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loom, benjamin samuel
specter of the blood libel was raised in the Soviet press in remote
regions of the U.S.S.R., such as Georgia, Dagestan, and
Uzbekistan, in the context of the violent propaganda campaign
conducted by the Soviet government against Judaism and the
State of Israel. After these attempts had aroused world public
opinion, they were dropped.
[Yehuda Slutsky]
In Arab Countries The blood libel was repeated in the
Arab countries in modern times in a number of ways in
various books, as in Egypt in the 1960s, the titles referring
to “talmudic human sacrifices” or “the secrets of Zionism.”
Mustafa Tlass, a key political figure in Syria for decades,
first published his book on the 1860 Damascus blood libel in
1983. The book, called “Matzah of Zion” and reprinted in a
number of editions and translated into many languages, became
an influential and frequently quoted authority on how
Jews and Zionists constantly perpetrate cruel ritual murders.
Newspapers as well joined in, with the Egyptian governmentsponsored
Al-Ahram publishing in October 2000 a full-page
article called “Jewish Matzah Made from Arab Blood.” TV
series and discussions also evoke the blood libel, as on the
al-Jazeera station and in the Al-Manar (Hizbullah television
network) series The Exile in 2003. The image of the Zionist
in these visual depictions, watched by millions all over the
world, is that of the Der Sturmer Jew, bloodthirsty and frighteningly
ferocious.
[Dina Porat (2nd ed.)]
Bibliography: M. Samuel, Blood Accusation (1966); M.
Hacohen (ed.) Mishpatim ve-Alilot Dam (1967); H.L. Strack, The
Jew and Human Sacrifice (1909); C. Roth, Ritual Murder Libel and
the Jew (1935); K. Hruby, in: W.P. Eckert and E.L. Ehrlich (eds.),
Judenhass-Schuld der Christen? (1964), 281–358; idem, in: Der Judenchrist
(1960/62); J. Trachtenberg, Devil and the Jews (1943), 124–55;
Baer, Spain, 2 (1966), 398–423; Il Piccolo martire S. Domenichino de
Val, Patrono di Chierichetti (1960); M.I. Seiden, Paradox of Hate
(1967). IN RUSSIA: Dubnow, Hist, S.V., Ritual Murder Libel; C.E.
Margolin, Jews of Eastern Europe (1926), 155–247; A.M. Tager, Decay
of Czarism, The Beiliss Trial (1935). Add. Bibliography: R.
Israeli, Poison, Modern Manifestations of a Blood Libel (2002); R. Erb
(ed.), Die Legende vom Ritualmord: Zur Geschichte der Blutbeschuldigung
gegen Juden (1993); J. Frankel, The Damascus Affair: “Ritual
Murder,” Politics and the Jews in 1840 (1997); H.J. Kieval, “Representation
and Knowledge in Medieval and Modern Accounts of Jewish
Ritual Murder,” in: Jewish Social Studies (1994–95); I.J. Yuval, “Two
Nations in Your Womb,” Perceptions of Jews and Christians (in Heb.)
(2000); A. Dundes (ed.), The Blood Libel Legend: A Case-Book in
Anti-Semitic Folklore (1991); Po-Chia R. Hsia, The Myth of Ritual
Murder (1989).
BLOOM, BENJAMIN SAMUEL (1913–1999), U.S. educator.
Bloom studied at Pennsylvania State University and at the
University of Chicago, where he taught from 1940 (professor
of education, 1953) and worked as a university examiner. He
participated in several major educational assessment research
efforts, both in America and abroad. His evaluation of school
performance among youth of different nationalities was pub-
lished in International Study of Achievement in Mathematics;
A Comparison of Twelve Countries (with T. Husen and others,
1966). His other work was in basic studies of measurement and
evaluation procedures in education, analyses of stability and
change patterns in human behavior, and the classification of
educational objectives. At the invitation of the United States
Office of Education, Bloom helped set guidelines for federally
supported research efforts throughout the United States. He
was a member of the Advisory Committee on National Educational
Laboratories. In 1965 he was appointed president of
the American Educational Research Association and in 1966
was elected a member of the National Academy of Education.
His major publications include Taxonomy of Educational Objectives,
Handbook I and II (1957–64) and Stability and Change
in Human Characteristics (1964).
Bloom believed that when looking at test scores, a
teacher must understand that many factors affect the results:
time of learning, resources provided, quality of teaching, and
environment. He stressed that environment influences learning
and is therefore a significant factor in a student’s success.
The teacher’s role, then, is to give students guidance and support
– two ways to help pupils reach their potential. A strong
supporter of the theory of mastery learning, Bloom advocated
that objectives be written in manageable steps and that they be
reached through proper instruction. He believed that learning
is a process, so teachers should design lessons and exercises to
enable students to meet each objective as well as adjust their
methods to achieve that aim. Because students learn at different
rates and in different ways, he felt that time was not a
relevant factor in the learning process. But feedback and correction,
Bloom asserted, should be immediate and students
should help one another.
Bloom’s taxonomy theory incorporates cognitive, psychomotor,
and affective spheres of knowledge into the learning
process. During the 1970s and 1980s, his theories were adopted
by many public school districts, particularly in Chicago and
Boston. But they were subsequently criticized as being ineffective,
and many schools no longer implement them.
Other books by Bloom include Handbook on Formative
and Summative Evaluation of Student Learning (1971), Human
Characteristics and School Learning (1976), All Our Children
Learning: A Primer for Parents, Teachers, and Other Educators
(1980), and Developing Talent in Young People (1985).
[Abraham J. Tannenbaum / Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)]
BLOOM, CLAIRE (1931– ), British actress. Claire Bloom
won acclaim in The Lady’s Not for Burning (1949) and as Juliet
in the 1952 Old Vic production of Romeo and Juliet. Later plays
include Duel of Angels (London, 1958) and Rashomon (Broadway,
1959). She gained screen fame as the ballerina in Charlie
Chaplin’s Limelight (1951). Other films include Richard III
(1956), Alexander the Great (1956), The Brothers Karamazov
(1958), The Pawnbroker (1965), The Spy Who Came in From
the Cold (1966), Charlie (1968), A Doll’s House (1973), Islands
780 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3