The Jewish Community of Rome: the most ancient in the Diaspora world
Rome lays claim to the oldest Jewish community in Europe, Roman Jews are neither Sephardi nor Askenazi because they arrived in Rome before the Diaspora, in the II century B.C. mainly as merchants hoping to establish business ties with the powerful Republic. Later more Jews were protected and encouraged to migrate to Rome by Pompey the Great and by Julius Caesar. In 70 A.D., after Emperor Titus’ conquest and destruction of Jerusalem, thousands of Jewish prisoners of war were taken to Rome and sold as slave. Those first Jews lived mostly, like other foreigners, outside the city center, across the river Tiber in Trastevere. They never left Rome, they are not the “wandering Jews” and therefore they can be considered the true Romans, the link between antiquity and the contemporary world. They have a unique liturgy, the ” rite from the Children of Rome” and their own language that is called Giudaico-Romanesco, a mixture of Italian, Hebrew and Spanish words, which today is spoken only by a minority of the Roman Jews.
Through most of the Middle Ages, their status declined as Christianism became officially the state religion in Rome and in the entire Europe, but they were never expelled from the city and some Jews had still the possibility to prosper as merchants and were often held in high regard as physicians, even by the Popes.
Tragedy struck in 1555 when Pope Paul IV established the Ghetto, a small walled area with three gates closed from outside, forcing the Jews to live in few acres in one of the most unhealthy and decrepit district of Rome, next to the river Tiber, under the constant threat of floods. About 3000 Jews lived in Rome at the time, many more, who previously lived in other towns in central Italy, were forced to move inside the Ghetto and later a great number of Jews expelled from Spain and South Italy, joined the Roman community. They all lived in great poverty and in cramped conditions, they could have only one synagogue for all the different communities therefore the main building secretly housed five different small synagogues. The Jews were allowed to leave during the day but they had to wear yellow hats or scarves in order to be identifiable. On Sundays all men were also required to attend mass and listen to sermons standing outside the Catholic Churches that surrounded the Ghetto. The enforced isolation allowed the creation of strong community bonds and the development of a distinct and unique Roman Jewish culture. All the restrictions were finally abolished in 1870 when Rome became the capital of modern Italy, the Jews were granted full citizenship, the Ghetto walls were torn down, the entire district was modernized and retaining walls were built along the Tiber in order to protect the area from floods. Finally in 1904 a monumental Synagogue, the Tempio Maggiore di Roma, was built and today its square dome is one of the most popular landmark of Rome’s skyline.
In 1938 Fascism imposed racial laws then in 1943, when the Nazis occupied Rome, the Jewish community suffered greatly: 2000 Jews were arrested and sent off to concentration camps, only few survived but nearly 10.000 Jews were able to escape by going into hiding, helped by Italian citizens.
Today the Jewish district is considered a very pleasant and popular area of Rome by locals and tourists as well, it is located in the city center and it is surrounded by ancient monuments, its streets are lined with restaurants, many of which are kosher, wine shops, bakeries but also art galleries. Every festive moment is celebrated by traditional foods, Judeo-Roman cooking is internationally appreciated, its ingredients come from simple foods eaten by the poor: vegetables like artichokes, chicory and endive, fish like sardines and anchovies, inexpensive cuts of meat but also ricotta cheese, honey and candied fruit. Despite the fact that today many Jews live in other neighborhoods, the Ghetto remains a primary gathering place for the Jewish community who has finally rediscovered its own unique culture and history.
Paola Barbetti-Bohm
