According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, anti-Semitism is hostility or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic or racial group. There are two main types of anti-Semitism: classical anti-Semitism and modern anti-Semitism. Classic anti-Semitism is hatred and intolerance towards Jews because of their religious differences. According to Remember.org, “Modern anti-Semitism, unlike earlier forms, was not based on the religious practices of Jews but on the theory that Jews constituted an inferior race. Anti-Semites exploited the fact that Jews had been forced into exile by extolling as a “fact” that their “eradication” had a genetic basis. A Jew was Jewish not because he practiced a particular religion, but because it was a characteristic of his blood. opportunity to convert and erase the stain of Jewishness and to be able to access Christian society. While Jews who face modern anti-Semitism would be forever Jews, regardless of the proceedings in which they took part. The Mortara case, a famous and controversial case in Jewish history that took place around 1858, demonstrates both classical and modern anti-Semitism. the kidnapping of a young Jewish boy named Edgardo Mortara. The story begins when the Italian police inform the Mortara parents, Marianna and Momolo Mortara, that Edgardo has been baptized and according to the law of the Papal State a Christian cannot live in a Jewish home. Marianna and Momolo Mortara discover that their old caregiver, Anna Morisi, was guilty of having secretly baptized their son Edgardo...... middle of the page ......y 2010. .Kertzer, David I.. The kidnapping by Edgardo Mortara. First edition of vintage books ed. New York: Vintage, 1998. Print.Kertzer, David I.. The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. First edition of vintage books ed. New York: Vintage, 1998. Print.Kertzer, David I.. The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. First edition of vintage books ed. New York: Vintage, 1998. Print.Kertzer, David I.. The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. First edition of vintage books ed. New York: Vintage, 1998. Print.Kertzer, David I.. The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. First edition of vintage books ed. New York: Vintage, 1998. Print.Kertzer, David I.. The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. First edition of vintage books ed. New York: Vintage, 1998. Print.Kertzer, David I.. The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. First edition of vintage books ed. New York: Vintage, 1998. Print.