New York, NY, February 20, 2003 ... The Talmud - the classic text of Jewish law and lore, history and philosophy - increasingly is being used by extremists to promote their anti-Semitism. In a new report, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) exposes the lies of anti-Semites, Holocaust deniers and others who cite Talmudic texts as evidence that Judaism is "perverted" or "immoral."

• The Talmud in Anti-Semitic Polemics (requires Acrobat Reader, 202 kb)

"It has become a common refrain among the anti-Semites that the Talmud is the 'smoking gun' that confirms their belief about Jews being stingy, malevolent and intent on world domination," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "They create this myth about Jewish practices and tradition, which helps to further justify and promote their anti-Semitism."

ADL's report, The Talmud in Anti-Semitic Polemics, exposes how certain passages from the Talmud and other traditional Jewish texts are used to foment anti-Semitism through distortions and fabrications. The authors of anti-Talmudic polemics seek to paint Judaism as an immoral religion that preaches hatred for non-Jews and promotes obscenity, criminality, sexual perversion and other immoral acts. Widely available on the Internet, such anti-Talmudic tracts "are clearly designed to provoke hostility toward Jews," Mr. Foxman said.

The foremost distorters of Talmudic texts include David Duke, the former Klansman and white supremacist, and Michael A. Hoffman II, a conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier.

Among the claims refuted by the ADL report are:

• The claim that Judaism views non-Jews as "non-human;"
• The claim that Judaism encourages child molestation;
• The claim that Jews should not be trusted because they recite the Kol Nidre prayer that authorizes them to lie to non-Jews;
• The claim that Judaism demands that non-Jews who study Jewish law be put to death;
• The claim that the Talmud employs the name Bala'am as a derogatory code name for Jesus.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.