jews are accused of ritual murder during Purim.[30] Christians confiscate the synagogue. Jews call it "415 C.E. Alexandria Expulsion".[31]415An edict issued by the Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II ban building new Synagogues and converting non-Jews to Judaism.418The first record of Jews being forced to convert or face expulsion. Bishop Severus of Menorca, claimed to have forced 540 Jews to accept Christianity upon conquering the island. The synagogue in Magona, now Port Mahon the capital of Menorca, is burned.419The monk Barsauma (not to be confused with the famous Bishop of Nisibis) gathers a group of followers and for the next three years, he destroys synagogues throughout the province of Palestine.425The final nasi of the ancient Sanhedrin Gamliel VI is executed by the Roman Empire. This subsequently ended the Jewish patriarchate.429The East Roman Emperor Theodosius II orders that all funds raised by Jews to support their schools be turned over to his treasury.438Theodosius II's wife visits Jerusalem, and arranges for Jews to visit and pray at the ruins of the Temple Mount. This leads to Jews emigrating to Jerusalem, where some are killed after being stabbed and stoned by local monks. At the trial for the deaths the monks claimed that the stones fell from heaven and thus they were acquitted.439The Codex Theodosianus, the first imperial compilation of laws. Jews are prohibited from holding important positions involving money, including judicial and executive offices. The ban against building new synagogues is reinstated. The anti-Jewish statutes also apply to the Samaritans. The Code is also accepted by Western Roman Emperor, Valentinian III.451Sassanid ruler Yazdegerd II of Persia's decree abolishes the Sabbath and orders executions of Jewish leaders, including the Exilarch Mar Nuna.465Council of Vannes, Gaul prohibited the Christian clergy from participating in Jewish feasts.469Half of the Jewish population of Isfahan is put to death and their children are brought up as 'fire-worshippers' over the alleged killing of two Magi Priests.470Exilarch Huna V is executed as a result of persecution under King Peroz (Firuz) of Persia.
502After the Jews of Babylon revolt and gain a short period of independence, the Persian King Kobad crucifies the Exilarch Mar-Zutra II on the bridge of Mahoza.506Synagogue of Daphne is destroyed and its inhabitants are massacred by a Christian mob celebrating the result of a chariot race.517Christians are banned from participating in Jewish feasts as a result of the Council of Epaone.519Ravenna, Italy. After the local synagogues were burned down by the local mob, the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great orders the town to rebuild them at its own expense.529–559Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great publishes Corpus Juris Civilis. New laws restrict citizenship to Christians. These regulations determined the status of Jews throughout the Empire for hundreds of years: Jewish civil rights restricted: "they shall enjoy no honors". The principle of Servitus Judaeorum (Servitude of the Jews) is established: the Jews cannot testify against Christians. The emperor becomes an arbiter in internal Jewish matters.[clarification needed] The use of the Hebrew language in worship is forbidden. Shema Yisrael ("Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one"), sometimes considered the most important prayer in Judaism, is banned as a denial of the Trinity. Some Jewish communities are converted by force, their synagogues turned into churches.531Emperor Justinian rules that Jews cannot testify against Christians. Jewish liturgy is censored for being "anti-trinitarian."535Synagogue of Borion is closed and all Jewish practices are prohibited by order of Justinian.535The First Council of Clermont prohibits Jews from holding public office.[22]538The Third Council of Orléans forbids Jews to employ Christian servants or possess Christian slaves. Jews are prohibited from appearing in the streets during Passion Week:[22] "their appearance is an insult to Christianity". The Merovingian king Childebertapproves the measure.547Jews and Samaritans in the Caesaria are massacred after a failed revolt.[32][33][34]576In Clermont, Gaul, Bishop Avitus offers Jews a choice: accept Christianity or leave Clermont. Most emigrate to Marseille.582The Merovingians order that all Jews of the kingdom are to be baptized.589The Council of Narbonne, Septimania, forbids Jews from chanting psalms while burying their dead. Anyone violating this law is fined 6 ounces of gold. The third Council of Toledo, held under Visigothic King Reccared, bans Jews from slave ownership and holding positions of authority, and reiterates the mutual ban on intermarriage.[35] Reccared also rules children out of such marriages to be raised as Christians.590–591The Exilarch Haninai is executed by Khosrau II for supporting Mihrevandak. This halted all forms of Jewish self-governance for over 50 years.592The entire Jewish population of Antioch is punished because a Jew violated a law.[36]598Bishop Victor of Palermo seizes the local synagogues and repurposes them into churches.[37] In response, Pope Gregory I issues a letter of papal promise of protection for the Jews, the Sicut Iudaeis, which sets out the papal policy and will be later re-issued by various of his successors.[38]
608–610Massacres of Jews all across the Byzantine Empire.610–620After many of his anti-Jewish edicts were ignored, King Sisebur prohibits Judaism in Hispania and Septimania. Those not baptized fled. This was the first incidence where a prohibition of Judaism affected an entire country.614Fifth Council of Paris decrees that all Jews holding military or civil positions must accept baptism, together with their families.615Italy. The earliest referral to the Juramentum Judaeorum (the Jewish Oath): the concept that no heretic could be believed in court against a Christian. The oath became standardized throughout Europe in 1555.617After breaking their promise of Jewish autonomy in Jerusalem, the Persians forbid Jews from settling within three miles of the city.626–627The Council of Clichy declared that any Jew who accepts public office must convert.627Between 600 and 900 Jewish male captives including any boys showing signs of puberty are beheaded by Muslims on Muhammed's orders, many in front of their families, and the rest of the Jews are taken or sold into slavery in the Massacre of Banu Qurayza.62893 Jews are killed in the Battle of Khaybar. Among others, the 17-year-old Jew Safiyya bint Huyayy is enslaved by Muslims, bought by Muhammed to his bed on the very night of the day when her husband was tortured and beheaded and her family is slaughtered, and later manumitted and married to him.[39]629Byzantine Emperor Heraclius with his army marches into Jerusalem. Jewish inhabitants support him after his promise of amnesty. Upon his entry into Jerusalem the local priests convince him that killing Jews is a good deed. The only Jews that survived were the ones who fled to Egypt or the mountains.629Frankish King Dagobert I, encouraged by Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, expels all Jews from the kingdom.632The first case of officially sanctioned forced baptism. Emperor Heraclius violates the Codex Theodosianus, which protected them from forced conversions.634–641Jews living in the Levant are forced to pay the Jizya as a result of the Arab-Islamic Conquest of the Levant640Jews are expelled by Caliph Umar from Arabia.[40]642The Jizya is imposed on the native Jews of Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan.653The Jews of Toledo are forced to convert or be expelled.681The Twelfth Council of Toledo enacts antisemitic laws including the burning of the Talmud and Jewish books.[22]682Visigothic king Erwig begins his reign by enacting 28 anti-Jewish laws. He presses for the "utter extirpation of the pest of the Jews" and decrees that all converts must be registered by a parish priest, who must issue travel permits. All holidays, Christian and Jewish, must be spent in the presence of a priest to ensure piety and to prevent the backsliding.692Quinisext Council in Constantinople forbids Christians on pain of excommunication to bathe in public baths with Jews, employ a Jewish doctor or socialize with Jews.69417th Council of Toledo. King Ergica believes rumors that the Jews had conspired to ally themselves with the Islamic invaders and forces Jews to give all land, slaves and buildings bought from Christians, to his treasury. He declares that all Jewish children over the age of seven should be taken from their homes and raised as Christians.
717Possible date for the Pact of Umar, a document that specified severe restrictions on Jews and Christians (dhimmi) living under Islamic rule. However, academic historians believe that this document was actually compiled at a much later date.720Caliph Omar II bans Jewish worship on the Temple Mount.[41][42][43]722Byzantine emperor Leo III forcibly converts all Jews and Montanists in the empire into mainstream Byzantine Christianity.740First Archbishop of York Ecgbert bans Christians from eating with Jews.[44]787Empress Irena decries the practice of forced conversion against Jews.788Idriss I attacks Jewish communities, imposes high per capita taxes, and forces them to provide annual virgins for his harem for refusing to attack other Jewish communities. According to Maghrebi tradition, the Jewish tribe Ubaid Allah left and settled in Djerba.[45][46]
807Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid orders all Jews in the Caliphate to wear a yellow belt, with Christians to wear a blue one.820Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons, declares in his essays that Jews are accursed and demands a complete segregation of Christians and Jews. In 826 he issues a series of pamphlets to convince Emperor Louis the Pious to attack "Jewish insolence", but fails to convince the Emperor.850Caliph Al-Mutawakkil decrees that Dhimmi — Jews and Christians — wear the zunnar, honey-coloured outer garments and badge-like patches on their servants' clothing to distinguish them from Muslims.[47] Further, their places of worship are to be destroyed with demonic effigies nailed to the door and they are to be allowed little involvement in government or official matters.870Ahmad ibn Tulun flattens Jewish cemeteries and replaces them with Muslim tombs.874Basil I decrees that all Byzantine Jews are to be baptized, by force if necessary.[48]878–879Around 120,000–200,000 foreign merchants (including Jews, Muslim Arabs, Muslim Persians, Zoroastrian Persians, and Christians) are slaughtered in Guangzhou, China.[49]884Basil I reinforces law that prohibits Jews from holding any civil or military position in Epanagoge.888Church council in Metz forbids Christians and Jews from eating together.[50]888The Aghlabids issue decrees according to which Jews and Christians are to wear a patch (ruq'a) of white fabric on their shoulder of their outer garment, with the patch for Jews depicting an ape and that for the Christians depicting a pig.[51][52]
925Jews of Oria are raided by a Muslim mob during a series of attacks on Italy. At least ten rabbinical leaders and many more are taken as captives. Among those captured is 12-year-old Shabbethai Donnolo , who would go on later to be a famous physician and astronomer.931Bishop Ratherius of Verona begs the town elders to expel the Jews from the city until they agree to temporarily expel them.[citation needed]931–942Romanos I Lekapenos decreed that all Jews should be forced to convert and subjugated if they refuse. This leads to the death of hundreds of Jews and the destruction of numerous synagogues.[53]932The Jewish quarter of Bari, Italy is destroyed by a mob and a number of Jews are killed.[54]943–944Byzantine Jews from all over the Empire flee from persecution into Khazaria. The King of Khazaria at the time, who was Jewish, subsequently cut ties with the Byzantine Empire.[55]945Venice bans Jews from using Venetian vessels.985Entire Jewish population of Sparta is expelled after Nikon the Metanoeite says it will rid the city of a plague.[56]985A number of Jewish residents in Barcelona are killed by the Muslim leader Almanzor. All Jewish owned land is handed over to the Count of Barcelona.[57]
1008Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ("the Mad") issues severe restrictions against Jews in the Fatimid Empire. All Jews are forced to wear a heavy wooden "golden calf" around their necks. Christians had to wear a large wooden cross and members of both groups had to wear black hats.[58][59]1009Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah orders the destruction of synagogues, Torah scrolls and Jewish artifacts among other non-Muslim buildings.[60][61]1010The Jews of Limoges are given the choice of baptism or exile.[62]1011The Abbasid Caliph Al-Qadir publishes the Baghdad Manifesto, which accuses the Fatimids of being descended from Jews, instead of being "family of the prophet."1011A Muslim mob attacks a Jewish funeral procession, resulting in the arrest of 23 Jews.[63]1011Pogrom against Sephardic Jews in Córdoba by a Muslim mob.[64]1012One of the first known persecutions of Jews in Germany: Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor expels Jews from Mainz.1013During the fall of the city, Sulayman's troops looted Córdoba and massacred citizens of the city, including many Jews. Prominent Jews in Córdoba, such as Samuel ibn Naghrela were forced to flee to the city in 1013.1016The Jewish community of Kairouan, Tunisia is forced to choose between conversion and expulsion.[65]1021A violent earthquake occurs, which some Greeks maintain is caused by a desecration of Jesus by the Jews. For this a number of Roman Jews are burnt at the stake.[66]1026Probable date of the chronicle of Raoul Glaber. The French chronicler blamed the Jews for the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was destroyed in 1009 by Islamic Caliph Al-Hakim. As a result, Jews were expelled from Limoges and other French towns.[citation needed]1033Temim ibn Ziri conquers Fez, Morocco and decimates the Jewish community, massacring 6,000 Jews during the Fez massacre.1035Sixty Jews are put to death in Castrojeriz during a revolt, because the Jews were considered "property" of the kingdom by the locals.[67][68]1039A Muslim mob raids the palace of the Jewish vizier and kills him after the ruler al-Mondhir is assassinated.1040Exilarch Hezekiah Gaon is imprisoned and tortured to death by the Buyyids. The death of Hezekiah ended the line of the Geonim, which had begun four centuries earlier.1050Council of Narbonne, France forbids Christians to live in Jewish homes.1066Granada massacre: Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada, crucified Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacred most of the Jewish population of the city. "More than 1,500 Jewish families, numbering 4,000 persons, fell in one day."[69]1071Jerusalem falls to the Seljuk Turks, many synagogues are destroyed and life for Jews in Jerusalem becomes much more restricted.[citation needed]1078Council of Girona decrees Jews to pay taxes for support of the Catholic Church to the same extent as Christians.[22]1090The Jewish community of Granada, which had recovered after the attacks of 1066, attacked again at the hands of the Almoravidesled by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, bringing the golden age of Jewish culture in Spain to end.1092The Synod of Szabolcs prohibits Jews from working on Sunday [22] or marrying Christians.1096The First Crusade. Three hosts of crusaders pass through several Central European cities. The third, unofficial host, led by Count Emicho, decides to attack the Jewish communities, most notably in the Rhineland, under the slogan: "Why fight Christ's enemies abroad when they are living among us?" Eimicho's host attacks the synagogue at Speyer and kills all the defenders. 800 are killed in Worms. Another 1,200 Jews commit suicide in Mainz to escape his attempt to forcibly convert them (see German Crusade, 1096), and 600 are massacred in Mainz on 27 May.[70] Attempts by the local bishops remained fruitless. All in all, 5,000 Jews were murdered.[71]1099Jews fight side by side with Muslim soldiers to defend Jerusalem against the Crusaders and face massacres when it falls.[72]According to the Muslim chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi, "The Jews assembled in their synagogue, and the Franks burned it over their heads."[73] However, a contemporary Jewish communication does not corroborate the report that Jews were actually inside of the Synagogue when it was set on fire.[74] This letter was discovered among the Cairo Geniza collection in 1975 by historian Shelomo Dov Goitein.[75] Historians believe that it was written just two weeks after the siege, making it "the earliest account on the conquest in any language."[75] However, all sources agree that a synagogue was indeed burned during the siege.
1108Many Jews are massacred and their houses and synagogues are burned following a Muslim victory at the Battle of Uclés (1108). Of those murdered is Solomon ibn Farissol, the leader of the Castile community. This incident greatly impacted the Hebrew poet Judah HaLevi, and completely shifted the focus of his poetry.1113Upon the death of Sviatopolk II of Kiev, leader of the Kievan Rus', widespread riots and plundering of Jewish homes commenced.[76]1124The Jewish quarter of Kyiv is destroyed by arson.[77]1135A Muslim mob in Córdoba storms into Jewish homes, takes their possessions and kills a number of them.1141During The Anarchy, the fight for succession between Matilde and Stephen, the Jews of Oxford are forced to pay ransom to both sides of the conflict or their houses are to be burned. Stephen burns the house of Aaron son of Isaac and threatens the rest of the community if they do not pay him.1143150 Jews are killed in Ham, Somme.[78]1144The case of William of Norwich, a contrived accusation of murder by Jews in Norwich, England.1145Abd al-Mu'min gives the Jewish population of Sijilmasa the choice of converting to Islam or death. At least 150 Jews who refuse to convert are massacred.[79]1146100,000 Jews are massacred by the Almohad Caliphate in Fez, Morocco and 120,000 in Marrakesh.[80]1147Jews are expelled from al-Andalus (Muslim-ruled Iberia).[81][82]1148The mostly-Jewish town Lucena, Córdoba is captured by the Almohad Caliphate and local Jews are given the choice of Islam or death. This was the end of the Jewish community of Lucena.1148–1212Rule of the Almohad Caliphate in al-Andalus. Only Jews who had converted to Christianity or Islam were allowed to live in Granada. One of the refugees was Maimonides, who settled first in Fez and later in Fustat near Cairo.1160Appalled by the annual practice of beating Jews during Palm Sunday, Bishop William issues an order which would excommunicate any priest who continues the practice.[83]1165Forced mass conversions of Jews to Islam in Yemen.[84]1165New Almohad ruler decrees that all Jews in Fez must convert to Islam or face death. Judah ha-Kohen ibn Shushan is burnt alive for refusing and Maimonides was displaced and permanently leaves for Egypt.[85]1168Harold of Gloucester is found floating in a river. The local Benedictine monks use the discovery to claim that "the child had been spirited away by the Jews on the 21st February for them to torture him to death on the night of 16th March". It established that the mythology created around William of Norwich's death could be used as a template for explaining later deaths.1171In Blois, France 31 Jews were burned at the stake for blood libel including Pulcelina of Blois1171Jews of Bologna are expelled for no known reason.[86]1173Following multiple church-inspired riots, Mieszko III of Poland forbids all kinds of violence against the Jews of Poland.1177Alfonso II of Aragon creates a charter which defines the status of Jews in Teruel. Jews are defined as "slaves of the king, belonging entirely to the royal treasury." The fee for killing a Jew is half of what the fee is for killing a Christian and is to be paid directly to the king (since Jews are considered property of the crown).1179The Third Council of the Lateran, Canon 26, forbids Jews to be plaintiffs or witnesses against Christians in the courts or withhold inheritance from descendants who had accepted Christianity.[22]1179The body of a Christian girl is found near the shore. The Jews of Boppard are blamed for her death, resulting in 13 Jews being murdered.1180Philip II of France, after four months in power, imprisons all the Jews in his lands and demands a ransom for their release.1181Philip Augustus II annuls all loans made by Jews to Christians and takes a percentage for himself. A year later, he confiscates all Jewish property and expels the Jews from Paris.1181The Assize of Arms of 1181 orders that all weapons held by Jews must be confiscated, claiming they have no use for them. This led to the Jewish community of England being a lot more vulnerable during anti-Jewish riots.1182Jews are expelled from Orléans. 99 Jews are burned alive in Brie-Comte-Robert.[87]1184Jewish martyr Elhanan, the son of Isaac ben Samuel, is murdered for refusing to convert.[88]1188The Saladin tithe: Jews are taxed 25% of their income and personal worth, while Christians are taxed 10%.1189Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, orders priests not to preach against Jews.1189A Jewish deputation attending coronation of Richard the Lionheart was attacked by the crowd. Pogroms in London followed and spread around England.1190All the Jews of Norwich, England found in their houses were slaughtered, except a few who found refuge in the castle.119057 Jews in St. Edmunds are killed in a massacre on Palm Sunday.[89]1190500 Jews of York were massacred after a six-day siege by departing members of the Third Crusade, backed by several people indebted to Jewish money-lenders.[90]1190Saladin conquers the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the Crusaders and lifts the ban for Jews to live in Jerusalem.1191More than 80 Jews in Bray-sur-Seine are burned at the stake after trying to execute a murderer who had killed an Israelite.[91]1195After falsely being accused of ritual murder with no evidence, the daughter of Rabbi Isaac bar Asher ha-Levi is murdered, dismembered and her body parts are hung around the market place for days. Ha-Levi was killed the following day along with 8 other Jews after trying to recover what was left of his daughter's body from the mob.1197In an attempt to isolate the Jewish population economically, Christians were barred from buying food from Jews or having conversations with them under the threat of excommunication.[92]1198Philip Augustus readmits Jews to Paris, only after another ransom was paid and a taxation scheme was set up to procure funds for himself. August: Saladin's nephew al-Malik, caliph of Yemen, summons all the Jews and forcibly converts them.
