Three Thousand Years of Jewish Reactions to Pandemics

When the Black Death swept through Europe in the 14th century, it was followed by the canard that Jews had caused it by poisoning the water supply—leading to bloody massacres and expulsions. In the 19th century, Israel Lipschitz, in his commentary on the Talmud, listed Edward Jenner—inventor of the smallpox vaccine—first in his list of Gentiles whose contributions to history should be admired by Jews. Jeremy Brown examines these and many other related subjects in his book The Eleventh Plague: Jews and Pandemics from the Bible to COVID-19. Brown discusses the book with Ari Lamm. (Audio, 48 minutes.)