Scripture says death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21), but do we really understand what that means? The Jewish people understand it. Wherever they have lived, they have had to endure prejudice, suspicions, and lies that could at any moment inflame the majority population against them. One example of this occurred in the city of Lincoln, England, in the year 1255. When a young boy disappeared and was found dead, the Jews of Lincoln were blamed. Bob O’Dell and Ray Montgomery explain what happened next in The LIST: Persecution of Jews By Christians Throughout History:
An infamous ritual murder libel of Little St. Hugh alleged that Jews enticed the 9-year-old boy and while starving him, invited Jews to Lincoln to murder him ritually. (Jews did come to Lincoln at that time to attend a wedding.) His body was cast into a well and a month later “miracles” followed the discovery of his corpse. On the basis of the alleged “confession” by Jopin (Jacob), the secular authorities . . . and the Church sent 91 Jews to the Tower of London. Eighteen were executed before Richard, the Earl of Cornwall [brother of King Henry III], and the friars stopped the killings. (O’Dell & Montgomery, The LIST, 178.)
No one knows who killed the boy, but it didn’t help that his body was found in the well belonging to a Jewish man named Jopin. Hugh could have fallen into the well, or someone could have murdered him and put his body in the well to create evidence against the Jewish community. The result was a community terrorized by false accusations, a weaponized justice system, and the wrongful execution of 18 people. The repercussions continued long after the incident. Over a century later, Geoffrey Chaucer used the event as the basis of The Prioress’ Tale in The Canterbury Tales, but by that time there were no Jews left in England to protest this literary libel. King Edward I expelled all the Jews from England in 1290, largely for financial reasons, but the Christian people of England didn’t object since they already considered Jews to be evildoers who practiced dark arts and incorporated Christian blood in their rituals.
It’s a good thing we have progressed beyond such Medieval superstitions about the Jews, or about any people. Or have we? The headlines regarding the war thrust upon Israel by the horrendous atrocities Hamas perpetrated from Gaza would have us believe that the Jewish State is deliberately starving the people of Gaza and targeting them in military operations in an effort to eradicate the Arab population.
Is that true? Sadly, few people take the time to find out. As in Lincoln, England in 1255, the rush to judgment is based on assumed guilt simply because it’s the Jews who are involved.
Are we rushing to judgment as well? Since life and death is in the power of the tongue, perhaps we should learn the truth before repeating words that could bring death to innocents.
Albert J. McCarn
BYNA Executive Director