Judensau at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Regensburg13th centuryGermany. Appearance of Judensau: obscene and dehumanizing imagery of Jews, ranging from etchings to Cathedral ceilings. Its popularity lasted for over 600 years.1203Jewish quarter of Constantinople is burned down by crusaders during the Siege of Constantinople (1203).1204In 1204 the papacy required Jews to segregate themselves from Christians and to wear distinctive clothing.[93]1205Jews are expelled from villages and towns all around Spain by Muslims.[94]1206Jewish homes are burned, looted, Israelites are killed and the remaining Jewish population of Halle is expelled.[95]1209Béziers is stormed and its inhabitants are massacred. Among those were 200 Jews. All Jewish children who survived, and did not flee, were forcibly baptized.[96]1209Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, humiliated and forced to swear that he would implement social restrictions against Jews.1210King John of England imprisoned much of the Jewish population until they paid up 66,000 marks.1212Forced conversions and mass murder of the Jewish community of Toledo.1215The Fourth Lateran Council headed by Pope Innocent III declares: "Jews and Saracens of both sexes in every Christian province and at all times shall be marked off in the eyes of the public from other peoples through the character of their dress." (Canon 68). See Judenhut. The Fourth Lateran Council also noted that the Jews' own law required the wearing of identifying symbols. Pope Innocent III also reiterated papal injunctions against forcible conversions, and added: "No Christian shall do the Jews any personal injury...or deprive them of their possessions...or disturb them during the celebration of their festivals...or extort money from them by threatening to exhume their dead."[97]1217French noblewoman Alix de Montmorency imprisons the Jewish population of Toulouse for refusing to convert. She eventually released them all except for children under six, who were taken and adopted by Christians.1221An anti-Jewish riot erupts in Erfurt, where the Jewish quarter is destroyed along with two synagogues. Around 26 Jews are killed, and others throw themselves into fire rather than be forcibly converted. Samuel of Speyer was among those martyred.[98]1222Council of Oxford: Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton forbids Jews from building new synagogues, [99] owning slaves or mixing with Christians.1223Louis VIII of France prohibits his officials from recording debts owed to Jews, reversing his father's policy of seeking such debts.1227The Synod of Narbonne reaffirms the anti-Semitic decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council.1229Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, heir of Raymond VI, also forced to swear that he would implement social restrictions against Jews.1229Treaty of Jaffa is signed between Frederick II and the Sultan Al-Kamil of Egypt. Jews are once again banned from residing in Jerusalem.1230Theodore Komnenos Doukas is defeated. Since Theodore decreed many anti-Jewish laws and seized Jewish property, he was handed over to two Jews by John Asen II to personally kill him. After having pity on him and refusing to kill Theodore, the Czar had the Jews thrown off a cliff.1232Forced mass conversions in Marrakesh, over 1,000 Moroccan Jews are killed.1235The Jews of Fulda, Germany were accused of ritual murder. To investigate the blood libel, Emperor Frederick II held a special conference of Jewish converts to Christianity at which the converts were questioned about Jewish ritual practice. Letters inviting prominent individuals to the conference still survive. At the conference, the converts stated unequivocally that Jews do not harm Christian children or require blood for any rituals. In 1236 the Emperor published these findings and in 1247 Pope Innocent IV, the Emperor's enemy, also denounced accusations of the ritual murder of Christian children by Jews. In 1272, the papal repudiation of the blood libel was repeated by Pope Gregory X, who also ruled that thereafter any such testimony of a Christian against a Jew could not be accepted unless it is confirmed by another Jew. Unfortunately, these proclamations from the highest sources were not effective in altering the beliefs of the Christian majority and the libels continued.[100]1236Crusaders attack Jewish communities of Anjou and Poitou and attempt to baptize all the Jews. Those who resisted (est. 3,000) were slaughtered.1236A Jew and a Christian fisherman get into a heated argument about prices, which turns physical. It ends when the Jew deals a devastating blow to the Gentile's head which leads to his death. This enrages the local Christian population, who attack the Jewish quarter of Narbonne. Don Aymeric, the governor of Narbonne prevents a massacre and restores all stolen Jewish property to their rightful owner.[101][102]1240John I, Duke of Brittany expels Jews from Brittany.[103]1240Disputation of Paris. Pope Gregory IX puts Talmud on trial on the charges that it contains blasphemy against Jesus and Mary and attacks on the Church.1241A pogrom against the Jews of Frankfurt takes place after conflicts over Jewish-Christian marriages and the enforced baptism of interfaith couples. 180 Jews are killed as a result and 24 agree to be baptized. This became known as the Judenschlacht (German for Slaughter of the Jews).1241In England, first of a series of royal levies against Jewish finances, which forced the Jews to sell their debts to non-Jews at cut prices.[104]1242Following a show trial, the Talmud is "convicted" of corrupting the Jews. 24 cart-loads of hand-written Talmudic manuscripts, some 10,000 volumes and comprising most of the extant volumes in France, are burned in the streets of Paris.1242James I of Aragon orders Jews to listen to conversion sermons and to attend churches. Friars are given power to enter synagogues uninvited.1243The first ever accusation of Host Desecration. The entire Jewish population of Beelitz was burned at the stake after being accused of torturing Jesus and the spot it happened was named "Judenberg."124311 Jews are tortured to death following a blood libel in Kitzingen Germany.[105]1244Pope Innocent IV orders Louis IX of France to burn all Talmud copies.1249Alphonse of Poitiers orders the expulsion of all Jews in Poitiers.1250Saragossa Spain: death of a choirboy Saint Dominguito del Val prompts ritual murder accusation. His sainthood was revoked in the 20th century but reportedly a chapel dedicated to him still exists in the Cathedral of Saragossa.1250The Hafsid caliph in the Magrheb issues a decree that Jews and Christians must wear a distinguishing badge. The so-called shiklacontinues to be in use for Tunisian Jews into the nineteenth century.[106]1251The Shepherds' Crusade attacks Jewish communities across northern France.1253Henry III of England introduces harsh anti-Jewish laws.[107] These are known as the Statute of Jewry.1254Louis IX threatens any Jew who keeps a copy of the Talmud or engages in moneylending with expulsion.1255Henry III of England sells his rights to the Jews (regarded as royal "chattels") to his brother Richard for 5,000 marks.1257The Badge of shame is imposed locally on the Italian Jews.1260Mongols are defeated and Syria is brought under Mamluk rule. Anti-Jewish laws are once again decreed, and Jewish life becomes a lot more restricted in the Levant.1260Jews are banned from ascending above the 7th step on the Cave of the Patriarchs. This ban would last 700 years.1260Thomas Aquinas publishes Summa Contra Gentiles, a summary of Christian faith to be presented to those who reject it. The Jews who refuse to convert are regarded as "deliberately defiant" rather than "invincibly ignorant".1263Disputation of Barcelona.1264Pope Clement IV assigns Talmud censorship committee.1264Simon de Montfort inspires massacre of Jews in London.[108]1265German-Jewish convert Abraham of Augsburg publicly assails Christianity, severs the heads of crucifix figurines and is sentenced to torture and death by burning.1267In a special session, the Vienna city council forces Jews to wear Pileum cornutum (a cone-shaped headdress, prevalent in many medieval illustrations of Jews). This distinctive dress is an addition to Yellow badge Jews were already forced to wear.1267The Synod of Vienna forbids Christians from attending Jewish ceremonies, and Jews from debating with "simple Christian people" about the beliefs of the Catholic religion.[99]1267The Synod of Breslau orders Jews to live in a segregated quarter.[99]1267After an accusation from an old woman that the Jews had bought a Christian child from her to kill, the entire Jewish community of Pforzheim face massacres and expulsion. Rabbi Samuel ben Yaḳar ha-Levi, Rabbi Isaac ben Eliezer and Rabbi Abraham ben Gershom commit suicide to escape the cruel torture they feared.1275King Edward I of England passes the Statute of the Jewry forcing Jews over the age of seven to wear an identifying yellow badge, and making usury illegal, in order to seize their assets. Scores of English Jews are arrested, 300 hanged and their property goes to the Crown.1276Massacre in Fez to kill all Jews stopped by intervention of the Emir[109]1278The Edict of Pope Nicholas III requires compulsory attendance of Jews at conversion sermons.1279The Synod of Ofen forbids Christians to sell or rent real estate to or from Jews.[99]1280Edward I of England orders Jews to be present as Dominicans preach conversion.1282John Pectin, Archbishop of Canterbury, orders all London synagogues to close and prohibits Jewish physicians from practicing on Christians.1283Philip III of France causes mass migration of Jews by forbidding them to live in the small rural localities.128310 Jews are slain in Mainz after claims of blood libel.[110]1285Blood libel in Munich, Germany results in the death of 68 Jews. 180 more Jews are burned alive at the synagogue.1287Edward I of England arrests heads of Jewish families and demands their communities pay ransom of 12,000 pounds.1287A 16-year-old boy is found dead in the Rhine. Immediately the Jews of Oberwesel are accused of killing the boy. Over 40 men, women and children were killed by rioters as a response.1287Jews are arrested and accused of coin clipping. Even without evidence, the whole community is convicted and expelled.1288The Jewish population of Troyes is accused of ritual murder. 13 Jewish martyrs are burned at the stake, sacrificing themselves to spare the rest of the community.[111]1288104 Jews in Bonn, Germany are killed during a pogrom.[112]1289Jews are expelled from Gascony and Anjou.1290Edict of Expulsion: Edward I expels all Jews from England, allowing them to take only what they could carry, all the other property became the Crown's. Official reason: continued practice of usury.1290A Jewish man named Jonathan and his wife are accused of stabbing the wafer to torture Jesus. They are both burned at the stake, their house is destroyed and replaced with a chapel.[113]1290The Jews of Baghdad are massacred.129018 July Edward I of England issues Edict of Expulsion, decreeing all Jews to be expelled from England.1291Philip the Fair publishes an ordinance prohibiting the Jews to settle in France.1291Jewish physician and grand vizier Sa'ad al-Dawla is killed by Muslims who felt it a degradation to have a Jew placed over them. Persian Jews suffer a long-period of violent persecution by the Muslim population.1292Forced conversion and expulsion of the Jews from Campania and Basilicata.1298Accusations of Host desecration against the German Jews. More than 140 Jewish communities face forced conversions.1298During the civil war between Adolph of Nassau and Albrecht of Austria, German knight Rintfleisch claims to have received a mission from heaven to exterminate "the accursed race of the Jews". Under his leadership, the mob goes from town to town destroying Jewish communities and massacring about 100,000 Jews, often by mass burning at stake. Among 146 localities in Franconia, Bavaria and Austria are Röttingen (20 April), Würzburg (24 July), Nuremberg (1 August).[114]
1301Riots break out in Egypt, which are encouraged by the Mamluks. Many Jews are forcibly converted to Islam, including the entire Jewish population of Bilbeis. Many synagogues are appropriated into mosques.[115]1305Philip IV of France seizes all Jewish property (except the clothes they wear) and expels them from France (approx. 100,000). His successor Louis X of France allows French Jews to return in 1315.1306Jews of Sens, Yonne department of France, are expelled. This was the third and final expulsion (after those in 876 and 1198).[116]1306Jews expelled from Castelsarrasin, France.[117]1309Rhodes falls to the Crusaders, who went on a rampage against the local Jews.[118]1310The Synod of Mainz defines the adoption of Judaism by a Christian or the return of a baptized Jew to Judaism as heresy subject to punishment.[99]1310Frederick II of Aragon adopts anti-Jewish laws, which require them to mark their clothes and shops with the yellow badge. Jews were also forbidden from having any relationship with Catholics.1314Jews expelled from Halle (Saale)[119]1318Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, a Persian Jewish convert to Islam was executed on fake charges of poisoning Öljeitü and for several days crowds carried his head around his native city of Tabriz, chanting "This is the head of the Jew who abused the name of God; may God's curse be upon him!"1319Jews are expelled from Breslau.[120]1320Jews are expelled from Milan during a persecution of so-called heretics.[121]1320152 Jews massacred in Castelsarrasin, France.[117]1320Shepherds' Crusade attacks the Jews of 120 localities in southwest France.1321King Henry II of Castile forces Jews to wear Yellow badge.1321Jews in central France accused of ordering lepers to poison wells. After massacre of est. 5,000 Jews, King Philip V admits they were innocent.1321A Muslim mob destroys a synagogue in Damascus.[122][123]13285,000 Jews are massacred and their houses are burned down following anti-Jewish preaching by a Franciscan friar from Estella, near Pamplona. That same years, the Jews of Navarre choose to burn their homes and synagogues and drown their children rather than be forcibly converted.[124]1328Jewish martyr Aaron ben Zerah, along with his wife and four of his sons are executed.1333Forced mass conversions in Baghdad[125][126][127][128]1336Armleder persecutions against Jews in Franconia and Alsace led by lawless German bands, the Armleder under the highwayman Arnold von Uissigheim. Roughly 1500 Jews are killed.1336The Aleinu prayer is banned in Castile.[129]1337-1338Pogroms over host desecration across Bavaria, Austria, and Bohemia. The Jews are accused of stealing the bread of the Eucharist and trying to burn it. In Wolfsberg, Carinthia, over 70 Jews are burned at the stake and the entire Jewish community is destroyed.[130][131]1344The citizens of Speyer ask the King's permission to confiscate the houses of the Jews for the cities benefit – he grants their request.[132]1348European Jews are blamed for the plague in the Black Death persecutions. Charge laid to the Jews that they poisoned the wells. Massacres spread throughout Spain, France, Germany and Austria. More than 200 Jewish communities destroyed by violence. Many communities have been expelled and settle down in Poland.1349Basel: 600 Jews burned at the stake, 140 children forcibly baptized, the remaining city's Jews expelled. The city synagogue is turned into a church and the Jewish cemetery is destroyed.
1349 burning of Jews (from a European chronicle written on the Black Death between 1349 and 1352)1349The Erfurt massacre was a massacre of around 3,000 Jews as a result of Black Death Jewish persecutions1349The entire Jewish population of Speyer is destroyed. All Jews are either killed, converted, or fled. All their property and assets was confiscated. Part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.1349600 Jews are burned at the stake and the entire Jewish community of Zurich is annihilated as a part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.1349The Jewish community of Worms is completely destroyed as a result of the Black Death Jewish persecutions. Hundreds of Jews set fire to their homes to avoid the oncoming torture. Their property was seized by the locals.1349Jews of Berlin are expelled and many are killed as a part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.[133]1349Jews of Breslau are expelled as part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.[120] The city claims all property and synagogues, while the Emperor was given the cemetery and all Jewish debts. 60 Jews are murdered.1349The Jewish quarter of Cologne is destroyed by an angry mob, and most of the community is killed. All of their property was split up between the ransackers. It was part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.[134]1349The Strasbourg massacre was a part of the Black Death persecutions, where several hundred Jews were publicly burned to death, and the rest of them were expelled. It was one of the first and worst pogroms in pre-modern history.1349The Jews of Halle (Saale) are attacked.[135]24 August 13496,000 Jews are burned to death in Mainz as a part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions. When the angry mob charged, the Jews initially fought back, killing around 200 of their attackers.[136][137]1350Brussels Jewish community is decimated after they are blamed for the Plague.1352Church officials order the expulsion of Jews from Bulgaria for "heretical activity."1359Charles V of France allows Jews to return for a period of 20 years in order to pay ransom for his father John II of France, imprisoned in England. The period is later extended beyond the 20 years.1360Jews are expelled from Breslau.[120]1360Jews expelled from Hungary by Louis I of Hungary.1360Furious with a pogrom against Castilian Jews in Miranda de Ebro, Peter of Castile publicly boils one of the perpetrators, roasts another, and executes others with an axe.1360Sephardic Jew Samuel ben Meir Abulafia is arrested and tortured to death in prison for no apparent reason. His lands are confiscated by the king.[138]1365Jews of Metz are expelled after their presence is cited as the cause of lightning strikes which destroyed twenty-two houses.[139]1367Host desecration trials are held against the Jews of Barcelona. They were initiated by the crown prince Don Juan of Aragon.1367No fewer than 1600 homes belonging to conversos are destroyed and many conversos are killed in Toledo.1368The Synod of Lavour prohibits the sale or transfer of Church property to Jews.[99]1370The entire Jewish population of Brussels is massacred over allegations of host desecration. It was an end of the Hebrew community in Brussels. The event was commemorated by local Christians as the Sacrament of Miracle.[140]1376Jews are expelled from Hungary. Most of them flee south into Greece and neighboring areas.[141]1377Another Host desecration trial is held against Jews in Teruel and Huesca. The person behind it, as with the previous trial, is the crown prince Don Juan of Aragon. Many Jews are tortured and burned alive publicly.[142]138216 Jews are murdered in Paris the Mailotin Riots after the Harelle.1384200 Jews are killed in Noerdlingen and the community ceases to exist.[143]1385Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, arrests the Jews from the Swabian League and confiscates their property.[144]1385John of Castile reinforces previous anti-Jewish legislation.138918 March, a Jewish boy is accused of plotting against a priest. The mob slaughters approx. 3,000 of Prague's Jews, destroys the city's synagogue and Jewish cemetery. Wenceslaus insists that the responsibility lay with the Jews for going outside during Holy Week.1391Anti-Jewish riots led by Ferrand Martinez erupt in Seville.1391Led by Ferrand Martinez, countless massacres devastate the Sephardic Jewish community, especially in Castile, Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon. The Jewish quarter in Barcelona is completely destroyed. By the end of the pogroms, at least 10,000 Jews are murdered and thousands more are forcibly converted.1391Pogrom against the Jews of Toledo on the Seventeenth of Tammuz. Jewish martyrs Israel Alnaqua and Judah ben Asher died at the stake together.1391Over 250 Jews are massacred by a mob in Valencia.1391All Jewish inhabitants of Palma, Majorca are either converted or killed.1391More than 400 Jews are massacred in Barcelona.1392Jews expelled from Bern, Switzerland. Although between 1408 and 1427 Jews were again residing in the city, the only Jews to appear in Bern subsequently were transients, chiefly physicians and cattle dealers1392The Jews of Damascus are accused by Muslims of setting fire to the central mosque. Although there was no evidence presented, one Jew was burned alive, the leaders of the community were tortured, and the local synagogue was appropriated into a mosque.[122]1392Sicilian Jews are forced to live in Ghettos and severe persecution breaks out in Erice, Catania and Syracuse.[145]13943 November, Charles VI of France expels all Jews from France.1397Jewish ghettos of Radgona and Ptuj in Slovenia are set on fire by an anonymous mob.1399A Christian woman is accused of stealing hosts and giving them to Jews for the purpose of desecration. Thirteen members of the Jewish community of Posen, along with the woman are all tortured and burned alive slowly. This story, however, does not appear until the latter half of the 14th century.[146] The community is then forced to pay a special tax every year until the 18th century.139980 Jews are murdered in Prague after a converted Jew named Peter accuses them of denigrating Christianity. A number of Jews are also jailed, including Yom-Tov Lipmann-Muhlhausen.
