leavinG the Ghett0 of the mind VesNA DomANY hARDY finds out what is behind the new vitality in the Jewish community of Rome
Scole, the five synagogues. Now the whole area is brimming with life with a choice of kosher restaurants frequented by Rome’s fashionable set as well as community members.When we stroll through at lunchtime, the restaurants and the benches in the square are full. The children coming out of Rome’s Jewish school play and joke with teachers as theirmothers chat to each other. During our visit we talked to three of
those at the centre of Rome’s Jewish cultural life: Claudio Procaccia, Director of the Cultural Centre, Silvia HaiaAntonucci of the JewishArchive and RavAriel di Porto, Director of the Rabbinate of the Community of Rome.We asked themabout the story behind the changes in the area. All three emphasised that the Jews of
The Great synagogue
Rome were different fromthose of the rest of Italy and they put this down to the overwhelming presence of theVatican and the long duration of the Ghetto. The victories of Napoleon had led to ghetto walls coming down all over Italy, but in Rome they were reinstated soon after his departure and the Jews were again humiliated in every way. Even a brief respite in the revolutionary year of 1848 was rescinded and the restriction did not finally go until 1870.While there was both a Jewish PrimeMinister (Luigi Luzzatti) and a JewishMayor (Ernesto Nathan) in the early years of the 20th century, themajority of the community were poor and did not seek the educational advancement that was embraced by Jews in other cities in Italy. According to Silvia HaiaAntonucci,
“More than 300 years in the ghetto. It was something very heavy.When it was opened it did not mean just going out physically but also going outside
mentally.Also to have the means of doing something different . The majority of Jews had a shop because they didn’t know anything else.” WithWorldWar II came a renewed
via Catalana
couple of shops. The Great Synagogue just next to the few remaining streets of the Ghetto was grey and uninviting. The museumnext door had dark galleries and an uninspiring collection. In 2011, accompanying Janet Levin on a fact-finding visit, I was surprised to find a
w 20
hen I visited Rome’s Ghetto 20 years ago, there was hardly any activity; just one restaurant and a
totally different picture. The carabinieri in their booths around the synagogue are new – but now the building gleams white in the sunlight – its fullmagnificence in evidence. Themuseumhas recently been renovated and re-opened with amore extensive and beautifully presented display of Judaica.We were told thatVia Catalana, the street behind the synagogue, had been the centre of community life since the days of Le Cinque
onslaught on the confidence and lives of the community. Silvia tells us that reeling from the terrible events of theWar and discouraged by the conversion to Catholicism of the Chief Rabbi Israel Zolli, the community was in bad shape. Claudio Procaccia explained that the
growth of the community was helped by the growth of Rome in the mid-50s to mid- 60s, as the city became more important as the administrative centre of the country
JewIsh ReNAIssANCe oCtoBeR 2011
t h e J e w s o f R o m e
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