The History of Talmud Persecutions and its Censorship Cover Image

Historia prześladowań Talmudu i jego cenzurowania
The History of Talmud Persecutions and its Censorship

Author(s): Krzysztof Pilarczyk
Subject(s): Philosophy, Theology and Religion, History of Religion
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents concisely Christian reprisals throughout history directed against Talmud, the central opus of the rabbinic Judaism. Those persecutions are hardly attested in the historical sources until the second half of the Middle Ages. They started in the 13th century and had lasted till the 18th century, while the arguments formulated during that period, allegedly based upon the Talmud itself, have been still present until now in various currents of anti-Semitism. The paper also deals with the historical context of Christian anti-Talmud ideology and the scope of its impact – especially in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th and 17th century. In comparison to the rest of Europe the Polish-Lithuanian Jews had enjoyed the greater range of freedom while the Talmud persecutions had been incidental.

  • Issue Year: 27/2012
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 237-291
  • Page Count: 55
  • Language: Polish