1401Two Jews are burned to death for an alleged host desecration in Glogau.[147][148]1404Many members of the Jewish community of Salzburg and Hallein is burned alive on charged of host desecration.[149]1407Blood libel accusations against the Jews of Kraków led by a fanatic priest result in anti-Jewish riots.[150]1411Oppressive legislation against Jews in Spain as an outcome of the preaching of the Dominican friar Vicente Ferrer.1413Disputation of Tortosa, Spain, staged by the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII, is followed by forced mass conversions.1418All Jews living in Trier are expelled.[151]1420All Jews are expelled from Lyons.[152]1421Persecutions of Jews in Vienna, known as Wiener Gesera (Vienna Edict), confiscation of their possessions, and forced conversion of Jewish children. 270 Jews burned at stake. and all Viennese Jews are expelled following persecution.1422Pope Martin V issues a Bull reminding Christians that Christianity was derived from Judaism and warns the friars not to incite against the Jews. The Bull was withdrawn the following year on allegations that the Jews of Rome attained it by fraud.1424The Jewish population of Zurich is exiled.[153]1424Jews are expelled and banned from Cologne.[154]1426Jews are expelled from Iglau after they are accused of being in league with the Hussites.[155]1427All Jews living in Bern are expelled and their property is seized.[156]1428Jews are expelled from Fribourg.[157][158]1430Pogrom in Aix-en-Provence breaks out in which 9 Jews are killed, many more are injured and 74 are forcibly converted.[159]1434Council of Basel, Sessio XIX, forbids Jews to obtain academic degrees and to act as agents in the conclusion of contracts between Christians.[99]1435Massacre and forced conversion of Majorcan Jews.[160]1435Jews are expelled from Speyer.[161]1436Jews of Zurich are expelled.[153]1438Jewish inhabitants of Düsseldorf are expelled.[162]1438Establishment of mellahs (ghettos) in Morocco.1440Jews of Augsburg expelled[163]1442Synagogues and other Jewish buildings are destroyed by a riot of Glogau.[147]1442Jews are expelled from Upper Bavaria.[164]1444Jewish population of Utrecht are expelled.[165]1447Casimir IV renews all the rights of Jews of Poland and makes his charter one of the most liberal in Europe. He revokes it in 1454 at the insistence of Bishop Zbigniew.1449The Statute of Toledo introduces the rule of purity of blood discriminating Conversos. Pope Nicholas V condemns it.1450Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria expels all Jews who reject baptism.1453Around 40 Jews in Breslau are burned at the stake on charges of host desecration, while the head Rabbi hung himself to avoid the torture. Jewish children under 7 were stolen and forcibly baptized. The few Jews remaining were banished from Breslau.[166]1456Pope Caliextus III issues a papal bull which prohibits Jews from testifying against Christians, but permits Christians to testify against a Jew.1458The city council of Erfurt, Germany votes to expel the Jews.[167]1463Pope Nicholas V authorizes the establishment of the Inquisition to investigate heresy among the Marranos. See also Crypto-Judaism.1464Over 30 Jews in Cracow are killed by an angry mob.[168]1465The Moroccan revolt against the Marinid dynasty, accusations against one Jewish Vizier lead to a massacre of the entire Jewish population of Fes.1467Jews of Tlemcen persecuted and many flee for Castile.[169]1468Many Jewish homes and plundered and a number are killed during anti-Jewish in Posen.[170]1468Sultan Qaitbay forces Jews of Cairo to pay 75,000 gold pieces or be expelled. This severely impoverished the local Jewish community.[171]1470The Jewish community of Bavaria are expelled, many migrate into Bulgaria.[172]1473Massacres of Marranos of Valladolid, Cordova, Segovia, Ciudad Real, Spain1474On Assumption day 15 August 1474, Christians wreaked brutal havoc on the Jewish dwellers of the Cartellone area of Modica. It was the first and most horrible massacre of Sicilian Jews. During the evening a number of Christians slaughtered about 360 Jews causing a total and fierce devastation in La Giudecca. They ran through the streets chanting: "Hurrah for Mary! Death to the Jews!" (Viva Maria! Morte ai Giudei!).[173]
Simon of Trent blood libel. Illustration in Hartmann Schedel's Weltchronik, 14931475A student of the preacher Giovanni da Capistrano, Franciscan Bernardine of Feltre, accuses the Jews in murdering an infant, Simon. The entire community is arrested, 15 leaders are burned at the stake, the rest are expelled. In 1588, Pope Sixtus V confirmed Simon's cultus. Saint Simon was considered a martyr and patron of kidnap and torture victims for almost 500 years. In 1965, Pope Paul VI declared the episode a fraud, and decanonized Simon's sainthood.1478Jews of Passau are expelled.[164]1481The Spanish Inquisition is instituted.[174]1484Pogrom against the Jewish section of Arles. A number of Jews are killed and 50 men are forced to convert.1487–1504Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod exposes the heresy of Zhidovstvuyushchiye (Judaizers) in Eastern Orthodoxy of Muscovy.1490Tomás de Torquemada burns 6,000 volumes of Jewish manuscripts in Salamanca.1490Jews are expelled from Geneva and not allowed to return for over 300 years.[175]1491The blood libel in La Guardia, Spain, where the alleged victim Holy Child of La Guardia became revered as a saint.1491Muhammad al-Maghili orders the expulsion and murder of the Jewish community in Tlemcen.[citation needed]1492The Jewish population of Tuat is massacred in a pogrom inspired by the preacher al-Maghili.[176][177]1492Ferdinand II and Isabella issue General Edict on the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain: approx. 200,000. Some return to the Land of Israel. As many localities and entire countries expel their Jewish citizens (after robbing them), and others deny them entrance, the legend of the Wandering Jew, a condemned harbinger of calamity, gains popularity.1492Jews of Mecklenburg, Germany are accused of stabbing a consecrated wafer. 27 Jews are burned, including two women. The spot is still called the Judenberg. All the Jews are expelled from the Duchy.[178]1492Askia Mohammad I decrees that all Jews must convert to Islam, leave or be killed. Judaism becomes illegal in Mali. This was based on the advice of Muhammad al-Maghili.[179] The region of Timbuktu had previously been tolerant of other religions before Askia got into power.1493John II of Portugal deports several hundred Jewish children to the colony of São Tomé, where most of them die.1493Expulsion from Sicily: approx. 37,000.1493-97The Jews in Persia and Afghanistan were forced into mellahs.[180] They were not permitted to have any businesses outside the walls of the mellah.[181]1494Jews of Thurgau attacked.[182]149416 Jews are burned at the stake after a blood libel in Trnava.1494After a fire destroys the Jewish quarter of Cracow, the Polish king Jan I Olbracht transfers the Jews to Kazimierz, which would become the first Polish ghetto. Jews were confined to the ghetto until 1868.1495Jews in Lithuania are expelled and their property is seized. They were allowed to return 8 years later.[183]1495The Jews of Lecce are massacred and the Jewish quarter is burned to the ground.[184]1495The Spanish conquer Naples and the Jews are officially expelled, though the order is not carried out.[185]1496Jews living in Styria are expelled and all their property is confiscated.[186]1496Forced conversion and expulsion of Jews from Portugal. This included many who fled Spain four years earlier.1497Entire Jewish community of Graz is expelled.1497Manuel I of Portugal decrees that all Jews must convert or leave Portugal without their children.1498Prince Alexander of Lithuania forces most of the Jews to forfeit their property or convert. The main motivation is to cancel the debts the nobles owe to the Jews. Within a short time trade grinds to a halt and the Prince invites the Jews back in.1499Jews of Nuremberg are expelled.1499Jews are banished from Verona. The Jews who were money lenders were replaced with Christian usurers who oppressed the poor so bad that the Jews were very shortly called to return.[187]1499All New Christians are prohibited from leaving Portugal, even those who were forcibly baptized.[188]
Jews from Worms, Germany wear the mandatory yellow badge. A moneybag and garlic in the hands are an antisemitic stereotype (sixteenth-century drawing).1501French Jews living in Provence are expelled.[189]1504Jews living in Pilsen are expelled on charges of host desecration.[190]1504Several Jewish scholars are burned at the stake for proselytizing in Moscow.[191]1505Ten České Budějovice Jews are tortured and executed after being accused of killing a Christian girl; later, on his deathbed, a shepherd confesses to fabricating the accusation.1506A marrano expresses his doubts about miracle visions at St. Dominics Church in Lisbon, Portugal. The crowd, led by Dominican friars, kills him, then ransacks Jewish houses and slaughters any Jew they could find. The countrymen hear about the massacre and join in. Over 2,000 marranos killed in three days.1509A converted Jew, Johannes Pfefferkorn, receives authority of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor to destroy the Talmud and other Jewish religious books, except the Hebrew Bible, in Frankfurt.150938 Jews of Spandau, Brandenburg, and Stendal are burned at the stake in Berlin, Germany for allegedly desecrating the host; remainder expelled from Brandenburg.[192]151023 November. Less-wealthy Jews expelled from Naples; remainder heavily taxed.[193]1510Spanish gain control of Calabria and expel all Jews and New Christians.[194]1510Spain gains control of Naples and expels the Jewish population.1511The officials of Conegliano try to expel the Jewish population but are unsuccessful.[195]1511Ten Roman Catholic converts from Judaism burned at the stake in Palermo for allegedly reverting.[196]1511Most Apulian Jews are either expelled or are tortured to death. Jewish property is seized and Synagogues are replaced with Catholic Churches.1514The Jewish population of Mittelberg is accused of host desecration.[197]1515Emperor Maximillian expels Jews from Ljubljana.[198][199]1515Jews are expelled from the city of Genoa, but are allowed back in a year later.[200]1516The first ghetto is established, on one of the islands in Venice.15171517 Hebron attacks: Jews are beaten, raped and killed in Hebron, as their homes and businesses are looted and pillaged.15171517 Safed attacks: The Jews of Safed is attacked by Mamluk forces and local Arabs. Many Jews are killed and their homes are plundered.1519The Jewish community of Ratisbon is expelled. The synagogue is destroyed and replaced with a chapel. Thousands of Jewish gravestones are taken and used for buildings.[201]1519Martin Luther leads Protestant Reformation and challenges the doctrine of Servitus Judaeorum "... to deal kindly with the Jews and to instruct them to come over to us". 21 February. All Jews expelled from Ratisbon/Regensburg.1520Pope Leo X allows the Jews to print the Talmud in Venice.1523The conquest of Cranganore by the Portuguese leads to the complete destruction of the local Jewish community. Most refugees fled to Cochin.[202]1523Mexico bans immigration from those who cannot prove four generations of Catholic ancestry.[203]1526Jews are expelled from Ofen, Esztergom, Pressburg, and Sopron following the Battle of Mohács.[204]1527Jews are ordered to leave Florence, but the edict is soon rescinded.1528Three judaizers are burned at the stake in Mexico City's first auto da fe.152930 Jewish men, women, and children are burned at the stake in Pezinok.[205]1532Solomon Molcho is burned at the stake for refusing to return to Catholicism after reverting to Judaism.1535After Spanish troops capture Tunis all the local Jews are sold into slavery.1539Jews are expelled from Nauheim.[206]1539Katarzyna Weiglowa, a Roman Catholic woman from the Kingdom of Poland who converted to Judaism is burned at the stake in Kraków under the charge of apostasy for refusing to call Jesus Christ the Son of God. She is regarded by Jews (among others) as a martyr.1541All Jews are banished from Prague.[207]1542Moses Fishel of Cracow is accused of proselytizing and dies a martyr.1543Jews are exiled from Basel.[208]1543Jeronimo Diaz, a New Christian physician, is burned at the stake for holding heretical opinions in Goa, India.[209]
Bookcover of On the Jews and Their Lies1543In his pamphlet On the Jews and Their Lies Martin Luther advocates an eight-point plan to get rid of the Jews as a distinct group either by religious conversion or by expulsion:"...set fire to their synagogues or schools...""...their houses also be razed and destroyed...""...their prayer books and Talmudic writings... be taken from them...""...their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb...""...safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews...""...usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them..." and "Such money should now be used in ... the following [way]... Whenever a Jew is sincerely converted, he should be handed [certain amount]...""...young, strong Jews and Jewesses [should]... earn their bread in the sweat of their brow...""If we wish to wash our hands of the Jews' blasphemy and not share in their guilt, we have to part company with them. They must be driven from our country" and "we must drive them out like mad dogs."Luther "got the Jews expelled from Saxony in 1537, and in the 1540s he drove them from many German towns; he tried unsuccessfully to get the elector to expel them from Brandenburg in 1543. His followers continued to agitate against the Jews there: they sacked the Berlin synagogue in 1572 and the following year finally got their way, the Jews being banned from the entire country."[210] (See also Martin Luther and the Jews)1546Martin Luther's sermon Admonition against the Jews contains accusations of ritual murder, black magic, and poisoning of wells. Luther recognizes no obligation to protect the Jews.1547Ivan the Terrible becomes ruler of Russia and refuses to allow Jews to live in or even enter his kingdom because they "bring about great evil" (quoting his response to request by Polish king Sigismund II).154710 out of the 30 Jews living in Asolo are killed and their houses are robbed.[211]1550Dr. Joseph Hacohen is chased out of Genoa for practicing medicine; soon all Jews are expelled.[212]1553Pope Julius III forbids Talmud printing and orders burning of any copy found. Rome's Inquisitor-General, Cardinal Carafa (later Pope Paul IV) has Talmud publicly burnt in Rome on Rosh Hashanah, starting a wave of Talmud burning throughout Italy. About 12,000 copies were destroyed.1554Cornelio da Montalcino, a Franciscan Friar who converted to Judaism, is burned alive in Rome.1555In papal bull Cum nimis absurdum, Pope Paul IV writes: "It appears utterly absurd and impermissible that the Jews, whom God has condemned to eternal slavery for their guilt, should enjoy our Christian love." He renews anti-Jewish legislation and installs a locked nightly ghetto in Rome. The Bull also forces Jewish males to wear a yellow hat, females – yellow kerchief. Owning real estate or practicing medicine on Christians is forbidden. It also limits Jewish communities to only one synagogue.1555The Martyrs of 1555. 25 Jews in Ancona are hanged or burned at the stake for refusing to convert to Christianity as a result of Pope Paul IV's Bull of 1555.1556A rumor is sent around that a poor woman in Sokhachev named Dorothy sold Jews the holy wafer received by her during communion, and that it was stabbed until it bled. The Bishop of Khelm accuses the local Jews, and eventually three Jews along with Dorothy Lazhentzka are arrested, put on the rack, and sentenced to death on charges of host desecration.[213] They were burned at the stake. Before their death, the martyred Jews made a declaration:
160014 Judaizers are punished in Lima, Peru.[226]1603Frei Diogo da Assumpcão, a partly Jewish friar who embraced Judaism, burned alive in Lisbon.160516 Judaizers are arrested in Lima, Peru.[227]1608The Jesuit order forbids admission to anyone descended from Jews to the fifth generation, a restriction lifted in the 20th century. Three years later Pope Paul V applies the rule throughout the Church, but his successor revokes it.1612The Hamburg Senate decides to officially allow Jews to live in Hamburg on the condition there is no public worship.
