This Day in History: The Tragic Tale of Blois

On the 15th of Sivan in the year 4931, in the city of Blois, France, a Jewish man was watering his horse by the river, right beside a servant who was watering his master's horse. It seems that in the Jew's pouch, there was a piece of treated white leather. When a piece of it fell out, the servant saw it and reported to his master that the Jew had thrown the body of a child into the river. As a result of this accusation, 31 Jews were sentenced to be burnt at the stake—a sentence carried out on the 20th of Sivan.

This blood libel was different from other such accusations, where the accusers would typically use an actual body (usually a child's) to accuse Jews of murder. In this case, there wasn't even a body, yet so many Jews were condemned to death.

The incident left a significant mark on the Jewish community of the time. Rabbeinu Tam established a fast on the 20th of Sivan to commemorate the tragedy. Rabbi Ephraim of Bonn wrote the lament "Lami Oy Lami Avoy," which is recited on Tisha B'Av, and his brother, Rabbi Hillel of Bonn, composed the lament "Shlomi Emunei Yisrael," included in some communities' Mussaf prayer on Yom Kippur.