In 1840 in Damascus, Syria, the infamous Damascus blood libel took place. On February 5th of that year, a Catholic monk named Padre Tomas and his Arab servant, Ibrahim Amara, mysteriously disappeared.
Padre Tomas was involved in dubious business and the two men were likely killed by merchants with whom he had conflicts. Nevertheless, rumors quickly spread that the Jews had murdered them to use their blood in baking matzos for Pesach.
Among those arrested was R' Yaakov Antebi.
He was brutally tortured; at one point, an officer ordered a soldier to decapitate him. The soldier first pressed the blunt side of his sword against R' Antebi’s neck, asking, “Will you confess to killing the monk?” When Rabbi Antebi refused, the soldier turned the sharp edge of the sword against his neck and repeated the demand.
Later R' Antebi related the following explanation that entered his mind during the saga: He recalled the gemara that says אפילו חרב חדה מונחת על צוארו..., even if a sharp sword is on a person’s neck, he shouldn’t refrain from praying for mercy. Why does it say “sharp sword”? Aren’t all swords sharp? R' Antebi explained based on his harrowing experience: The torturer had first used the dull side of the sword before turning to the sharp edge. Thus, the gemara highlights the moment of greatest danger — when the sharp blade itself is at one’s throat — teaching that even then, one must not give up hope.
He served as Chief Rabbi and dayan of Damascus for over 30 years and passed away in 1846. After his release from his tiny, infested prison cell on August 28, 1840, he resolved to leave Damascus and settle in Yerushalayim. R' Antebi later recorded a detailed account of his experiences during the blood libel in a letter to Moses Montefiore, which was also included in the sefer B’ohr Hachaim by R' Chaim Kapusi and in an appendix to the sefer Lkedoshim Asher Baaretz.