Expulsion of the Jews from Frankfurt on 23 August 1614: "1380 persons old and young were counted at the exit of the gate"1614Vincent Fettmilch, who called himself the "new Haman of the Jews", leads a raid on the Frankfurt Jewish quarter that turned into an attack that destroyed the whole community.1615The Guild led by Dr. Chemnitz, "non-violently" forced the Jews from Worms.1616Jesuits arrive in Grodno and accuse the Jews of host desecration and blood libel.[228]1618Anti-semitic pamphlet Mirror of the Polish Crown is published by professor Sebastian Miczyński. It accuses the Jews of murder, sacrileges, witchcraft, and urges their expulsion. It would go on to inspire anti-Jewish riots across Poland.1619Shah Abbas I of the Persian Sufi dynasty increases persecution against the Jews, forcing many to outwardly practice Islam. Many keep practicing Judaism in secret.1622King Christian IV invites Jews to come and live in Denmark.1624Ghetto established in Ferrara, Italy.1624Christian theologian Antonio Homem is burned at the stake for pursuing Judaism.1625Jews of Vienna forced to live in a ghetto in Leopoldstadt.1628Roman Jewish mistress of the son of the duke of Parma is burned alive.[229]1630Jewish merchant Moses the Braider is burned alive after being accused of host desecration.1631Due to awful conditions in the Jewish Ghetto of Padua, 421 out of the 721 Jews living in the ghetto perish.[230]1632King Ladislaus IV of Poland forbids antisemitic books and printings.1632Shortly after Miguel Rodriguez is discovered holding onto Jewish rites, an Auto-da-fé is held in the presence of the King and Queen. Miguel and his wife Isabel Alvarez, and 5 others are burned alive publicly.[231]1632, 20 AprilJewish-convert and martyr Nicolas Antoine is burned at the stake for heresy.1633Jews are banned from Radom.[232]1635Anti-Jewish riots take place in Vilna.1637Four Jews are publicly tortured and executed in Kraków.[233]1639Over 60 Judaizers are burned at the stake at an Auto-da-fé in Lima, Peru. Among those martyred was physician Francisco Maldonado de Silva.1639Two Roman Jewish children are forcibly baptized by Pope Urban VIII.[234]1639Jews of Łęczyca are accused of ritual murder after a young child is found dead in the woods. The blame falls on the Jews after a local gentile named Foma confesses to the crime then says he had been coerced into doing it by the Jews. Despite the lack of evidence, two Jewish elders named Meyer and Lazar are arrested and tortured, and eventually quartered publicly.[235]1644Jewish martyr Judah the Believer is burned at the stake as he recites prayers in Hebrew.1647Jewish martyr Isaac de Castro Tartas is burned at the stake while he recites the Shema along with 6 other Jews.[236]1648–1655The Ukrainian Cossacks led by Bohdan Chmielnicki massacre about 100,000 Jews and similar number of Polish nobles, 300 Jewish communities destroyed.1649Largest Auto-da-fé in the New World. 109 victims, 13 were burned alive and 57 in effigy.[237]1655Oliver Cromwell readmits Jews to England.1656All Jews are expelled from Isfahan because of the common belief of their impurity. The ones who stay are forced to convert to Islam.1657–1662Jews throughout Iran (including 7,000 in Kashan alone) are forced to convert to Islam as a result of persecutions by Abbas II of Persia.[238]1661Sephardic poet Antonio Enríquez Gómez is publicly burned in effigy in Seville.[239]1663Two Christian Janissaries accuse the Jews of Istanbul of killing a child who had actually been killed by his own father. After killing his own son, he threw his body onto the Jewish quarter in order to implicate the Jews in the crime. Once the Grand Vizier learned the facts of the case from his spies stationed in the Greek quarter, he informed the Sultan and the Janissaries were put to death. 20 Jews were killed in total by the Greek mobs.[240]1664 MayJews of Lemberg (now Lviv) ghetto organize self-defense against impending assault by students of Jesuit seminary and Cathedral school. The militia sent by the officials to restore order, instead joined the attackers. About 100 Jews killed.[241]1669The majority of Jews in Oran are expelled by the Spanish queen.[242][243]1670Jews expelled from Vienna.1670Raphael Levy is burned at the stake over blood libel. After being offered a chance to convert and live, he declared that he had lived a Jew and would die a Jew.1679The Exile of Mawza. It is considered the single most traumatic event experienced collectively by the Jews of Yemen. All Jews living in nearly all cities and towns throughout Yemen were banished by decree of the king, Imām al-Mahdi Ahmad, and sent to a dry and barren region of the country named Mawza to withstand their fate or to die. Only a few communities who lived in the far eastern quarters of Yemen were spared this fate by virtue of their Arab patrons who refused to obey the King's orders. Many would die along the route and while confined to the hot and arid conditions of this forbidding terrain.1680Auto-da-fé in Madrid.1681Mob attacks against Jews in Vilna. It was condemned by King John Sobieski, who ordered the punishment of the guilty.1682Largest trial against alleged Judaizers in Lisbon, Portugal. 117 were tried in 3 days.[244]1683Hungarian rebels known as Kuruc rushes into the town of Uherský Brod, massacring the majority of its Jewish inhabitants. Most of the victims were recent refugees who were expelled from Vienna in 1670. One of the Hebrews killed by the mob was Jewish historian Nathan ben Moses Hannover, who was a survivor of the Chmielnicki massacres. Most of the survivors fled to Upper Hungary.1684Attack on the Jewish ghetto of Buda.[245][246]1686Only 500 Jews survive after Austrian sieged the city of Buda. Half of them are sold into slavery.[245][247]1689Worms is invaded by the French and the Jewish quarter is reduced to ashes.[248]1689The Jewish Ghetto of Prague is destroyed by French troops. After it was over 318 houses, 11 synagogues, and 150 Jews were dead.[249]1691219 people are convicted of being Jewish in Palma, Majorca. 37 of them are burned to death. Among those martyred is Raphael and his sister Catalina Benito, who although declaring she wanted to live, jumped right into the flames rather than to be baptized.[250][251]1696A number of Converso Jews are burned alive in Évora, Portugal.1698A female child is found dead at a church in Sandomierz. The mother of the child first said she placed her body in the church because she could not afford a burial, but after torture accused the Jewish leader Aaron Berek of the local community of murdering her daughter. The mother and Berek were sentenced the death.[252]1699A mob attacks the Jewish Quarter of Bamberg but runs away after one Jew stops them by pouring baskets of ripe plums on the attackers. The event is still commemorated on the 29th of Nisan as the Zwetschgen-Ta’anit (Prune-Fest).[253]
1703The Aleinu prayer is prohibited in most of Germany.1706An outbreak of the plague and a terrible famine in Algiers reduced many Jewish families to indigence. Then, influenced by false accusations, the bey imposed an exorbitant fine on the community and ordered the destruction of the synagogues, which were saved only by the payment of a further sum. This ruined the majority of the Jews.[254]1711Johann Andreas Eisenmenger writes his Entdecktes Judenthum ("Judaism Unmasked"), a work denouncing Judaism and which had a formative influence on modern antisemitic polemics.1712Blood libel in Sandomierz and expulsion of the town's Jews.[255]1715Elector Max Emanuel orders the deportation of all Jews living in Bavaria.[256]1717All Jews living in Gibraltar are expelled.[citation needed]1718The last Jews of Carniola, Styria and Carinthia are expelled.[citation needed]1721Arab creditors set fire to an Ashkenazi synagogue, fed up with debts. Ashkenazi Jews are banned from Jerusalem along with anyone who looks like an Ashkenazi Jew. Some Ashkenazim dressed up like Sephardic Jews in order to fool the authorities.[257][258][259]1721Maria Barbara Carillo was burned at the stake for heresy during the Spanish Inquisition. She was executed at the age of 95 or 96[260] and is the oldest person known to have been executed at the instigation of the Inquisition.[261] Carillo was sentenced to death for heresy for returning to her faith in Judaism.1724Jews of Radom are exiled.[262]1727Edict of Catherine I of Russia: "The Jews... who are found in Ukraine and in other Russian provinces are to be expelled at once beyond the frontiers of Russia."[263]1734The Haidamaks, paramilitary bands in Polish Ukraine, attack Jews.[264]1736María Francisca Ana de Castro, called La bella toledana, a Spanish immigrant to Peru, was arrested in 1726, accused of "judaizing" (being a practicing Jew). She was burned at the stake after an auto de fe in 1736. This event was a major spectacle in Lima, but it raised questions about possible irregular procedures and corruption within the Inquisition.1737Blood libel in Jarosław leads to Jews being tortured and others being put to death.[265]1742Elizabeth of Russia issues a decree of expulsion of all the Jews out of Ukraine. Her resolution to the Senate's appeal regarding harm to the trade: "I don't desire any profits from the enemies of Christ". One of the deportees is Antonio Ribera Sanchez, her own personal physician and the head of army's medical dept.[266]1743The Russians gain control of Riga and all local Jews are expelled.[267]1744Frederick II The Great (a "heroic genius", according to Hitler) limits Breslau to ten "protected" Jewish families, on the grounds that otherwise they will "transform it into complete Jerusalem". He encourages this practice in other Prussian cities. In 1750 he issues Revidiertes General Privilegium und Reglement vor die Judenschaft: "protected" Jews had an alternative to "either abstain from marriage or leave Berlin" (Simon Dubnow).1744Archduchess of Austria Maria Theresa orders: "... no Jew is to be tolerated in our inherited duchy of Bohemia" by the end of Feb. 1745. In December 1748 she reverses her position, on condition that Jews pay for readmission every ten years. This extortion was known among the Jews as malke-geld (queen's money).[268] In 1752 she introduces the law limiting each Jewish family to one son.1746The city of Radom bans Jews from entering.[232]1753The Jewish community of Kaunas is expelled.[269]1755Jeronimo Jose Ramos, a merchant from Bragança, Portugal, is burned at the stake for being secretly Jewish.1761Several Jews from Alsace are executed after being accused of host desecration.[citation needed]1761The Jews of Kaunas are expelled after anti-Jewish riots.[270]1762Rhode Island refuses to grant Jews citizenship stating "no person who is not of the Christian religion can be admitted free to this colony."1766All but 6 Jews are expelled from Toruń.[271]1768Haidamaks massacre the Jews of Uman, Ukraine.1775Pope Pius VI issues a severe Editto sopra gli ebrei (Edict concerning the Jews). Previously lifted restrictions are reimposed, Judaism is suppressed1775A blood libel spread in Hebron, in which Jews were falsely accused of murdering the son of a local sheikh.[272][273][274][275] Mob attacks took place.[276][277] At first the Sheikh demanded to kill all the Jews but after pleas settled on a large fine that nearly destroyed the community.[278][279][280][281]1776The Jewish community of Basra is massacred.[282]1782Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II abolishes most of persecution practices in Toleranzpatent on condition that Yiddish and Hebreware eliminated from public records and judicial autonomy is annulled. Judaism is branded "quintessence of foolishness and nonsense". Moses Mendelssohn writes: "Such a tolerance... is even more dangerous play in tolerance than open persecution".1783The Sultan expels the Moroccan Jews for failing to pay an exorbitant ransom.[283]1785Ali Burzi Pasha murders hundreds of Libyan Jews.[284]1786Jews are expelled from Jeddah, most of them flee to Yemen.[285]1790Yazid becomes the Sultan of Morocco and immediately orders troops to massacre and plunder the Jewish quarter of Tétouan.1790The Touro Synagogue's warden, Moses Seixas, wrote to George Washington, expressing his support for Washington's administration and good wishes for him. Washington sent a letter in response, which read in part:
There is an annual event reading Washington's letter, and speakers at the annual event have included Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan;[287] and Brown University Presidents Ruth Simmons[288] and Christina Paxson.[289]
1790, 20 MayEleazer Solomon is quartered for the alleged murder of a Christian girl in Grodno.[290]1790–1792Destruction of most of the Jewish communities of Morocco.1791Catherine II of Russia confines Jews to the Pale of Settlement and imposes them with double taxes.[291][better source needed]1797Napoleon calls for the end of Jewish segregation, ghettoization and the denial of equal rights.
Main article: Timeline of antisemitism in the 19th century
The Hall of Names in Yad Vashemcontains Pages of Testimonies which commemorate the millions of Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust
Main article: Timeline of antisemitism in the 20th century
Further information: Timeline of the Holocaust
Main article: Timeline of antisemitism in the 21st century
First century
[edit]19 CERoman Emperor Tiberius expels Jews from Rome.[8] Their expulsion is recorded by the Roman historical writers Suetonius, Josephus, and Cassius Dio.38 CEThousands of Jews killed by mobs in the Alexandrian pogrom, as recounted by Philo of Alexandria in Flaccus. Synagogues are defiled, Jewish leaders are publicly scourged, and the Jewish population is confined to one quarter of the city.[11]50 CEJews are ordered by Roman Emperor Claudius "not to hold meetings", in the words of Cassius Dio (Roman History, 60.6.6). Claudius later expelled Jews from Rome, according to both Suetonius ("Lives of the Twelve Caesars", Claudius, Section 25.4) and Acts 18:2.66 CEUnder the command of Tiberius Julius Alexander, Roman soldiers killed about 50,000 Jews in the Alexandria riot.66–73 CEThe First Jewish–Roman War against the Romans is crushed by Vespasian and Titus. Titus refuses to accept a wreath of victory, because there is "no merit in vanquishing people forsaken by their own God." (Philostratus, Vita Apollonii)[citation needed]. The events of this period were recorded in detail by the Jewish–Roman historian Josephus. His record is largely sympathetic to the Roman point of view and it was written in Rome under Roman protection; hence it is considered a controversial source. Josephus describes the Jewish revolt as being led by "tyrants," to the detriment of the city, and he describes Titus as having "moderation" in his escalation of the Siege of Jerusalem (70).70 CEOver 1,000,000 Jews perish and 97,000 are taken as slaves following the destruction of the Second Temple.[12]70 CEPogrom against jews in Damascus[13]94 CEFabrications of Apion in Alexandria, Egypt, including the first recorded case of blood libel. Juvenal writes anti-Jewish poetry. Josephus picks apart contemporary and old antisemitic myths in his work Against Apion.[14]96 CETitus Flavius Clemens, nephew of the Roman Emperor Vespasian and supposed convert to Judaism is put to death on charges of atheism.100 CETacitus writes anti-Jewish polemic in his Histories (book 5). He reports on several old myths of ancient antisemitism (including that of the donkey's head in the Holy of Holies), but the key to his view that Jews "regard the rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies" is his analysis of the extreme differences between monotheistic Judaism and the polytheism common throughout the Roman world.
Second century
[edit]115–117Thousands of Jews are killed during civil unrest in Egypt, Cyprus, and Cyrenaica, as recounted by Cassius Dio.119Roman Emperor Hadrian bans circumcision, making Judaism de facto illegal.132–135Crushing of the Bar Kokhba revolt. According to Cassius Dio 580,000 Jews are killed. Hadrian orders the expulsion of Jews from Judea, which is merged with Galilee in order to form the province of Syria Palaestina. Although large Jewish populations remain in Samaria and Galilee, with Tiberias as the headquarters of exiled Jewish patriarchs, this is the start of the Jewish diaspora. Hadrian constructs a pagan temple to Jupiter at the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, builds Aelia Capitolina among the ruins of Jerusalem.[15]136Hadrian renames Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina and builds a Roman monument over the site of the Temple Mount.[16][17] Jews are banned from visiting. Judea is renamed to Syria Palestina, referring to the Greek words for both the Levant as well as the region at the time.[18]167Earliest known accusation of Jewish deicide (the notion that Jews were held responsible for the death of Jesus), made in a sermon On the Passover, attributed to Melito of Sardis.175Apollinaris the Apologist writes two books against the Jews.
Third century
[edit]259The Jewish community of Nehardea is destroyed.[19][20][21]
Fourth century
[edit]306The Synod of Elvira bans intermarriage and sexual intercourse between Christians and Jews and forbids Jews and Christians from eating together.[22]315Constantine I enacts various laws regarding the Jews: Jews are not allowed to own Christian slaves or to circumcise their slaves. Conversion of Christians to Judaism is outlawed. Congregations for religious services are restricted, but Jews are also allowed to enter the restituted Jerusalem on the anniversary of the Temple's destruction.325Jews are expelled and banned from Jerusalem.325First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. The Christian Church separates the calculation of the date of Easter from the Jewish Passover: "It was ... declared improper to follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival, because, their hands having been stained with crime, the minds of these wretched men are necessarily blinded.... Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries. ... avoiding all contact with that evil way. ... who, after having compassed the death of the Lord, being out of their minds, are guided not by sound reason, but by an unrestrained passion, wherever their innate madness carries them. ... a people so utterly depraved. ... Therefore, this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may no more have any thing in common with those parricides and the murderers of our Lord. ... no single point in common with the perjury of the Jews."[23][24]330Rabbah bar Nahmani is forced to flee to the forest where he dies.339Intermarriage between Christians and Jews is banned in the Roman Empire, declaring the punishment death.351Book burning of Jewish texts in Persia.[citation needed]351–352Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus. Jews rise up against the corrupt rule of Gallus. Many towns are destroyed, thousands are killed.353Constantius II institutes a law stating that any Christian who converts to Judaism will have their property confiscated.380St. Gregory of Nyssa calls Jews "murders of the Lord, assassins of the prophets, rebels and detesters of God, companions of the devils, a race of vipers."[25]386John Chrysostom of Antioch writes eight homilies called Adversus Judaeos (lit: Against the Judaizers). See also: Christianity and antisemitism.3881 August: A Christian mob incited by the local bishop plunders and burns down a synagogue in Callinicum. Theodosius I orders that those responsible be punished, and the synagogue is rebuilt at the Christians' expense. Ambrose of Milan insists in his letter that the whole case be dropped. He interrupts the liturgy in the emperor's presence with an ultimatum that he will not continue until the case is dropped. Theodosius complies.[26]399The Western Roman Emperor Honorius calls Judaism superstitio indigna (unworthy superstition) and confiscates gold and silver collected by the synagogues for Jerusalem.
