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Jews Who Hate Jews Have a Long Historical Track Record
Outside the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo: Josh White, JWPictures/©Academy Museum Foundation.
Jews hating Jews has a long history — going as far back as the Bible.
But medieval times made a real art of it. The psychology of these apostates is fascinating, but also so relevant today. Some felt rejected by their Jewish communities over theological issues. Others simply preferred to join the majority (which in that case, meant the dominant religion).
This was done either for financial gain, inducements or simply to escape the pressure and oppression of being part of a reviled minority.
In the modern era, the opportunity to abandon religion altogether was an attractive intellectual option. Many Jews reacted to the Holocaust by hiding their Jewish identity. You do not need me to give examples of the many well-known ex-Jews or Jews who side with our enemies today.
Two of the major names who stand out in Medieval Jewry were Nicholas Donin and Pablo Christiani.
Donin was a Jewish convert to Christianity in early 13th-century Paris. He was known for his role in the 1240 Disputation of Paris, which resulted in a decree for the public burning of huge numbers of copies of the Talmud and the expulsion of Jews. Latin sources referred to him as “Repellus,” which might have been the Latin name of his native La Rochelle. But also refer to what a repellent character he was.
Donin was excommunicated from the Ghetto of Paris by the famous (to Talmudic scholars) Rabbi Yechiel of Paris, because Donin had rejected the authority of the Talmud along with rabbinic traditions.
After ten years of living in excommunication, Donin was baptized into the Catholic Church and joined the Franciscan order.
In 1238 Donin went to Rome to denounce the Talmud to the Pope as offensive to Christianity. Thirty-five articles against the Talmud were drawn up, which Donin claimed attacked the Virginity of Mary and the divinity of Jesus — which is a point of contention and debate.
Nevertheless, the Pope was persuaded that the accusations were true, and the authorities were ordered to seize all copies of the Talmud and deposit them with the Dominicans and Franciscans. This order was generally ignored, except in France, where — in 1240 — the Jews were compelled to hand over their Talmuds and four of the most distinguished rabbis of France had to answer Donin in a public debate. The rabbis were forbidden from denying the holiness of Jesus or Mary, as well as disputing any other central Christian doctrine, and Donin was declared victorious. Louis IX condemned the Talmud to be burned and in 1242, 24 carriage loads (ten to twelve-thousand volumes) were burnt in public in Paris.
Donin was rewarded with promotion and a pension. King Louis was made a saint.
The other fierce turncoat was a Sephardi Jew, Saul — the son of Joshua. He was born in Spain sometime in the 13th century. He married a Jewish woman and fathered children with her. After he converted to Christianity, he took his children from his wife and converted them too. He then joined the Dominicans as a friar and called himself Pablo Christiani.
He followed Donin’s lead in attempting to ban the Talmud. He is known above all to this day for his role in the famous 1263 Disputation of Barcelona. A favorite schoolteacher of mine, Hyam Maccoby, wrote a book about it which was adapted into a BBC drama.
Christiani’s failure to convert anybody during the Disputation did not, however, discourage him. He went on missionary journeys, and compelled Jews everywhere to listen to his speeches and answer his questions, both in synagogues and wherever else he pleased. He even required his audiences to defray the expenses of his missions.
Christiani did not meet with the success that he had expected. In 1264, he went to Pope Clement IV to denounce the Talmud, just like Donin. The Pope then commanded King James to appoint a commission that consisted of Christiani and others to act as censors of the Talmud. Christiani and the rest of the commission redacted all passages that they deemed were hostile to Christianity. As a result, The Talmud of Christian countries were censored. The original texts were only preserved under Islam.
Five years later, Christiani went further than this campaign against the Talmud, and interceded with King Louis IX of France to enforce an edict that required Jews to wear badges that would single them out as Jews. He did not give up until his dying breath. There is no record of how many Jews he might have converted.
We are often our own worst enemies, seeking to find favor with majority fashions or ideologies — while at the same time, we face campaigns from the outside to denigrate and disenfranchise Jews. If there is not one excuse, our enemies will always find another. And yet this state has been the norm for thousands of years, and our survival nevertheless should give us hope.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently living in New York.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
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