Magda Teter, Professor of Jewish History and the Shvidler Chair of Jewish Studies, Fordham University, presents
“Blood Libel: On the Trail of an Anti-Semitic Myth”. In 2019, a shooter of the synagogue in Poway near San Diego invoked the story of Simon of Trent, a Christian boy whose death in March 1475 led to one of the most notorious trials of Jews in European history, as one of the reasons why he decided to attack and kill Jews in California. Since the Middle Ages, the death of a Christian child often resulted in violence against Jews. While other anti-Jewish libels waned, this one has endured. Magda Teter's talk will unpack the enduring power of this libel, and explain how and why it came to be rooted in first Christian imagination in Europe and then to reach contemporary America and the Middle East.