Fifth century
[edit]408Roman laws pass which prohibit Jews from setting fire to Haman, stating that they are mocking Christianity.415A Jewish uprising in Alexandria claims the lives of many Christians.[27] Bishop Cyril forces his way into the synagogue, expels the Jews (some authors estimate the numbers of Jews expelled up to 100 thousand[28][29]) and gives their property to the mob. Later, near Antioch, Jews are accused of ritual murder during Purim.[30] Christians confiscate the synagogue. Jews call it "415 C.E. Alexandria Expulsion".[31]415An edict issued by the Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II ban building new Synagogues and converting non-Jews to Judaism.418The first record of Jews being forced to convert or face expulsion. Bishop Severus of Menorca, claimed to have forced 540 Jews to accept Christianity upon conquering the island. The synagogue in Magona, now Port Mahon the capital of Menorca, is burned.419The monk Barsauma (not to be confused with the famous Bishop of Nisibis) gathers a group of followers and for the next three years, he destroys synagogues throughout the province of Palestine.425The final nasi of the ancient Sanhedrin Gamliel VI is executed by the Roman Empire. This subsequently ended the Jewish patriarchate.429The East Roman Emperor Theodosius II orders that all funds raised by Jews to support their schools be turned over to his treasury.438Theodosius II's wife visits Jerusalem, and arranges for Jews to visit and pray at the ruins of the Temple Mount. This leads to Jews emigrating to Jerusalem, where some are killed after being stabbed and stoned by local monks. At the trial for the deaths the monks claimed that the stones fell from heaven and thus they were acquitted.439The Codex Theodosianus, the first imperial compilation of laws. Jews are prohibited from holding important positions involving money, including judicial and executive offices. The ban against building new synagogues is reinstated. The anti-Jewish statutes also apply to the Samaritans. The Code is also accepted by Western Roman Emperor, Valentinian III.451Sassanid ruler Yazdegerd II of Persia's decree abolishes the Sabbath and orders executions of Jewish leaders, including the Exilarch Mar Nuna.465Council of Vannes, Gaul prohibited the Christian clergy from participating in Jewish feasts.469Half of the Jewish population of Isfahan is put to death and their children are brought up as 'fire-worshippers' over the alleged killing of two Magi Priests.470Exilarch Huna V is executed as a result of persecution under King Peroz (Firuz) of Persia.
Sixth century
[edit]502After the Jews of Babylon revolt and gain a short period of independence, the Persian King Kobad crucifies the Exilarch Mar-Zutra II on the bridge of Mahoza.506Synagogue of Daphne is destroyed and its inhabitants are massacred by a Christian mob celebrating the result of a chariot race.517Christians are banned from participating in Jewish feasts as a result of the Council of Epaone.519Ravenna, Italy. After the local synagogues were burned down by the local mob, the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great orders the town to rebuild them at its own expense.529–559Byzantine Emperor Justinian the Great publishes Corpus Juris Civilis. New laws restrict citizenship to Christians. These regulations determined the status of Jews throughout the Empire for hundreds of years: Jewish civil rights restricted: "they shall enjoy no honors". The principle of Servitus Judaeorum (Servitude of the Jews) is established: the Jews cannot testify against Christians. The emperor becomes an arbiter in internal Jewish matters.[clarification needed] The use of the Hebrew language in worship is forbidden. Shema Yisrael ("Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one"), sometimes considered the most important prayer in Judaism, is banned as a denial of the Trinity. Some Jewish communities are converted by force, their synagogues turned into churches.531Emperor Justinian rules that Jews cannot testify against Christians. Jewish liturgy is censored for being "anti-trinitarian."535Synagogue of Borion is closed and all Jewish practices are prohibited by order of Justinian.535The First Council of Clermont prohibits Jews from holding public office.[22]538The Third Council of Orléans forbids Jews to employ Christian servants or possess Christian slaves. Jews are prohibited from appearing in the streets during Passion Week:[22] "their appearance is an insult to Christianity". The Merovingian king Childebertapproves the measure.547Jews and Samaritans in the Caesaria are massacred after a failed revolt.[32][33][34]576In Clermont, Gaul, Bishop Avitus offers Jews a choice: accept Christianity or leave Clermont. Most emigrate to Marseille.582The Merovingians order that all Jews of the kingdom are to be baptized.589The Council of Narbonne, Septimania, forbids Jews from chanting psalms while burying their dead. Anyone violating this law is fined 6 ounces of gold. The third Council of Toledo, held under Visigothic King Reccared, bans Jews from slave ownership and holding positions of authority, and reiterates the mutual ban on intermarriage.[35] Reccared also rules children out of such marriages to be raised as Christians.590–591The Exilarch Haninai is executed by Khosrau II for supporting Mihrevandak. This halted all forms of Jewish self-governance for over 50 years.592The entire Jewish population of Antioch is punished because a Jew violated a law.[36]598Bishop Victor of Palermo seizes the local synagogues and repurposes them into churches.[37] In response, Pope Gregory I issues a letter of papal promise of protection for the Jews, the Sicut Iudaeis, which sets out the papal policy and will be later re-issued by various of his successors.[38]
Seventh century
[edit]608–610Massacres of Jews all across the Byzantine Empire.610–620After many of his anti-Jewish edicts were ignored, King Sisebur prohibits Judaism in Hispania and Septimania. Those not baptized fled. This was the first incidence where a prohibition of Judaism affected an entire country.614Fifth Council of Paris decrees that all Jews holding military or civil positions must accept baptism, together with their families.615Italy. The earliest referral to the Juramentum Judaeorum (the Jewish Oath): the concept that no heretic could be believed in court against a Christian. The oath became standardized throughout Europe in 1555.617After breaking their promise of Jewish autonomy in Jerusalem, the Persians forbid Jews from settling within three miles of the city.626–627The Council of Clichy declared that any Jew who accepts public office must convert.627Between 600 and 900 Jewish male captives including any boys showing signs of puberty are beheaded by Muslims on Muhammed's orders, many in front of their families, and the rest of the Jews are taken or sold into slavery in the Massacre of Banu Qurayza.62893 Jews are killed in the Battle of Khaybar. Among others, the 17-year-old Jew Safiyya bint Huyayy is enslaved by Muslims, bought by Muhammed to his bed on the very night of the day when her husband was tortured and beheaded and her family is slaughtered, and later manumitted and married to him.[39]629Byzantine Emperor Heraclius with his army marches into Jerusalem. Jewish inhabitants support him after his promise of amnesty. Upon his entry into Jerusalem the local priests convince him that killing Jews is a good deed. The only Jews that survived were the ones who fled to Egypt or the mountains.629Frankish King Dagobert I, encouraged by Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, expels all Jews from the kingdom.632The first case of officially sanctioned forced baptism. Emperor Heraclius violates the Codex Theodosianus, which protected them from forced conversions.634–641Jews living in the Levant are forced to pay the Jizya as a result of the Arab-Islamic Conquest of the Levant640Jews are expelled by Caliph Umar from Arabia.[40]642The Jizya is imposed on the native Jews of Egypt, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan.653The Jews of Toledo are forced to convert or be expelled.681The Twelfth Council of Toledo enacts antisemitic laws including the burning of the Talmud and Jewish books.[22]682Visigothic king Erwig begins his reign by enacting 28 anti-Jewish laws. He presses for the "utter extirpation of the pest of the Jews" and decrees that all converts must be registered by a parish priest, who must issue travel permits. All holidays, Christian and Jewish, must be spent in the presence of a priest to ensure piety and to prevent the backsliding.692Quinisext Council in Constantinople forbids Christians on pain of excommunication to bathe in public baths with Jews, employ a Jewish doctor or socialize with Jews.69417th Council of Toledo. King Ergica believes rumors that the Jews had conspired to ally themselves with the Islamic invaders and forces Jews to give all land, slaves and buildings bought from Christians, to his treasury. He declares that all Jewish children over the age of seven should be taken from their homes and raised as Christians.
Eighth century
[edit]717Possible date for the Pact of Umar, a document that specified severe restrictions on Jews and Christians (dhimmi) living under Islamic rule. However, academic historians believe that this document was actually compiled at a much later date.720Caliph Omar II bans Jewish worship on the Temple Mount.[41][42][43]722Byzantine emperor Leo III forcibly converts all Jews and Montanists in the empire into mainstream Byzantine Christianity.740First Archbishop of York Ecgbert bans Christians from eating with Jews.[44]787Empress Irena decries the practice of forced conversion against Jews.788Idriss I attacks Jewish communities, imposes high per capita taxes, and forces them to provide annual virgins for his harem for refusing to attack other Jewish communities. According to Maghrebi tradition, the Jewish tribe Ubaid Allah left and settled in Djerba.[45][46]
Ninth century
[edit]807Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid orders all Jews in the Caliphate to wear a yellow belt, with Christians to wear a blue one.820Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons, declares in his essays that Jews are accursed and demands a complete segregation of Christians and Jews. In 826 he issues a series of pamphlets to convince Emperor Louis the Pious to attack "Jewish insolence", but fails to convince the Emperor.850Caliph Al-Mutawakkil decrees that Dhimmi — Jews and Christians — wear the zunnar, honey-coloured outer garments and badge-like patches on their servants' clothing to distinguish them from Muslims.[47] Further, their places of worship are to be destroyed with demonic effigies nailed to the door and they are to be allowed little involvement in government or official matters.870Ahmad ibn Tulun flattens Jewish cemeteries and replaces them with Muslim tombs.874Basil I decrees that all Byzantine Jews are to be baptized, by force if necessary.[48]878–879Around 120,000–200,000 foreign merchants (including Jews, Muslim Arabs, Muslim Persians, Zoroastrian Persians, and Christians) are slaughtered in Guangzhou, China.[49]884Basil I reinforces law that prohibits Jews from holding any civil or military position in Epanagoge.888Church council in Metz forbids Christians and Jews from eating together.[50]888The Aghlabids issue decrees according to which Jews and Christians are to wear a patch (ruq'a) of white fabric on their shoulder of their outer garment, with the patch for Jews depicting an ape and that for the Christians depicting a pig.[51][52]
Tenth century
[edit]925Jews of Oria are raided by a Muslim mob during a series of attacks on Italy. At least ten rabbinical leaders and many more are taken as captives. Among those captured is 12-year-old Shabbethai Donnolo , who would go on later to be a famous physician and astronomer.931Bishop Ratherius of Verona begs the town elders to expel the Jews from the city until they agree to temporarily expel them.[citation needed]931–942Romanos I Lekapenos decreed that all Jews should be forced to convert and subjugated if they refuse. This leads to the death of hundreds of Jews and the destruction of numerous synagogues.[53]932The Jewish quarter of Bari, Italy is destroyed by a mob and a number of Jews are killed.[54]943–944Byzantine Jews from all over the Empire flee from persecution into Khazaria. The King of Khazaria at the time, who was Jewish, subsequently cut ties with the Byzantine Empire.[55]945Venice bans Jews from using Venetian vessels.985Entire Jewish population of Sparta is expelled after Nikon the Metanoeite says it will rid the city of a plague.[56]985A number of Jewish residents in Barcelona are killed by the Muslim leader Almanzor. All Jewish owned land is handed over to the Count of Barcelona.[57]
Eleventh century
[edit]1008Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ("the Mad") issues severe restrictions against Jews in the Fatimid Empire. All Jews are forced to wear a heavy wooden "golden calf" around their necks. Christians had to wear a large wooden cross and members of both groups had to wear black hats.[58][59]1009Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah orders the destruction of synagogues, Torah scrolls and Jewish artifacts among other non-Muslim buildings.[60][61]1010The Jews of Limoges are given the choice of baptism or exile.[62]1011The Abbasid Caliph Al-Qadir publishes the Baghdad Manifesto, which accuses the Fatimids of being descended from Jews, instead of being "family of the prophet."1011A Muslim mob attacks a Jewish funeral procession, resulting in the arrest of 23 Jews.[63]1011Pogrom against Sephardic Jews in Córdoba by a Muslim mob.[64]1012One of the first known persecutions of Jews in Germany: Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor expels Jews from Mainz.1013During the fall of the city, Sulayman's troops looted Córdoba and massacred citizens of the city, including many Jews. Prominent Jews in Córdoba, such as Samuel ibn Naghrela were forced to flee to the city in 1013.1016The Jewish community of Kairouan, Tunisia is forced to choose between conversion and expulsion.[65]1021A violent earthquake occurs, which some Greeks maintain is caused by a desecration of Jesus by the Jews. For this a number of Roman Jews are burnt at the stake.[66]1026Probable date of the chronicle of Raoul Glaber. The French chronicler blamed the Jews for the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was destroyed in 1009 by Islamic Caliph Al-Hakim. As a result, Jews were expelled from Limoges and other French towns.[citation needed]1033Temim ibn Ziri conquers Fez, Morocco and decimates the Jewish community, massacring 6,000 Jews during the Fez massacre.1035Sixty Jews are put to death in Castrojeriz during a revolt, because the Jews were considered "property" of the kingdom by the locals.[67][68]1039A Muslim mob raids the palace of the Jewish vizier and kills him after the ruler al-Mondhir is assassinated.1040Exilarch Hezekiah Gaon is imprisoned and tortured to death by the Buyyids. The death of Hezekiah ended the line of the Geonim, which had begun four centuries earlier.1050Council of Narbonne, France forbids Christians to live in Jewish homes.1066Granada massacre: Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada, crucified Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacred most of the Jewish population of the city. "More than 1,500 Jewish families, numbering 4,000 persons, fell in one day."[69]1071Jerusalem falls to the Seljuk Turks, many synagogues are destroyed and life for Jews in Jerusalem becomes much more restricted.[citation needed]1078Council of Girona decrees Jews to pay taxes for support of the Catholic Church to the same extent as Christians.[22]1090The Jewish community of Granada, which had recovered after the attacks of 1066, attacked again at the hands of the Almoravidesled by Yusuf ibn Tashfin, bringing the golden age of Jewish culture in Spain to end.1092The Synod of Szabolcs prohibits Jews from working on Sunday [22] or marrying Christians.1096The First Crusade. Three hosts of crusaders pass through several Central European cities. The third, unofficial host, led by Count Emicho, decides to attack the Jewish communities, most notably in the Rhineland, under the slogan: "Why fight Christ's enemies abroad when they are living among us?" Eimicho's host attacks the synagogue at Speyer and kills all the defenders. 800 are killed in Worms. Another 1,200 Jews commit suicide in Mainz to escape his attempt to forcibly convert them (see German Crusade, 1096), and 600 are massacred in Mainz on 27 May.[70] Attempts by the local bishops remained fruitless. All in all, 5,000 Jews were murdered.[71]1099Jews fight side by side with Muslim soldiers to defend Jerusalem against the Crusaders and face massacres when it falls.[72]According to the Muslim chronicle of Ibn al-Qalanisi, "The Jews assembled in their synagogue, and the Franks burned it over their heads."[73] However, a contemporary Jewish communication does not corroborate the report that Jews were actually inside of the Synagogue when it was set on fire.[74] This letter was discovered among the Cairo Geniza collection in 1975 by historian Shelomo Dov Goitein.[75] Historians believe that it was written just two weeks after the siege, making it "the earliest account on the conquest in any language."[75] However, all sources agree that a synagogue was indeed burned during the siege.
Twelfth century
[edit]1108Many Jews are massacred and their houses and synagogues are burned following a Muslim victory at the Battle of Uclés (1108). Of those murdered is Solomon ibn Farissol, the leader of the Castile community. This incident greatly impacted the Hebrew poet Judah HaLevi, and completely shifted the focus of his poetry.1113Upon the death of Sviatopolk II of Kiev, leader of the Kievan Rus', widespread riots and plundering of Jewish homes commenced.[76]1124The Jewish quarter of Kyiv is destroyed by arson.[77]1135A Muslim mob in Córdoba storms into Jewish homes, takes their possessions and kills a number of them.1141During The Anarchy, the fight for succession between Matilde and Stephen, the Jews of Oxford are forced to pay ransom to both sides of the conflict or their houses are to be burned. Stephen burns the house of Aaron son of Isaac and threatens the rest of the community if they do not pay him.1143150 Jews are killed in Ham, Somme.[78]1144The case of William of Norwich, a contrived accusation of murder by Jews in Norwich, England.1145Abd al-Mu'min gives the Jewish population of Sijilmasa the choice of converting to Islam or death. At least 150 Jews who refuse to convert are massacred.[79]1146100,000 Jews are massacred by the Almohad Caliphate in Fez, Morocco and 120,000 in Marrakesh.[80]1147Jews are expelled from al-Andalus (Muslim-ruled Iberia).[81][82]1148The mostly-Jewish town Lucena, Córdoba is captured by the Almohad Caliphate and local Jews are given the choice of Islam or death. This was the end of the Jewish community of Lucena.1148–1212Rule of the Almohad Caliphate in al-Andalus. Only Jews who had converted to Christianity or Islam were allowed to live in Granada. One of the refugees was Maimonides, who settled first in Fez and later in Fustat near Cairo.1160Appalled by the annual practice of beating Jews during Palm Sunday, Bishop William issues an order which would excommunicate any priest who continues the practice.[83]1165Forced mass conversions of Jews to Islam in Yemen.[84]1165New Almohad ruler decrees that all Jews in Fez must convert to Islam or face death. Judah ha-Kohen ibn Shushan is burnt alive for refusing and Maimonides was displaced and permanently leaves for Egypt.[85]1168Harold of Gloucester is found floating in a river. The local Benedictine monks use the discovery to claim that "the child had been spirited away by the Jews on the 21st February for them to torture him to death on the night of 16th March". It established that the mythology created around William of Norwich's death could be used as a template for explaining later deaths.1171In Blois, France 31 Jews were burned at the stake for blood libel including Pulcelina of Blois1171Jews of Bologna are expelled for no known reason.[86]1173Following multiple church-inspired riots, Mieszko III of Poland forbids all kinds of violence against the Jews of Poland.1177Alfonso II of Aragon creates a charter which defines the status of Jews in Teruel. Jews are defined as "slaves of the king, belonging entirely to the royal treasury." The fee for killing a Jew is half of what the fee is for killing a Christian and is to be paid directly to the king (since Jews are considered property of the crown).1179The Third Council of the Lateran, Canon 26, forbids Jews to be plaintiffs or witnesses against Christians in the courts or withhold inheritance from descendants who had accepted Christianity.[22]1179The body of a Christian girl is found near the shore. The Jews of Boppard are blamed for her death, resulting in 13 Jews being murdered.1180Philip II of France, after four months in power, imprisons all the Jews in his lands and demands a ransom for their release.1181Philip Augustus II annuls all loans made by Jews to Christians and takes a percentage for himself. A year later, he confiscates all Jewish property and expels the Jews from Paris.1181The Assize of Arms of 1181 orders that all weapons held by Jews must be confiscated, claiming they have no use for them. This led to the Jewish community of England being a lot more vulnerable during anti-Jewish riots.1182Jews are expelled from Orléans. 99 Jews are burned alive in Brie-Comte-Robert.[87]1184Jewish martyr Elhanan, the son of Isaac ben Samuel, is murdered for refusing to convert.[88]1188The Saladin tithe: Jews are taxed 25% of their income and personal worth, while Christians are taxed 10%.1189Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, orders priests not to preach against Jews.1189A Jewish deputation attending coronation of Richard the Lionheart was attacked by the crowd. Pogroms in London followed and spread around England.1190All the Jews of Norwich, England found in their houses were slaughtered, except a few who found refuge in the castle.119057 Jews in St. Edmunds are killed in a massacre on Palm Sunday.[89]1190500 Jews of York were massacred after a six-day siege by departing members of the Third Crusade, backed by several people indebted to Jewish money-lenders.[90]1190Saladin conquers the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the Crusaders and lifts the ban for Jews to live in Jerusalem.1191More than 80 Jews in Bray-sur-Seine are burned at the stake after trying to execute a murderer who had killed an Israelite.[91]1195After falsely being accused of ritual murder with no evidence, the daughter of Rabbi Isaac bar Asher ha-Levi is murdered, dismembered and her body parts are hung around the market place for days. Ha-Levi was killed the following day along with 8 other Jews after trying to recover what was left of his daughter's body from the mob.1197In an attempt to isolate the Jewish population economically, Christians were barred from buying food from Jews or having conversations with them under the threat of excommunication.[92]1198Philip Augustus readmits Jews to Paris, only after another ransom was paid and a taxation scheme was set up to procure funds for himself. August: Saladin's nephew al-Malik, caliph of Yemen, summons all the Jews and forcibly converts them.
