“In October 1347, several trading ships from Genoa, Italy, pulled into the harbor at Messina in Sicily. Everyone aboard those ships was dead or dying of a mysterious plague. Europeans called it the Black Death, because victims had black swellings… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“In the countryside, an outbreak of plague usually lasted about six months and then faded away. In cities and other places where people lived in very crowded conditions—including monasteries and schools—the disease lasted much longer, often diminishing in the winter… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“As accusations spread, so did the false belief that Jews routinely engaged in the practice of ritual murder. An accusation made repeatedly tends to… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“Still, by the end of the thirteenth century, most European Jews were forced to wear badges or distinguishing clothing. The aim was to humiliate… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“Mendelssohn’s books on philosophy and literature were hailed throughout Europe. He was described as “exceptional”—an “un-Jewish Jew,” one of a kind, a genius.” — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“135 years later, in 586 BCE, the Babylonians conquered Judea, the southern kingdom. They destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and forced thousands of Jews… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“In Arab nations, many people opposed Zionism because they believed that the UN had no right to establish a Jewish state on what they… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“After the Black Death in the mid-1300s, the persecution of Jews intensified, and many Jews in Europe moved farther east. Some left because life… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“Many Jews in the Byzantine Empire welcomed the Persians. Some saw their arrival as an opportunity to win independence or even just a little… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“In 1255, a five-year-old boy was found dead in a well in Lincoln, England. Many historians today believe that young Hugh accidentally fell into… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“The Greeks and Egyptians in Alexandria understood Flaccus’s announcement to mean that they could now treat Jews as they pleased. After all, people without… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“For hundreds of years, Christians had been trying to convert the Jews, and now, for the first time, they had real success. Suddenly thousands… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“With each new rumor, each new accusation, the way Christians thought about Jews became more and more distorted. Jews were increasingly seen as a… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“The “age of enlightenment” ended some of the isolation, discrimination, and humiliation Jews had experienced in earlier times in Europe. Jews now had more… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
