The Books of Jacob

The 18th century saw a dramatic shift in the history of Jewish people in Poland, Eastern Europe, and the Ottoman Empire. For centuries, Jewish populations had lived in relative peace in these regions, but the 18th century marked a turning point in their history. This period saw a drastic rise in antisemitic sentiment and violence, culminating in the infamous pogroms of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In Poland and Eastern Europe, pogroms were an integral part of the antisemitic violence that had been steadily growing since the mid-18th century. The pogroms were often organized and encouraged by the state, with Polish and Russian authorities often taking part in the violence. In addition to physical violence, the pogroms led to widespread confiscation of Jewish property, displacement of Jewish communities, and general disruption of Jewish life. The Ottoman Empire also saw a rise in antisemitic violence in the 18th century, with a series of pogroms and massacres occurring in areas such as Crimea and the Balkans. In 1785, the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid I ordered the expulsion of all Jews from the Crimean Peninsula, and in 1790, he issued the notorious ‘Kanun-i-Osmani’, which imposed heavy taxes on the Jewish population and restricted their rights to property and education.

Blood libel is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely claims Jews use the blood of Christian children in religious rituals. This theory has been used to fan anti-Jewish sentiment and to justify violence and persecution against Jews throughout history. The theory is based on the false belief that Jews use the blood of non-Jewish children to make religious items, such as matzos, which are unleavened bread eaten by Jews during the Passover holiday.

Throughout The Books of Jacob, the Jewish characters face persecution due to a complex mix of geopolitical, social, and material motivations. Christian rulers often use antisemitism as a distraction from their own failures, invoking conspiracy theories such as the blood libel to launch vicious pogroms against Jewish people which often result in murder, death, torture, and suffering. Jacob and his followers are Jews who convert to Christianity; they use similar antisemitic conspiracy theories for their own benefit, providing false evidence to the Christian courts that the Jewish populations are involved in the murder of Christian children. Like the Christians whose behavior they mimic, Jacob and his Contra-Talmudists use the antisemitic conspiracy theories and the threat of violence against local Jewish populations as a self-serving distraction from their own failures and as a way to escape scrutiny from the authorities.