Thirteenth century
[edit]
Judensau at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Regensburg13th centuryGermany. Appearance of Judensau: obscene and dehumanizing imagery of Jews, ranging from etchings to Cathedral ceilings. Its popularity lasted for over 600 years.1203Jewish quarter of Constantinople is burned down by crusaders during the Siege of Constantinople (1203).1204In 1204 the papacy required Jews to segregate themselves from Christians and to wear distinctive clothing.[93]1205Jews are expelled from villages and towns all around Spain by Muslims.[94]1206Jewish homes are burned, looted, Israelites are killed and the remaining Jewish population of Halle is expelled.[95]1209Béziers is stormed and its inhabitants are massacred. Among those were 200 Jews. All Jewish children who survived, and did not flee, were forcibly baptized.[96]1209Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, humiliated and forced to swear that he would implement social restrictions against Jews.1210King John of England imprisoned much of the Jewish population until they paid up 66,000 marks.1212Forced conversions and mass murder of the Jewish community of Toledo.1215The Fourth Lateran Council headed by Pope Innocent III declares: "Jews and Saracens of both sexes in every Christian province and at all times shall be marked off in the eyes of the public from other peoples through the character of their dress." (Canon 68). See Judenhut. The Fourth Lateran Council also noted that the Jews' own law required the wearing of identifying symbols. Pope Innocent III also reiterated papal injunctions against forcible conversions, and added: "No Christian shall do the Jews any personal injury...or deprive them of their possessions...or disturb them during the celebration of their festivals...or extort money from them by threatening to exhume their dead."[97]1217French noblewoman Alix de Montmorency imprisons the Jewish population of Toulouse for refusing to convert. She eventually released them all except for children under six, who were taken and adopted by Christians.1221An anti-Jewish riot erupts in Erfurt, where the Jewish quarter is destroyed along with two synagogues. Around 26 Jews are killed, and others throw themselves into fire rather than be forcibly converted. Samuel of Speyer was among those martyred.[98]1222Council of Oxford: Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton forbids Jews from building new synagogues, [99] owning slaves or mixing with Christians.1223Louis VIII of France prohibits his officials from recording debts owed to Jews, reversing his father's policy of seeking such debts.1227The Synod of Narbonne reaffirms the anti-Semitic decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council.1229Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, heir of Raymond VI, also forced to swear that he would implement social restrictions against Jews.1229Treaty of Jaffa is signed between Frederick II and the Sultan Al-Kamil of Egypt. Jews are once again banned from residing in Jerusalem.1230Theodore Komnenos Doukas is defeated. Since Theodore decreed many anti-Jewish laws and seized Jewish property, he was handed over to two Jews by John Asen II to personally kill him. After having pity on him and refusing to kill Theodore, the Czar had the Jews thrown off a cliff.1232Forced mass conversions in Marrakesh, over 1,000 Moroccan Jews are killed.1235The Jews of Fulda, Germany were accused of ritual murder. To investigate the blood libel, Emperor Frederick II held a special conference of Jewish converts to Christianity at which the converts were questioned about Jewish ritual practice. Letters inviting prominent individuals to the conference still survive. At the conference, the converts stated unequivocally that Jews do not harm Christian children or require blood for any rituals. In 1236 the Emperor published these findings and in 1247 Pope Innocent IV, the Emperor's enemy, also denounced accusations of the ritual murder of Christian children by Jews. In 1272, the papal repudiation of the blood libel was repeated by Pope Gregory X, who also ruled that thereafter any such testimony of a Christian against a Jew could not be accepted unless it is confirmed by another Jew. Unfortunately, these proclamations from the highest sources were not effective in altering the beliefs of the Christian majority and the libels continued.[100]1236Crusaders attack Jewish communities of Anjou and Poitou and attempt to baptize all the Jews. Those who resisted (est. 3,000) were slaughtered.1236A Jew and a Christian fisherman get into a heated argument about prices, which turns physical. It ends when the Jew deals a devastating blow to the Gentile's head which leads to his death. This enrages the local Christian population, who attack the Jewish quarter of Narbonne. Don Aymeric, the governor of Narbonne prevents a massacre and restores all stolen Jewish property to their rightful owner.[101][102]1240John I, Duke of Brittany expels Jews from Brittany.[103]1240Disputation of Paris. Pope Gregory IX puts Talmud on trial on the charges that it contains blasphemy against Jesus and Mary and attacks on the Church.1241A pogrom against the Jews of Frankfurt takes place after conflicts over Jewish-Christian marriages and the enforced baptism of interfaith couples. 180 Jews are killed as a result and 24 agree to be baptized. This became known as the Judenschlacht (German for Slaughter of the Jews).1241In England, first of a series of royal levies against Jewish finances, which forced the Jews to sell their debts to non-Jews at cut prices.[104]1242Following a show trial, the Talmud is "convicted" of corrupting the Jews. 24 cart-loads of hand-written Talmudic manuscripts, some 10,000 volumes and comprising most of the extant volumes in France, are burned in the streets of Paris.1242James I of Aragon orders Jews to listen to conversion sermons and to attend churches. Friars are given power to enter synagogues uninvited.1243The first ever accusation of Host Desecration. The entire Jewish population of Beelitz was burned at the stake after being accused of torturing Jesus and the spot it happened was named "Judenberg."124311 Jews are tortured to death following a blood libel in Kitzingen Germany.[105]1244Pope Innocent IV orders Louis IX of France to burn all Talmud copies.1249Alphonse of Poitiers orders the expulsion of all Jews in Poitiers.1250Saragossa Spain: death of a choirboy Saint Dominguito del Val prompts ritual murder accusation. His sainthood was revoked in the 20th century but reportedly a chapel dedicated to him still exists in the Cathedral of Saragossa.1250The Hafsid caliph in the Magrheb issues a decree that Jews and Christians must wear a distinguishing badge. The so-called shiklacontinues to be in use for Tunisian Jews into the nineteenth century.[106]1251The Shepherds' Crusade attacks Jewish communities across northern France.1253Henry III of England introduces harsh anti-Jewish laws.[107] These are known as the Statute of Jewry.1254Louis IX threatens any Jew who keeps a copy of the Talmud or engages in moneylending with expulsion.1255Henry III of England sells his rights to the Jews (regarded as royal "chattels") to his brother Richard for 5,000 marks.1257The Badge of shame is imposed locally on the Italian Jews.1260Mongols are defeated and Syria is brought under Mamluk rule. Anti-Jewish laws are once again decreed, and Jewish life becomes a lot more restricted in the Levant.1260Jews are banned from ascending above the 7th step on the Cave of the Patriarchs. This ban would last 700 years.1260Thomas Aquinas publishes Summa Contra Gentiles, a summary of Christian faith to be presented to those who reject it. The Jews who refuse to convert are regarded as "deliberately defiant" rather than "invincibly ignorant".1263Disputation of Barcelona.1264Pope Clement IV assigns Talmud censorship committee.1264Simon de Montfort inspires massacre of Jews in London.[108]1265German-Jewish convert Abraham of Augsburg publicly assails Christianity, severs the heads of crucifix figurines and is sentenced to torture and death by burning.1267In a special session, the Vienna city council forces Jews to wear Pileum cornutum (a cone-shaped headdress, prevalent in many medieval illustrations of Jews). This distinctive dress is an addition to Yellow badge Jews were already forced to wear.1267The Synod of Vienna forbids Christians from attending Jewish ceremonies, and Jews from debating with "simple Christian people" about the beliefs of the Catholic religion.[99]1267The Synod of Breslau orders Jews to live in a segregated quarter.[99]1267After an accusation from an old woman that the Jews had bought a Christian child from her to kill, the entire Jewish community of Pforzheim face massacres and expulsion. Rabbi Samuel ben Yaḳar ha-Levi, Rabbi Isaac ben Eliezer and Rabbi Abraham ben Gershom commit suicide to escape the cruel torture they feared.1275King Edward I of England passes the Statute of the Jewry forcing Jews over the age of seven to wear an identifying yellow badge, and making usury illegal, in order to seize their assets. Scores of English Jews are arrested, 300 hanged and their property goes to the Crown.1276Massacre in Fez to kill all Jews stopped by intervention of the Emir[109]1278The Edict of Pope Nicholas III requires compulsory attendance of Jews at conversion sermons.1279The Synod of Ofen forbids Christians to sell or rent real estate to or from Jews.[99]1280Edward I of England orders Jews to be present as Dominicans preach conversion.1282John Pectin, Archbishop of Canterbury, orders all London synagogues to close and prohibits Jewish physicians from practicing on Christians.1283Philip III of France causes mass migration of Jews by forbidding them to live in the small rural localities.128310 Jews are slain in Mainz after claims of blood libel.[110]1285Blood libel in Munich, Germany results in the death of 68 Jews. 180 more Jews are burned alive at the synagogue.1287Edward I of England arrests heads of Jewish families and demands their communities pay ransom of 12,000 pounds.1287A 16-year-old boy is found dead in the Rhine. Immediately the Jews of Oberwesel are accused of killing the boy. Over 40 men, women and children were killed by rioters as a response.1287Jews are arrested and accused of coin clipping. Even without evidence, the whole community is convicted and expelled.1288The Jewish population of Troyes is accused of ritual murder. 13 Jewish martyrs are burned at the stake, sacrificing themselves to spare the rest of the community.[111]1288104 Jews in Bonn, Germany are killed during a pogrom.[112]1289Jews are expelled from Gascony and Anjou.1290Edict of Expulsion: Edward I expels all Jews from England, allowing them to take only what they could carry, all the other property became the Crown's. Official reason: continued practice of usury.1290A Jewish man named Jonathan and his wife are accused of stabbing the wafer to torture Jesus. They are both burned at the stake, their house is destroyed and replaced with a chapel.[113]1290The Jews of Baghdad are massacred.129018 July Edward I of England issues Edict of Expulsion, decreeing all Jews to be expelled from England.1291Philip the Fair publishes an ordinance prohibiting the Jews to settle in France.1291Jewish physician and grand vizier Sa'ad al-Dawla is killed by Muslims who felt it a degradation to have a Jew placed over them. Persian Jews suffer a long-period of violent persecution by the Muslim population.1292Forced conversion and expulsion of the Jews from Campania and Basilicata.1298Accusations of Host desecration against the German Jews. More than 140 Jewish communities face forced conversions.1298During the civil war between Adolph of Nassau and Albrecht of Austria, German knight Rintfleisch claims to have received a mission from heaven to exterminate "the accursed race of the Jews". Under his leadership, the mob goes from town to town destroying Jewish communities and massacring about 100,000 Jews, often by mass burning at stake. Among 146 localities in Franconia, Bavaria and Austria are Röttingen (20 April), Würzburg (24 July), Nuremberg (1 August).[114]Fourteenth century
[edit]1301Riots break out in Egypt, which are encouraged by the Mamluks. Many Jews are forcibly converted to Islam, including the entire Jewish population of Bilbeis. Many synagogues are appropriated into mosques.[115]1305Philip IV of France seizes all Jewish property (except the clothes they wear) and expels them from France (approx. 100,000). His successor Louis X of France allows French Jews to return in 1315.1306Jews of Sens, Yonne department of France, are expelled. This was the third and final expulsion (after those in 876 and 1198).[116]1306Jews expelled from Castelsarrasin, France.[117]1309Rhodes falls to the Crusaders, who went on a rampage against the local Jews.[118]1310The Synod of Mainz defines the adoption of Judaism by a Christian or the return of a baptized Jew to Judaism as heresy subject to punishment.[99]1310Frederick II of Aragon adopts anti-Jewish laws, which require them to mark their clothes and shops with the yellow badge. Jews were also forbidden from having any relationship with Catholics.1314Jews expelled from Halle (Saale)[119]1318Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, a Persian Jewish convert to Islam was executed on fake charges of poisoning Öljeitü and for several days crowds carried his head around his native city of Tabriz, chanting "This is the head of the Jew who abused the name of God; may God's curse be upon him!"1319Jews are expelled from Breslau.[120]1320Jews are expelled from Milan during a persecution of so-called heretics.[121]1320152 Jews massacred in Castelsarrasin, France.[117]1320Shepherds' Crusade attacks the Jews of 120 localities in southwest France.1321King Henry II of Castile forces Jews to wear Yellow badge.1321Jews in central France accused of ordering lepers to poison wells. After massacre of est. 5,000 Jews, King Philip V admits they were innocent.1321A Muslim mob destroys a synagogue in Damascus.[122][123]13285,000 Jews are massacred and their houses are burned down following anti-Jewish preaching by a Franciscan friar from Estella, near Pamplona. That same years, the Jews of Navarre choose to burn their homes and synagogues and drown their children rather than be forcibly converted.[124]1328Jewish martyr Aaron ben Zerah, along with his wife and four of his sons are executed.1333Forced mass conversions in Baghdad[125][126][127][128]1336Armleder persecutions against Jews in Franconia and Alsace led by lawless German bands, the Armleder under the highwayman Arnold von Uissigheim. Roughly 1500 Jews are killed.1336The Aleinu prayer is banned in Castile.[129]1337-1338Pogroms over host desecration across Bavaria, Austria, and Bohemia. The Jews are accused of stealing the bread of the Eucharist and trying to burn it. In Wolfsberg, Carinthia, over 70 Jews are burned at the stake and the entire Jewish community is destroyed.[130][131]1344The citizens of Speyer ask the King's permission to confiscate the houses of the Jews for the cities benefit – he grants their request.[132]1348European Jews are blamed for the plague in the Black Death persecutions. Charge laid to the Jews that they poisoned the wells. Massacres spread throughout Spain, France, Germany and Austria. More than 200 Jewish communities destroyed by violence. Many communities have been expelled and settle down in Poland.1349Basel: 600 Jews burned at the stake, 140 children forcibly baptized, the remaining city's Jews expelled. The city synagogue is turned into a church and the Jewish cemetery is destroyed.
