In 1938, Canadian fascist Adrien Arcand—who called himself the “Canadian Führer”—published a 32-page antisemitic booklet titled Key to the Mystery (La clé du mystère) in both English and French. It included contributions from American far-right activist Lyrl Clark Van Hyning.
The pamphlet falsely claimed that Jewish teachings promoted world domination and slavery, including a fabricated quote from the Talmud: “When the Messiah comes, every Jew will have 2,800 slaves.” This lie still appears in antisemitic propaganda online, often shared as memes or posts with varying numbers or fake citations.
The Fake Citations
The 1938 version attributes the quote to “Simeon Haddarsen, fol. 56D”—a text that doesn’t exist. Other false references, such as the Zohar or Toldoth Noah 63b, are also unrelated. No authentic Jewish text supports this claim.
The Real Source: A Deliberate Misinterpretation
The number 2,800 comes from a passage in the Talmud (Shabbat 32b) that discusses a verse from the Hebrew Bible, Zechariah 8:23. The verse describes a future time of peace when people from all nations will seek spiritual guidance from Jews who faithfully follow God’s commandments (mitzvot).
In the Talmudic commentary, ten people from each of seventy nations symbolically “take hold of a Jew’s garment” (10 × 70 × 4 = 2,800). This number isn’t about slavery; it’s a metaphor. It expresses respect for faith and devotion, not domination.
The Meaning
Judaism teaches that the Messianic Age will bring harmony and divine understanding to all humanity—not Jewish supremacy. The “servants” imagery is figurative, illustrating others’ wish to learn from the faithful, not to serve them.
Like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, this fabrication twists sacred texts to spread hate by portraying Jews as seeking control or the enslavement of others.
Sources
- https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/adrian-arcand
- https://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/van_hyning.html
- https://museeholocauste.ca/en/objects/la-cle-du-mystere-booklet/
- https://www.scribd.com/document/98372886/Zohar-Toldoth-Noah-63b#:~:text=Rabbi%20Hiyya%20and%20Rabbi%20Yose,Tree%20of%20Life%20at%20Sinai
- https://www.sefaria.org.il/Shabbat.32b?lang=he
- https://www.sefaria.org.il/Zechariah.9.1?lang=bi
- https://aronbengilad.blogspot.com/2020/09/more-anti-talmudic-rhetoric-false.html
- https://gnasherjew.com/the-protocols-of-the-elders-of-zion-and-kalergi-plan-the-jewish-plan-for-global-domination-conspiracies/
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