On January 11, 2023, a Georgian-language Facebook user published a video allegedly depicting a staging of the sacrifice of a “goy child” in a synagogue. The video shows that an Orthodox Jewish man is allegedly participating in the ritual of hanging a doll, while those gathered in the hall are celebrating.
The video is being disseminated with a false and it reinforces a conspiracy theory. In fact, the video depicts the celebration of the Jewish holiday, Purim. The doll does not represent a child, but the biblical character Haman, who wanted to kill the Jews. The claim that Jews sacrifice children is an old anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.
The video depicts the celebration of the Jewish holiday Purim. The hanging of the doll is a recreation of the hanging of the biblical character Haman.
The “Book of Esther” of the Old Testament tells the story of a Jewish woman, Esther, who saved the Jewish people from death in ancient Persia. Esther became the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus. Haman, Ahasuerus’ advisor, was angered by Esther’s tutor Mordecai’s refusal to bow to Haman. That is why Haman intended to kill Mordecai and other Jews. Haman convinced the king that the Jews were disobedient and rebellious people and that they should be killed. Ahasuerus did not know that his wife was Jewish. When Queen Esther heard about this plan, she begged the king to spare the Jews and accused Haman of trying to destroy them. The king reversed his decision and sentenced Haman and his sons to death by hanging. To commemorate the salvation of the Jews and this victory, Purim is celebrated every year on the fourteenth day of the Jewish calendar month of Adar (the month of Adar usually falls in March).
Purim is a day to celebrate the salvation and victory of the Jews. At this time, the book of Esther is read, biblical stories are brought to life in performances, carnival-type celebrations are organized, during which people wear different costumes, people give gifts to each other, and giving money to charity is encouraged.
Longer and better-quality versions of the video posted by the Facebook user were posted on YouTube in March 2016 (1; 2). Both videos, according to their titles, depict the hanging of Haman during the celebration of Purim.
In the video, a man is seen reading a book before hanging the doll, which is believed to represent the reading of the Book of Esther. Also, in the videos uploaded on YouTube, it can be seen that the adults gathered in the hall are wearing different costumes.
One version of the video was posted by the YouTube channel Matzav Videos, which is linked to the website of the same name, matzav.com. The site publishes information related to Israel and the Jewish community. The video appears in the photo and video archive of various events on the site in connection with the celebration of Purim in 2016.
The theatrical scene of the hanging of Haman, as well as the costumed carnivals (1,2) are part of Purim events and have nothing to do with child sacrifice.
For example, in the photos above, the theatrical scene of Haman’s hanging is played out. The photos were taken in 2017 in Jerusalem, Israel. The doll represents the evil Haman. The performance was held at one of the schools in Mea Shearim, an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Notably, the conspiracy theory, as if the Jews are kidnapping or sacrificing children, originates from the Middle Ages and is known as “blood libel.” One of the first such claims is recorded in 12th century Britain, when a Jew was accused of kidnapping a child and inflicting a wound on his head in imitation of Christ’s crown of thorns. These and similar accusations were investigated by Pope Innocent IV, but their authenticity was not confirmed. The “blood libel” was often used as a weapon to justify the persecution of Jews.
Similar conspiracies have been debunked by “Myth Detector” a number of times in the past.
About the Source:
Lawyer Irakli Zakareishvili often publishes posts with anti-Western, anti-Ukrainian, and anti-opposition content. Since the emergence of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023, the user has been spreading disinformation regularly. False information spread by Zakareishvili has been debunked by “Myth Detector” many times in the past.
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