1573 — Between 1573-1581, the Cinque Scole Synagogue is erected in the ghetto of Rome. When the ghetto was established in 1555, the Jews were permitted only one synagogue, though there were five prayer communities with ethnic, linguistic and social differences. Later, Pope Pius V agreed to have one building house the five synagogues, which satisfied the literal restrictions, but permitted the Jews to establish Castilian, Catalan, Temple and New Congregations. The current chief Rabbi of Rome and uncle to the Philadelphia Toaf family, Rabbi Toaf, is a direct descendant of the first rabbi of the Scole Castiliano, Rabbi Yitzchak Toaf, The building was demolished in 1910. 1573 —Azaria dei Rossi, one of the great lights of Italian Jewry, a scholar and physician, publishes Me’or einayim (Light for the Eyes). Using classical Greek, Latin, Christian and Jewish sources, he is the first since antiquity to deal with the Hellenistic-Jewish philosopher Philo. His critical method of analysis and refusal to accept rabbinic legend as literal truth, the work is banned in many Jewish communities. 1587 —The rabbis of Jerusalem appeal to the Jews of Italy to finance the restoration of the Nachmanides synagogue in Jerusalem (attesting to their stature and wealth among world Jewry). Salomone De’Rossi enters the service of the Duke of Mantua as a singer and musician. He becomes the leading Jewish composer of the late Italian Renaissance. 1593 —Pope Clement VIII expels the Jews living in all the papal states, except Rome, Avignon and Ancona. Jews are invited to settle in Leghorn, the main port of Tuscany , where they are granted full religious liberty and civil rights, by the Medici family, who want to develop the region into a center of commerce. In 1600, 100 Jews live there, growing to 3,000 in 1689 and 5,000 at the end of the century. It is the only large Italian city without a closed ghetto. 1595 —A synagogue is built in the northwestern town of Piedmont, in the typical synagogue architecture of the Renaissance, within a courtyard. Concerned for their security, and following the prohibition of Jewish prayer to be heard by Christians, the Jews place the entrance away from the street. 1597 — Nine hundred Jews are expelled from Milan, which is now ruled by Spain. 1630 —An outbreak of plague leads to a severe reduction in trade and industry throughout Italy. This reinforces the already existing interest of Italian princes in Jewish immigration and succeeds in attracting Jews from Spain, Brazil, Holland, and North Africa, from about 1645- late 1660s. 1638 — Simone Luzzato, rabbi in Venice for 57 years, writes Essay on the Jews in Venice, the first apologetic work urging toleration of the Jews through use of economic arguments. He argues for better treatment of Italian Jewry based on their economic usefulness, diligence, faithfulness, and antiquity. Unlike foreign merchants, the Jews have no homeland of their own to which they might wish to transfer the wealth they have gained in Venice. 1858 — In Bologna, under papal rule, police seize six-year-old Edgardo Mortarra from his family and take him to the House of Catechumens in Rome, based on the testimony of a former Jewish servant that she baptized him as an infant. Despite worldwide protests he is handed over to a monastery and raised as a Christian, becoming the favorite of Pope Pius IX. 1870 — The Jews of Italy are finally emancipated with the abolition of the ghetto in Rome. The rights gained in the 1790s, and lost upon the fall of Napolean were regained in 1848 I Tuscany and Sardinia; in 1859 in Modena, Lombardy and Romagna, in 1860 in Umbria, in 1861 in Sicily and Naples and in 1866 in Venice. 1890 — The ghetto of Florence is demolished, allowing reconstruction of the town center, now the Piazza della Republica. 1897 — The Jews of Ferrara become the most ardent Italian supporters of Theodore Herzl’s Zionist Dream. 1902 — Giuseppe Ottolenghi is named minister of war of Italy. An army officer, he is the first Jew to serve on the general staff. He achieved the rank of lieutenant general. 1904 — The Great Synagogue of Rome is built. Pope Pius X rejects Herzl’s request that he support the Zionist movement. 1917 — Amadeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor, holds his only one-man show in Paris; it is a failure. It is only after his death that the greatness of his work is recognized. He is a member of the Circle of Montparnasse with fellow Jews, Chaim Soutine and Jacques Lipchitz, but his Jewish ness never appears in his work. 1919 — The Comite des Delegations Juives is formed at the Paris Peace conference, with Italian Jews represented. It submits to memoranda to the conference, which become part of the international treaties: a guarantee of the civil and cultural rights of Jews in various countries and the historic claim of the Jewish people to Palestine. The Vatican warns of the danger of a Jewish state, just two years after the Balfour Declaration is issued. 1926 — The Amici Israel is founded in Rome by Catholic clergy to foster better understanding of Judaism. It reaches a membership of 2,000 clergymen. In March, the Vatican pronounces the group as contrary to the spirit of the Church. In the same decree is proscribes antisemitism.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 06:08:50 +0000
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