James Carroll writes the following in his book Constantine’s Sword, pp. 308–310:
“Only two blocks from Notre–Dame, on the right bank of the Seine, there stands a lovely plaza, spread like an apron before the dignified, mansard–roofed Hôtel de Ville. Not long ago, I spent a quiet afternoon sitting at a small table in one of the sidewalk cafés that line one edge of the square. Visible to my right were the soaring towers of the cathedral, their gargoyles alert. Just beyond was the needle spire of the exquisite Sainte–Chapelle, built as a reliquary for the crown of thorns, which made me think of the Seamless Robe – Helena’s legacy was a alive in Paris as in Trier. Anchoring the distance, across the square, was the congested bazaar of the weekend market. Despite this lively scene, my concentration was taken over by the layered history of the place. Near here was the mustering point for the Jews of Paris rounded up on July 16, 1942. Thirteen thousand were taken away that day, four thousand of them children. There was no protest. More than half of the eighty–five thousand Jews deported from France to Nazi extermination camps came from Paris – the streets around me. Their confiscated artworks, bank accounts, and apartments are still being adjudicated.
What is the line between that day and the day in 1242 when up to twenty–four cartloads of books, something like twelve thousand volumes, were dumped onto the pavement of this same plaza? Those books were all the known copies of the Talmud to be found in Paris and its environs, brought here by the soldiers of King Lous IX, also known as (Saint) Louis. His men had invaded and ransacked Jewish homes and synagogue to get at the books.
“The faculty of the University of Paris, heirs of Peter Abelard and teachers of Thomas Aquinas, had held its trial in the form of a debate, with conscripted Jewish sages speaking for the Talmud and Dominicans speaking against. The faculty rendered its verdict: The Talmud was a work of heresy. The Talmud was the reason Jews were refusing to convert. Destroy the Talmud, and the truth of “fulfillment” arguments from the Old Testament, rationally offered, would be clear to them at last. The king’s men took their stations around the mountain of books, to keep back the Jews as the torchbearer approached. The two–sword theory of (Saint) Bernard was here given its first mature expression, as the kind carried out the physical sanction decreed by the spiritual court. The bonfire was lit. The Talmud burned. It would take one and a half days to consume all volumes…”
“Here is an indictment of the Talmud solemnly given by Gregory’s successor, Innocent IV (1243–1254):
Ungrateful to the Lord Jesus Christ, who, His forbearance overflowing patiently awaits their conversion, they manifest no shame for their guilt, nor do they reverence the dignity of the Christian faith. Omitting or condemning the Mosaic Law and the Prophets, they follow certain tradition of their elders. In Hebrew they call them “Thalamuth,” and an immense book it is, exceeding the text of the Bible in size, and in it are blasphemies against God and His Christ, and against the blessed Virgin, fables that are manifestly beyond all explanation, erroneous abuses, and unheard–of stupidities – yet this is what they teach and feed their children, and render them totally alien to the Law and the Prophets, bearing patent testimony to the only–begotten Son of God, who was to come in flesh, they be converted to the faith, and return humbly to their Redeemer.”
“The public burning in the great square of Paris was a first indication that a living, growing Judaism would not be allowed to survive in a Europe ever more under the sway of the sword–perverted cross. And what was written on those destroyed pages? Here are lines “picked from the Talmud at random,” as distinguished rabbi Emil Bernhard Cohn put it, ‘…to lift a corner of the veil’:
Love of humanity is more than charity. The value of charity lies only in love, which lives in it. Love surpasses charity in three respects: Charity touches only a man’s money; love touches the man himself. Charity is only for the poor; love is for both poor and rich. Charity is only for the living; love is for both living and dead. Love without reproof of errors is no love. He who judges his neighbor leniently will himself be judged leniently by God. Let man always be intelligent and affable in his God–fearing. Let him answer softly, curb his wrath and let him live in peach with his brethren and his kin and with every man, yes, even with the pagan on the street, in order that he be beloved in heaven and on earth, and be acceptable to all men. The kindly man is the truly God–fearing man.”