1349 burning of Jews (from a European chronicle written on the Black Death between 1349 and 1352)1349The Erfurt massacre was a massacre of around 3,000 Jews as a result of Black Death Jewish persecutions1349The entire Jewish population of Speyer is destroyed. All Jews are either killed, converted, or fled. All their property and assets was confiscated. Part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.1349600 Jews are burned at the stake and the entire Jewish community of Zurich is annihilated as a part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.1349The Jewish community of Worms is completely destroyed as a result of the Black Death Jewish persecutions. Hundreds of Jews set fire to their homes to avoid the oncoming torture. Their property was seized by the locals.1349Jews of Berlin are expelled and many are killed as a part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.[133]1349Jews of Breslau are expelled as part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.[120] The city claims all property and synagogues, while the Emperor was given the cemetery and all Jewish debts. 60 Jews are murdered.1349The Jewish quarter of Cologne is destroyed by an angry mob, and most of the community is killed. All of their property was split up between the ransackers. It was part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions.[134]1349The Strasbourg massacre was a part of the Black Death persecutions, where several hundred Jews were publicly burned to death, and the rest of them were expelled. It was one of the first and worst pogroms in pre-modern history.1349The Jews of Halle (Saale) are attacked.[135]24 August 13496,000 Jews are burned to death in Mainz as a part of the Black Death Jewish persecutions. When the angry mob charged, the Jews initially fought back, killing around 200 of their attackers.[136][137]1350Brussels Jewish community is decimated after they are blamed for the Plague.1352Church officials order the expulsion of Jews from Bulgaria for "heretical activity."1359Charles V of France allows Jews to return for a period of 20 years in order to pay ransom for his father John II of France, imprisoned in England. The period is later extended beyond the 20 years.1360Jews are expelled from Breslau.[120]1360Jews expelled from Hungary by Louis I of Hungary.1360Furious with a pogrom against Castilian Jews in Miranda de Ebro, Peter of Castile publicly boils one of the perpetrators, roasts another, and executes others with an axe.1360Sephardic Jew Samuel ben Meir Abulafia is arrested and tortured to death in prison for no apparent reason. His lands are confiscated by the king.[138]1365Jews of Metz are expelled after their presence is cited as the cause of lightning strikes which destroyed twenty-two houses.[139]1367Host desecration trials are held against the Jews of Barcelona. They were initiated by the crown prince Don Juan of Aragon.1367No fewer than 1600 homes belonging to conversos are destroyed and many conversos are killed in Toledo.1368The Synod of Lavour prohibits the sale or transfer of Church property to Jews.[99]1370The entire Jewish population of Brussels is massacred over allegations of host desecration. It was an end of the Hebrew community in Brussels. The event was commemorated by local Christians as the Sacrament of Miracle.[140]1376Jews are expelled from Hungary. Most of them flee south into Greece and neighboring areas.[141]1377Another Host desecration trial is held against Jews in Teruel and Huesca. The person behind it, as with the previous trial, is the crown prince Don Juan of Aragon. Many Jews are tortured and burned alive publicly.[142]138216 Jews are murdered in Paris the Mailotin Riots after the Harelle.1384200 Jews are killed in Noerdlingen and the community ceases to exist.[143]1385Wenceslaus, Holy Roman Emperor, arrests the Jews from the Swabian League and confiscates their property.[144]1385John of Castile reinforces previous anti-Jewish legislation.138918 March, a Jewish boy is accused of plotting against a priest. The mob slaughters approx. 3,000 of Prague's Jews, destroys the city's synagogue and Jewish cemetery. Wenceslaus insists that the responsibility lay with the Jews for going outside during Holy Week.1391Anti-Jewish riots led by Ferrand Martinez erupt in Seville.1391Led by Ferrand Martinez, countless massacres devastate the Sephardic Jewish community, especially in Castile, Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon. The Jewish quarter in Barcelona is completely destroyed. By the end of the pogroms, at least 10,000 Jews are murdered and thousands more are forcibly converted.1391Pogrom against the Jews of Toledo on the Seventeenth of Tammuz. Jewish martyrs Israel Alnaqua and Judah ben Asher died at the stake together.1391Over 250 Jews are massacred by a mob in Valencia.1391All Jewish inhabitants of Palma, Majorca are either converted or killed.1391More than 400 Jews are massacred in Barcelona.1392Jews expelled from Bern, Switzerland. Although between 1408 and 1427 Jews were again residing in the city, the only Jews to appear in Bern subsequently were transients, chiefly physicians and cattle dealers1392The Jews of Damascus are accused by Muslims of setting fire to the central mosque. Although there was no evidence presented, one Jew was burned alive, the leaders of the community were tortured, and the local synagogue was appropriated into a mosque.[122]1392Sicilian Jews are forced to live in Ghettos and severe persecution breaks out in Erice, Catania and Syracuse.[145]13943 November, Charles VI of France expels all Jews from France.1397Jewish ghettos of Radgona and Ptuj in Slovenia are set on fire by an anonymous mob.1399A Christian woman is accused of stealing hosts and giving them to Jews for the purpose of desecration. Thirteen members of the Jewish community of Posen, along with the woman are all tortured and burned alive slowly. This story, however, does not appear until the latter half of the 14th century.[146] The community is then forced to pay a special tax every year until the 18th century.139980 Jews are murdered in Prague after a converted Jew named Peter accuses them of denigrating Christianity. A number of Jews are also jailed, including Yom-Tov Lipmann-Muhlhausen.Fifteenth century
[edit]1401Two Jews are burned to death for an alleged host desecration in Glogau.[147][148]1404Many members of the Jewish community of Salzburg and Hallein is burned alive on charged of host desecration.[149]1407Blood libel accusations against the Jews of Kraków led by a fanatic priest result in anti-Jewish riots.[150]1411Oppressive legislation against Jews in Spain as an outcome of the preaching of the Dominican friar Vicente Ferrer.1413Disputation of Tortosa, Spain, staged by the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII, is followed by forced mass conversions.1418All Jews living in Trier are expelled.[151]1420All Jews are expelled from Lyons.[152]1421Persecutions of Jews in Vienna, known as Wiener Gesera (Vienna Edict), confiscation of their possessions, and forced conversion of Jewish children. 270 Jews burned at stake. and all Viennese Jews are expelled following persecution.1422Pope Martin V issues a Bull reminding Christians that Christianity was derived from Judaism and warns the friars not to incite against the Jews. The Bull was withdrawn the following year on allegations that the Jews of Rome attained it by fraud.1424The Jewish population of Zurich is exiled.[153]1424Jews are expelled and banned from Cologne.[154]1426Jews are expelled from Iglau after they are accused of being in league with the Hussites.[155]1427All Jews living in Bern are expelled and their property is seized.[156]1428Jews are expelled from Fribourg.[157][158]1430Pogrom in Aix-en-Provence breaks out in which 9 Jews are killed, many more are injured and 74 are forcibly converted.[159]1434Council of Basel, Sessio XIX, forbids Jews to obtain academic degrees and to act as agents in the conclusion of contracts between Christians.[99]1435Massacre and forced conversion of Majorcan Jews.[160]1435Jews are expelled from Speyer.[161]1436Jews of Zurich are expelled.[153]1438Jewish inhabitants of Düsseldorf are expelled.[162]1438Establishment of mellahs (ghettos) in Morocco.1440Jews of Augsburg expelled[163]1442Synagogues and other Jewish buildings are destroyed by a riot of Glogau.[147]1442Jews are expelled from Upper Bavaria.[164]1444Jewish population of Utrecht are expelled.[165]1447Casimir IV renews all the rights of Jews of Poland and makes his charter one of the most liberal in Europe. He revokes it in 1454 at the insistence of Bishop Zbigniew.1449The Statute of Toledo introduces the rule of purity of blood discriminating Conversos. Pope Nicholas V condemns it.1450Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria expels all Jews who reject baptism.1453Around 40 Jews in Breslau are burned at the stake on charges of host desecration, while the head Rabbi hung himself to avoid the torture. Jewish children under 7 were stolen and forcibly baptized. The few Jews remaining were banished from Breslau.[166]1456Pope Caliextus III issues a papal bull which prohibits Jews from testifying against Christians, but permits Christians to testify against a Jew.1458The city council of Erfurt, Germany votes to expel the Jews.[167]1463Pope Nicholas V authorizes the establishment of the Inquisition to investigate heresy among the Marranos. See also Crypto-Judaism.1464Over 30 Jews in Cracow are killed by an angry mob.[168]1465The Moroccan revolt against the Marinid dynasty, accusations against one Jewish Vizier lead to a massacre of the entire Jewish population of Fes.1467Jews of Tlemcen persecuted and many flee for Castile.[169]1468Many Jewish homes and plundered and a number are killed during anti-Jewish in Posen.[170]1468Sultan Qaitbay forces Jews of Cairo to pay 75,000 gold pieces or be expelled. This severely impoverished the local Jewish community.[171]1470The Jewish community of Bavaria are expelled, many migrate into Bulgaria.[172]1473Massacres of Marranos of Valladolid, Cordova, Segovia, Ciudad Real, Spain1474On Assumption day 15 August 1474, Christians wreaked brutal havoc on the Jewish dwellers of the Cartellone area of Modica. It was the first and most horrible massacre of Sicilian Jews. During the evening a number of Christians slaughtered about 360 Jews causing a total and fierce devastation in La Giudecca. They ran through the streets chanting: "Hurrah for Mary! Death to the Jews!" (Viva Maria! Morte ai Giudei!).[173]
Simon of Trent blood libel. Illustration in Hartmann Schedel's Weltchronik, 14931475A student of the preacher Giovanni da Capistrano, Franciscan Bernardine of Feltre, accuses the Jews in murdering an infant, Simon. The entire community is arrested, 15 leaders are burned at the stake, the rest are expelled. In 1588, Pope Sixtus V confirmed Simon's cultus. Saint Simon was considered a martyr and patron of kidnap and torture victims for almost 500 years. In 1965, Pope Paul VI declared the episode a fraud, and decanonized Simon's sainthood.1478Jews of Passau are expelled.[164]1481The Spanish Inquisition is instituted.[174]1484Pogrom against the Jewish section of Arles. A number of Jews are killed and 50 men are forced to convert.1487–1504Archbishop Gennady of Novgorod exposes the heresy of Zhidovstvuyushchiye (Judaizers) in Eastern Orthodoxy of Muscovy.1490Tomás de Torquemada burns 6,000 volumes of Jewish manuscripts in Salamanca.1490Jews are expelled from Geneva and not allowed to return for over 300 years.[175]1491The blood libel in La Guardia, Spain, where the alleged victim Holy Child of La Guardia became revered as a saint.1491Muhammad al-Maghili orders the expulsion and murder of the Jewish community in Tlemcen.[citation needed]1492The Jewish population of Tuat is massacred in a pogrom inspired by the preacher al-Maghili.[176][177]1492Ferdinand II and Isabella issue General Edict on the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain: approx. 200,000. Some return to the Land of Israel. As many localities and entire countries expel their Jewish citizens (after robbing them), and others deny them entrance, the legend of the Wandering Jew, a condemned harbinger of calamity, gains popularity.1492Jews of Mecklenburg, Germany are accused of stabbing a consecrated wafer. 27 Jews are burned, including two women. The spot is still called the Judenberg. All the Jews are expelled from the Duchy.[178]1492Askia Mohammad I decrees that all Jews must convert to Islam, leave or be killed. Judaism becomes illegal in Mali. This was based on the advice of Muhammad al-Maghili.[179] The region of Timbuktu had previously been tolerant of other religions before Askia got into power.1493John II of Portugal deports several hundred Jewish children to the colony of São Tomé, where most of them die.1493Expulsion from Sicily: approx. 37,000.1493-97The Jews in Persia and Afghanistan were forced into mellahs.[180] They were not permitted to have any businesses outside the walls of the mellah.[181]1494Jews of Thurgau attacked.[182]149416 Jews are burned at the stake after a blood libel in Trnava.1494After a fire destroys the Jewish quarter of Cracow, the Polish king Jan I Olbracht transfers the Jews to Kazimierz, which would become the first Polish ghetto. Jews were confined to the ghetto until 1868.1495Jews in Lithuania are expelled and their property is seized. They were allowed to return 8 years later.[183]1495The Jews of Lecce are massacred and the Jewish quarter is burned to the ground.[184]1495The Spanish conquer Naples and the Jews are officially expelled, though the order is not carried out.[185]1496Jews living in Styria are expelled and all their property is confiscated.[186]1496Forced conversion and expulsion of Jews from Portugal. This included many who fled Spain four years earlier.1497Entire Jewish community of Graz is expelled.1497Manuel I of Portugal decrees that all Jews must convert or leave Portugal without their children.1498Prince Alexander of Lithuania forces most of the Jews to forfeit their property or convert. The main motivation is to cancel the debts the nobles owe to the Jews. Within a short time trade grinds to a halt and the Prince invites the Jews back in.1499Jews of Nuremberg are expelled.1499Jews are banished from Verona. The Jews who were money lenders were replaced with Christian usurers who oppressed the poor so bad that the Jews were very shortly called to return.[187]1499All New Christians are prohibited from leaving Portugal, even those who were forcibly baptized.[188]Sixteenth century
[edit]
Jews from Worms, Germany wear the mandatory yellow badge. A moneybag and garlic in the hands are an antisemitic stereotype (sixteenth-century drawing).1501French Jews living in Provence are expelled.[189]1504Jews living in Pilsen are expelled on charges of host desecration.[190]1504Several Jewish scholars are burned at the stake for proselytizing in Moscow.[191]1505Ten České Budějovice Jews are tortured and executed after being accused of killing a Christian girl; later, on his deathbed, a shepherd confesses to fabricating the accusation.1506A marrano expresses his doubts about miracle visions at St. Dominics Church in Lisbon, Portugal. The crowd, led by Dominican friars, kills him, then ransacks Jewish houses and slaughters any Jew they could find. The countrymen hear about the massacre and join in. Over 2,000 marranos killed in three days.1509A converted Jew, Johannes Pfefferkorn, receives authority of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor to destroy the Talmud and other Jewish religious books, except the Hebrew Bible, in Frankfurt.150938 Jews of Spandau, Brandenburg, and Stendal are burned at the stake in Berlin, Germany for allegedly desecrating the host; remainder expelled from Brandenburg.[192]151023 November. Less-wealthy Jews expelled from Naples; remainder heavily taxed.[193]1510Spanish gain control of Calabria and expel all Jews and New Christians.[194]1510Spain gains control of Naples and expels the Jewish population.1511The officials of Conegliano try to expel the Jewish population but are unsuccessful.[195]1511Ten Roman Catholic converts from Judaism burned at the stake in Palermo for allegedly reverting.[196]1511Most Apulian Jews are either expelled or are tortured to death. Jewish property is seized and Synagogues are replaced with Catholic Churches.1514The Jewish population of Mittelberg is accused of host desecration.[197]1515Emperor Maximillian expels Jews from Ljubljana.[198][199]1515Jews are expelled from the city of Genoa, but are allowed back in a year later.[200]1516The first ghetto is established, on one of the islands in Venice.15171517 Hebron attacks: Jews are beaten, raped and killed in Hebron, as their homes and businesses are looted and pillaged.15171517 Safed attacks: The Jews of Safed is attacked by Mamluk forces and local Arabs. Many Jews are killed and their homes are plundered.1519The Jewish community of Ratisbon is expelled. The synagogue is destroyed and replaced with a chapel. Thousands of Jewish gravestones are taken and used for buildings.[201]1519Martin Luther leads Protestant Reformation and challenges the doctrine of Servitus Judaeorum "... to deal kindly with the Jews and to instruct them to come over to us". 21 February. All Jews expelled from Ratisbon/Regensburg.1520Pope Leo X allows the Jews to print the Talmud in Venice.1523The conquest of Cranganore by the Portuguese leads to the complete destruction of the local Jewish community. Most refugees fled to Cochin.[202]1523Mexico bans immigration from those who cannot prove four generations of Catholic ancestry.[203]1526Jews are expelled from Ofen, Esztergom, Pressburg, and Sopron following the Battle of Mohács.[204]1527Jews are ordered to leave Florence, but the edict is soon rescinded.1528Three judaizers are burned at the stake in Mexico City's first auto da fe.152930 Jewish men, women, and children are burned at the stake in Pezinok.[205]1532Solomon Molcho is burned at the stake for refusing to return to Catholicism after reverting to Judaism.1535After Spanish troops capture Tunis all the local Jews are sold into slavery.1539Jews are expelled from Nauheim.[206]1539Katarzyna Weiglowa, a Roman Catholic woman from the Kingdom of Poland who converted to Judaism is burned at the stake in Kraków under the charge of apostasy for refusing to call Jesus Christ the Son of God. She is regarded by Jews (among others) as a martyr.1541All Jews are banished from Prague.[207]1542Moses Fishel of Cracow is accused of proselytizing and dies a martyr.1543Jews are exiled from Basel.[208]1543Jeronimo Diaz, a New Christian physician, is burned at the stake for holding heretical opinions in Goa, India.[209]
Bookcover of On the Jews and Their Lies1543In his pamphlet On the Jews and Their Lies Martin Luther advocates an eight-point plan to get rid of the Jews as a distinct group either by religious conversion or by expulsion:"...set fire to their synagogues or schools...""...their houses also be razed and destroyed...""...their prayer books and Talmudic writings... be taken from them...""...their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb...""...safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews...""...usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them..." and "Such money should now be used in ... the following [way]... Whenever a Jew is sincerely converted, he should be handed [certain amount]...""...young, strong Jews and Jewesses [should]... earn their bread in the sweat of their brow...""If we wish to wash our hands of the Jews' blasphemy and not share in their guilt, we have to part company with them. They must be driven from our country" and "we must drive them out like mad dogs."Luther "got the Jews expelled from Saxony in 1537, and in the 1540s he drove them from many German towns; he tried unsuccessfully to get the elector to expel them from Brandenburg in 1543. His followers continued to agitate against the Jews there: they sacked the Berlin synagogue in 1572 and the following year finally got their way, the Jews being banned from the entire country."[210] (See also Martin Luther and the Jews)1546Martin Luther's sermon Admonition against the Jews contains accusations of ritual murder, black magic, and poisoning of wells. Luther recognizes no obligation to protect the Jews.1547Ivan the Terrible becomes ruler of Russia and refuses to allow Jews to live in or even enter his kingdom because they "bring about great evil" (quoting his response to request by Polish king Sigismund II).154710 out of the 30 Jews living in Asolo are killed and their houses are robbed.[211]1550Dr. Joseph Hacohen is chased out of Genoa for practicing medicine; soon all Jews are expelled.[212]1553Pope Julius III forbids Talmud printing and orders burning of any copy found. Rome's Inquisitor-General, Cardinal Carafa (later Pope Paul IV) has Talmud publicly burnt in Rome on Rosh Hashanah, starting a wave of Talmud burning throughout Italy. About 12,000 copies were destroyed.1554Cornelio da Montalcino, a Franciscan Friar who converted to Judaism, is burned alive in Rome.1555In papal bull Cum nimis absurdum, Pope Paul IV writes: "It appears utterly absurd and impermissible that the Jews, whom God has condemned to eternal slavery for their guilt, should enjoy our Christian love." He renews anti-Jewish legislation and installs a locked nightly ghetto in Rome. The Bull also forces Jewish males to wear a yellow hat, females – yellow kerchief. Owning real estate or practicing medicine on Christians is forbidden. It also limits Jewish communities to only one synagogue.1555The Martyrs of 1555. 25 Jews in Ancona are hanged or burned at the stake for refusing to convert to Christianity as a result of Pope Paul IV's Bull of 1555.1556A rumor is sent around that a poor woman in Sokhachev named Dorothy sold Jews the holy wafer received by her during communion, and that it was stabbed until it bled. The Bishop of Khelm accuses the local Jews, and eventually three Jews along with Dorothy Lazhentzka are arrested, put on the rack, and sentenced to death on charges of host desecration.[213] They were burned at the stake. Before their death, the martyred Jews made a declaration: 1557Seventy houses were burned in the ghetto of Prague. Jews are temporarily banished.[214]1558Recanati, Italy: a baptized Jew, Joseph Paul More, enters synagogue on Yom Kippur under the protection of Pope Paul IV and tries to preach a conversion sermon. The congregation evicts him. Soon after, the Jews are expelled from Recanati.1559Pope Pius IV allows Talmud on conditions that it is printed by a Christian and the text is censored.1560The Goa Inquisition begins.1561Ferdinand I takes an oath to expel the Jews. Mordechai Zemach runs to Rome and convinces Pope Pius IV to cancel the decree.1563Russian troops take Polotsk from Lithuania, Jews are given ultimatum: embrace Russian Orthodox Church or die. Around 300 Jewish men, women and children were thrown into ice holes of Dvina river.[215]1564Brest-Litovsk: the son of a wealthy Jewish tax collector is accused of killing the family's Christian servant for ritual purposes. He is tortured and executed in line with the law. King Sigismund II of Poland forbids future charges of ritual murder, calling them groundless.1566Antonio Ghislieri elected and, as Pope Pius V, reinstates the harsh anti-Jewish laws of Pope Paul IV.1567Jews are allowed to live in France.1567Jews expelled from Republic of Genoa.1569Pope Pius V expels all the Jews of Bologna. He then gave their cemetery away to the nuns of Saint Peter, who destroyed it to use the land.[216]1569Pope Pius V expels Jews dwelling outside of the ghettos of Rome, Ancona, and Avignon from the Papal States, thus ensuring that they remain city-dwellers.1571Jews in Berlin are forced to leave and their property is confiscated.[133]1571The Mexican Inquisition begins.1574First auto-da-fé in Mexico.1576Deportation of Jews from Safed to Cyprus by Ottoman authorities.[217][218][219][220]1581Pope Gregory XIII issues a Bull which prohibits the use of Jewish doctors.1583Three Portuguese conversos are burned at the stake in Rome.[221]1586Pope Sixtus V forbids printing of the Talmud.1590Jewish quarter of Mikulov (Nikolsburg) burns to ground and 15 people die while Christians watch or pillage.[citation needed]1590King Philip II of Spain orders expulsion of Jews from Lombardy. His order is ignored by local authorities until 1597, when 72 Jewish families are forced into exile.1591Philip II, King of Spain, banished all Jews from the duchy of Milan.[222]1592Esther Chiera is executed with one of her sons by the Sultan Murad III's calvary.[223]1593Pope Clement VIII confirms the papal bull of Paul III that expels Jews from papal states except ghettos in Rome and Ancona and issues Caeca et obdurata ("Blind Obstinacy"): "All the world suffers from the usury of the Jews, their monopolies and deceit. ... Then as now Jews have to be reminded intermittently anew that they were enjoying rights in any country since they left Palestine and the Arabian desert, and subsequently their ethical and moral doctrines as well as their deeds rightly deserve to be exposed to criticism in whatever country they happen to live."1593At least 900 are expelled from Bologna.[216]159510 people are accused of practicing Judaism in Lima, Peru. Four of them are released and one named Francisco Rodríguez, is burned alive.[224]1596Francisca Nuñez de Carabajal was a Marrana (Jewish convert to Christianity) in New Spain executed by the Inquisition for "judaizing" in 1596. One of her children, Isabel, in her twenties at the time, was tortured until she implicated the whole of the Carabajal family. The whole family was forced to confess and abjure at a public auto-da-fé, celebrated on Saturday, 24 February 1590. Luis de Carabajal the younger (one of Francisca's sons), along with Francisca and four of her daughters, was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and another one of Francisca's sons, Baltasar, who had fled upon the first warning of danger, was, along with his deceased father Francisco Rodriguez de Matos, burnt in effigy. In January 1595, Francisca and her children were accused of a relapse into Judaism and convicted. During their imprisonment they were tempted to communicate with one another on Spanish pear seeds, on which they wrote touching messages of encouragement to remain true to their faith. At the resulting auto-da-fé, Francisca and her children Isabel, Catalina, Leonor, and Luis, died at the stake, together with Manuel Diaz, Beatriz Enriquez, Diego Enriquez, and Manuel de Lucena. Of her other children, Mariana, who lost her reason for a time, was tried and put to death at an auto-da-fé held in Mexico City on 25 March 1601; Anica, the youngest child, being "reconciled" at the same time.15983 Jews in Lublin are brutally tortured and executed by quartering, after a Christian boy is found in a nearby swamp.[225]
Seventeenth century
[edit]160014 Judaizers are punished in Lima, Peru.[226]1603Frei Diogo da Assumpcão, a partly Jewish friar who embraced Judaism, burned alive in Lisbon.160516 Judaizers are arrested in Lima, Peru.[227]1608The Jesuit order forbids admission to anyone descended from Jews to the fifth generation, a restriction lifted in the 20th century. Three years later Pope Paul V applies the rule throughout the Church, but his successor revokes it.1612The Hamburg Senate decides to officially allow Jews to live in Hamburg on the condition there is no public worship.
