Ask students if they know what antisemitism is, and why it’s relevant today.

Read the sections of the article by the ADL on antisemitism throughout history titled “Islamic World” and “Medieval Christendom” as a class (a unit on antisemitism more broadly could use more of the article).

Lead a class discussion on the material. Ask students:

1. What surprises you about what we’ve learned?
2. Why do you think Jews were a target of hatred and violence?
3. Why do you think people were willing to believe such hateful things?
4. Why do you think antisemitism is still an issue today?

Lead a short 5-minute discussion about antisemitic ideas commonly found today. Examples of topics include the ideas that Jews killed Jesus, Jews control money and the media, Jews have split-loyalty to Israel, and blood libel.

Watch the short film about blood libel by Facing History and Ourselves.

In small groups of 3-5, have students read the four contemporary short stories of blood libel. Ask the groups to take notes on similarities in each story.

Lead a class discussion on blood libel. Ask the students what similarities and differences they found within the stories they read, and what they thought reactions by local Christians were to accusations of blood libel. In particular, make sure to point out the fact that most of these stories are recorded by poets and folklorists – not necessarily told as first-hand accounts. Ask students why they think people believe in blood libel, and how dangerous and powerful a lie can be as it persists over time.

Explain that historically, anti-Jewish sentiment was a common phenomenon in the Western, Christian sphere for over a millennia. Jews were often limited in their livelihoods and where they were allowed to reside. The medieval period in particular – a time of religious crusades and conquest – was full of anti-Jewish rumours, sentiment, and action. Jews were thought to be responsible for the crucifixion, and the idea of Blood Libel (Jewish slaughter of Christian children for religious rituals) was born. At the same time, ill-treatment of Jews was not always met with sympathy. Similar to today, there were people who disapproved of the hatred and violence they faced.

Share this image of a Medieval tax record with students. Tax records didn’t usually have pictures, but this one did. These records were documents that listed tax payments and this document records the payments made by Jewish people in the city of Norwich in Norfolk, England.

Lead the class in a short discussion about the image. Ask students what they see and what the various symbols might mean. This guide by the National Archives will help you to highlight certain aspects of the image. Help students to correctly interpret the image as anti-Jewish.

Ask students how they define religion. Then, how might they define ‘religious differences’?
Furthermore, can they consider how religious differences have been handled throughout history? Is this a peaceful history or a bloody one?

Divide the class into a maximum of six groups. Have each group elect one person as their recorder. Note that everyone else must read and all members should contribute to the answers.

Direct student to the resource, Anti-Judaism before the Enlightenment by Facing History and Ourselves. Ask students to read through the resource and go over the Connection Questions found at the bottom of the page in their small group. Have groups write down their answers. Give 25 minutes for this exercise.

Come back together as a class and go over the answers to the connection questions. Ask each group to answer one question, selecting them randomly. Tell students they should be adding to their answers with thoughts discussed by the class and answers from other groups.

If time permits, ask students the questions below in an open discussion.

1. Does this history feel relevant to the present day?
2. Can you think of other groups that have faced similar hardships in history that still prevail today?

Brief students by explaining that they will be watching a video on anti-Judaism. Explain that many of the myths that they will hear in the video will be familiar to them, demonstrating the lasting impact they had on the world today.

Play the video,The Ancient Roots of Anti-Judaism by Facing History and Ourselves. Right at the beginning, pause the video on the two questions that come up on the screen.

Open up into a brief class discussion trying to answer these questions. After they watch the video they will have an opportunity to build on their answers. Stop the video at the intervals below and ask the accompanying questions underneath.

Beginning – 3:27

1. What does it mean to be a monotheist?
2. What inconsistencies were pointed out about Jews being responsible for Jesus’ death?

Pause video at 7:50

1. How did the image from John 8:44 of Jesus saying, “You are of your father, the devil” propel anti-Judaism?
2. What does it mean that Jews were to be a “witness people”?
3. What are blood libels? What did they represent?

Stop the video on the last frame to answer the questions on the screen.

Begin a discussion about scapegoating and religious intolerance. Ask the class the questions below in an open discussion:

Start by reading this quote taken from the video to the class:

“Many of these myths speak to core emotions that animate people experiencing fear and anxiety…What causes the Black Plague? No idea. One stop shop answer? Well, poisoning by evil people committed to the destruction of your way of life — the Jews.”

1. This idea of scapegoating, or placing blame, is a popular concept to not only provide an explanation for a problem, but also to unify a people against a common enemy. Can you think of any examples from the present day of groups being used as scapegoats?
2. In the present day, what other forms of religious intolerance can be seen? In what ways can we as individuals combat prejudice and intolerance?

Return to the questions from the video (written again below) and ask students to add to their original answers.

1. How does a group become a target of prejudice and discrimination?
2. How can prejudice lead to oppression and violence?