Expulsion of the Jews from Frankfurt on 23 August 1614: "1380 persons old and young were counted at the exit of the gate"1614Vincent Fettmilch, who called himself the "new Haman of the Jews", leads a raid on the Frankfurt Jewish quarter that turned into an attack that destroyed the whole community.1615The Guild led by Dr. Chemnitz, "non-violently" forced the Jews from Worms.1616Jesuits arrive in Grodno and accuse the Jews of host desecration and blood libel.[228]1618Anti-semitic pamphlet Mirror of the Polish Crown is published by professor Sebastian Miczyński. It accuses the Jews of murder, sacrileges, witchcraft, and urges their expulsion. It would go on to inspire anti-Jewish riots across Poland.1619Shah Abbas I of the Persian Sufi dynasty increases persecution against the Jews, forcing many to outwardly practice Islam. Many keep practicing Judaism in secret.1622King Christian IV invites Jews to come and live in Denmark.1624Ghetto established in Ferrara, Italy.1624Christian theologian Antonio Homem is burned at the stake for pursuing Judaism.1625Jews of Vienna forced to live in a ghetto in Leopoldstadt.1628Roman Jewish mistress of the son of the duke of Parma is burned alive.[229]1630Jewish merchant Moses the Braider is burned alive after being accused of host desecration.1631Due to awful conditions in the Jewish Ghetto of Padua, 421 out of the 721 Jews living in the ghetto perish.[230]1632King Ladislaus IV of Poland forbids antisemitic books and printings.1632Shortly after Miguel Rodriguez is discovered holding onto Jewish rites, an Auto-da-fé is held in the presence of the King and Queen. Miguel and his wife Isabel Alvarez, and 5 others are burned alive publicly.[231]1632, 20 AprilJewish-convert and martyr Nicolas Antoine is burned at the stake for heresy.1633Jews are banned from Radom.[232]1635Anti-Jewish riots take place in Vilna.1637Four Jews are publicly tortured and executed in Kraków.[233]1639Over 60 Judaizers are burned at the stake at an Auto-da-fé in Lima, Peru. Among those martyred was physician Francisco Maldonado de Silva.1639Two Roman Jewish children are forcibly baptized by Pope Urban VIII.[234]1639Jews of Łęczyca are accused of ritual murder after a young child is found dead in the woods. The blame falls on the Jews after a local gentile named Foma confesses to the crime then says he had been coerced into doing it by the Jews. Despite the lack of evidence, two Jewish elders named Meyer and Lazar are arrested and tortured, and eventually quartered publicly.[235]1644Jewish martyr Judah the Believer is burned at the stake as he recites prayers in Hebrew.1647Jewish martyr Isaac de Castro Tartas is burned at the stake while he recites the Shema along with 6 other Jews.[236]1648–1655The Ukrainian Cossacks led by Bohdan Chmielnicki massacre about 100,000 Jews and similar number of Polish nobles, 300 Jewish communities destroyed.1649Largest Auto-da-fé in the New World. 109 victims, 13 were burned alive and 57 in effigy.[237]1655Oliver Cromwell readmits Jews to England.1656All Jews are expelled from Isfahan because of the common belief of their impurity. The ones who stay are forced to convert to Islam.1657–1662Jews throughout Iran (including 7,000 in Kashan alone) are forced to convert to Islam as a result of persecutions by Abbas II of Persia.[238]1661Sephardic poet Antonio Enríquez Gómez is publicly burned in effigy in Seville.[239]1663Two Christian Janissaries accuse the Jews of Istanbul of killing a child who had actually been killed by his own father. After killing his own son, he threw his body onto the Jewish quarter in order to implicate the Jews in the crime. Once the Grand Vizier learned the facts of the case from his spies stationed in the Greek quarter, he informed the Sultan and the Janissaries were put to death. 20 Jews were killed in total by the Greek mobs.[240]1664 MayJews of Lemberg (now Lviv) ghetto organize self-defense against impending assault by students of Jesuit seminary and Cathedral school. The militia sent by the officials to restore order, instead joined the attackers. About 100 Jews killed.[241]1669The majority of Jews in Oran are expelled by the Spanish queen.[242][243]1670Jews expelled from Vienna.1670Raphael Levy is burned at the stake over blood libel. After being offered a chance to convert and live, he declared that he had lived a Jew and would die a Jew.1679The Exile of Mawza. It is considered the single most traumatic event experienced collectively by the Jews of Yemen. All Jews living in nearly all cities and towns throughout Yemen were banished by decree of the king, Imām al-Mahdi Ahmad, and sent to a dry and barren region of the country named Mawza to withstand their fate or to die. Only a few communities who lived in the far eastern quarters of Yemen were spared this fate by virtue of their Arab patrons who refused to obey the King's orders. Many would die along the route and while confined to the hot and arid conditions of this forbidding terrain.1680Auto-da-fé in Madrid.1681Mob attacks against Jews in Vilna. It was condemned by King John Sobieski, who ordered the punishment of the guilty.1682Largest trial against alleged Judaizers in Lisbon, Portugal. 117 were tried in 3 days.[244]1683Hungarian rebels known as Kuruc rushes into the town of Uherský Brod, massacring the majority of its Jewish inhabitants. Most of the victims were recent refugees who were expelled from Vienna in 1670. One of the Hebrews killed by the mob was Jewish historian Nathan ben Moses Hannover, who was a survivor of the Chmielnicki massacres. Most of the survivors fled to Upper Hungary.1684Attack on the Jewish ghetto of Buda.[245][246]1686Only 500 Jews survive after Austrian sieged the city of Buda. Half of them are sold into slavery.[245][247]1689Worms is invaded by the French and the Jewish quarter is reduced to ashes.[248]1689The Jewish Ghetto of Prague is destroyed by French troops. After it was over 318 houses, 11 synagogues, and 150 Jews were dead.[249]1691219 people are convicted of being Jewish in Palma, Majorca. 37 of them are burned to death. Among those martyred is Raphael and his sister Catalina Benito, who although declaring she wanted to live, jumped right into the flames rather than to be baptized.[250][251]1696A number of Converso Jews are burned alive in Évora, Portugal.1698A female child is found dead at a church in Sandomierz. The mother of the child first said she placed her body in the church because she could not afford a burial, but after torture accused the Jewish leader Aaron Berek of the local community of murdering her daughter. The mother and Berek were sentenced the death.[252]1699A mob attacks the Jewish Quarter of Bamberg but runs away after one Jew stops them by pouring baskets of ripe plums on the attackers. The event is still commemorated on the 29th of Nisan as the Zwetschgen-Ta’anit (Prune-Fest).[253]Eighteenth century
[edit]1703The Aleinu prayer is prohibited in most of Germany.1706An outbreak of the plague and a terrible famine in Algiers reduced many Jewish families to indigence. Then, influenced by false accusations, the bey imposed an exorbitant fine on the community and ordered the destruction of the synagogues, which were saved only by the payment of a further sum. This ruined the majority of the Jews.[254]1711Johann Andreas Eisenmenger writes his Entdecktes Judenthum ("Judaism Unmasked"), a work denouncing Judaism and which had a formative influence on modern antisemitic polemics.1712Blood libel in Sandomierz and expulsion of the town's Jews.[255]1715Elector Max Emanuel orders the deportation of all Jews living in Bavaria.[256]1717All Jews living in Gibraltar are expelled.[citation needed]1718The last Jews of Carniola, Styria and Carinthia are expelled.[citation needed]1721Arab creditors set fire to an Ashkenazi synagogue, fed up with debts. Ashkenazi Jews are banned from Jerusalem along with anyone who looks like an Ashkenazi Jew. Some Ashkenazim dressed up like Sephardic Jews in order to fool the authorities.[257][258][259]1721Maria Barbara Carillo was burned at the stake for heresy during the Spanish Inquisition. She was executed at the age of 95 or 96[260] and is the oldest person known to have been executed at the instigation of the Inquisition.[261] Carillo was sentenced to death for heresy for returning to her faith in Judaism.1724Jews of Radom are exiled.[262]1727Edict of Catherine I of Russia: "The Jews... who are found in Ukraine and in other Russian provinces are to be expelled at once beyond the frontiers of Russia."[263]1734The Haidamaks, paramilitary bands in Polish Ukraine, attack Jews.[264]1736María Francisca Ana de Castro, called La bella toledana, a Spanish immigrant to Peru, was arrested in 1726, accused of "judaizing" (being a practicing Jew). She was burned at the stake after an auto de fe in 1736. This event was a major spectacle in Lima, but it raised questions about possible irregular procedures and corruption within the Inquisition.1737Blood libel in Jarosław leads to Jews being tortured and others being put to death.[265]1742Elizabeth of Russia issues a decree of expulsion of all the Jews out of Ukraine. Her resolution to the Senate's appeal regarding harm to the trade: "I don't desire any profits from the enemies of Christ". One of the deportees is Antonio Ribera Sanchez, her own personal physician and the head of army's medical dept.[266]1743The Russians gain control of Riga and all local Jews are expelled.[267]1744Frederick II The Great (a "heroic genius", according to Hitler) limits Breslau to ten "protected" Jewish families, on the grounds that otherwise they will "transform it into complete Jerusalem". He encourages this practice in other Prussian cities. In 1750 he issues Revidiertes General Privilegium und Reglement vor die Judenschaft: "protected" Jews had an alternative to "either abstain from marriage or leave Berlin" (Simon Dubnow).1744Archduchess of Austria Maria Theresa orders: "... no Jew is to be tolerated in our inherited duchy of Bohemia" by the end of Feb. 1745. In December 1748 she reverses her position, on condition that Jews pay for readmission every ten years. This extortion was known among the Jews as malke-geld (queen's money).[268] In 1752 she introduces the law limiting each Jewish family to one son.1746The city of Radom bans Jews from entering.[232]1753The Jewish community of Kaunas is expelled.[269]1755Jeronimo Jose Ramos, a merchant from Bragança, Portugal, is burned at the stake for being secretly Jewish.1761Several Jews from Alsace are executed after being accused of host desecration.[citation needed]1761The Jews of Kaunas are expelled after anti-Jewish riots.[270]1762Rhode Island refuses to grant Jews citizenship stating "no person who is not of the Christian religion can be admitted free to this colony."1766All but 6 Jews are expelled from Toruń.[271]1768Haidamaks massacre the Jews of Uman, Ukraine.1775Pope Pius VI issues a severe Editto sopra gli ebrei (Edict concerning the Jews). Previously lifted restrictions are reimposed, Judaism is suppressed1775A blood libel spread in Hebron, in which Jews were falsely accused of murdering the son of a local sheikh.[272][273][274][275] Mob attacks took place.[276][277] At first the Sheikh demanded to kill all the Jews but after pleas settled on a large fine that nearly destroyed the community.[278][279][280][281]1776The Jewish community of Basra is massacred.[282]1782Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II abolishes most of persecution practices in Toleranzpatent on condition that Yiddish and Hebreware eliminated from public records and judicial autonomy is annulled. Judaism is branded "quintessence of foolishness and nonsense". Moses Mendelssohn writes: "Such a tolerance... is even more dangerous play in tolerance than open persecution".1783The Sultan expels the Moroccan Jews for failing to pay an exorbitant ransom.[283]1785Ali Burzi Pasha murders hundreds of Libyan Jews.[284]1786Jews are expelled from Jeddah, most of them flee to Yemen.[285]1790Yazid becomes the Sultan of Morocco and immediately orders troops to massacre and plunder the Jewish quarter of Tétouan.1790The Touro Synagogue's warden, Moses Seixas, wrote to George Washington, expressing his support for Washington's administration and good wishes for him. Washington sent a letter in response, which read in part:
— Letter of George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island[286]
There is an annual event reading Washington's letter, and speakers at the annual event have included Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan;[287] and Brown University Presidents Ruth Simmons[288] and Christina Paxson.[289]
1790, 20 MayEleazer Solomon is quartered for the alleged murder of a Christian girl in Grodno.[290]1790–1792Destruction of most of the Jewish communities of Morocco.1791Catherine II of Russia confines Jews to the Pale of Settlement and imposes them with double taxes.[291][better source needed]1797Napoleon calls for the end of Jewish segregation, ghettoization and the denial of equal rights.
Nineteenth century
[edit]Main article: Timeline of antisemitism in the 19th century
Twentieth century
[edit]
The Hall of Names in Yad Vashemcontains Pages of Testimonies which commemorate the millions of Jews who were murdered during the HolocaustMain article: Timeline of antisemitism in the 20th century
Further information: Timeline of the Holocaust
Twenty-first century
[edit]Main article: Timeline of antisemitism in the 21st century
Jews have been commonly used as scapegoats for tragedies and disasters such as in the Black Death persecutions, the 1066 Granada massacre, the Massacre of 1391 in Spain, the many pogroms in the Russian Empire, and the ideology of Nazism, which led to the Holocaust, the systematic murder of six million Jews during World War II.
Cool now do a history of all the other types of people that have been enslaved, slaughtered and persecuted in the last 3000 years.
Lots of other types of ethnic groups had thousands of years of persecution, tyranny and genocide, and that's just Europe.
Lots of other types of ethnic groups had thousands of years of persecution, tyranny and genocide, and that's just Europe.
Oh let's also hear about the engineered "famines" the English used against the Irish.
Nah, I was referring to gringo. You’re doing solid work!
Correct as well.
The history of the world is full of nation, killing nation, I’m solely focusing on this one because of their entrenched nature in the American government and elections.
I am no fan of Islam either.
But……
That is way off topic of this hate and lie filled thread which is being used as a spring board of hate fueled disinformation.
being anti-anti-semitic is becoming more difficult. for myself,as above,my only care is Israel's extensive control over all branches and levels of our gov. that fact can in no way be disputed. that is all out in the open. gets all mixed up with the foreign adventures we have suffered thru since ww2. our founders got it right mostly. their system didn't survive past 1860. a case could be made that it died even before then.
I'm not sure that a Greater Israel to those borders would be any worse than what exists now.
It might actually be better than the insane types that rule some of the land there.
The only part I kind of disagree with is they stop at not taking the whole of Saudi Arabia, might as well grab it all and Yemen as well.
They would be a lot better than the crazies that rule it now.
But essentially what they are wanting is the Kingdom of Solomon.
GreenGo really posted long list and quite comprehensive article i’m just wondering are you now pro or against Jew persecution since if you read and extrapolate from those articles basically every ones “granpa” wanted to get rid of “the jew”. So using such reasoning why go against thousand year old tradition its not like some are reinventing the wheel?
