Mumford's Roma Temple Mission: Some Sights and Sees of Roma

Since Driving in “downtown or Rome Central is very hard and Parking even harder, all “Conoscenzas” encourage taking a bus to Jonio Station and then taking the Metro to Downtown. We took a Bus from outside our apartment last week and went to Jonio (yown-yi-o) with the intent to take the Metro to Downtown. We got a late start, it started raining, it gets dark earlier here and. . . Well. . . We (I) got discouraged it was so dismal—that we studied the Metro Map, went looking to buy a map (no luck—I think we need to try a Bookstore) so we found a Bus stop to get back on a Bus to bring us back home. Jonio is so unlike where we live—we even more appreciate our clean, lovely neighborhoods and green space.

Well, over this past weekend, some of the Missionaries decided it was time for another outing. Since we've only been here a month, we haven't had the opportunity to be included in any of these outings. BUT they added us to the list and we got invited !! Well, you don't have to ask me twice! It was decided to go to what is called the Jewish ghetto. Since I haven't had much study of Jewish History, I knew I needed to find out more about this to make our trip rewarding. So--someone suggested Rick Steve's Tours of Rome--so I looked it up and this is a brief explanation of this area of Rome:

THIS IS WHERE THE JEWISH GHETTO BEGINS. Notice the sign on the wall

referring to Auchwitz.

Well, first of all, the Jews who lived here were not Ashkenazi or Sephardic. You know, the Ashkenazi went to Germany and Poland, and the Sephardi went to Spain. The Roman Jews came straight from Jerusalem before the destruction of the Temple, so they were here since before the Diaspora. So, when you think Ashkenazic or Sephardic, that’s after the Diaspora.

(To make sure and clarify events---let's just define DIASPORA as it relates to Judaism:

The Jewish Diaspora or exile is the dispersion of Israelites or Jews out of their ancient ancestral homeland (the ) and their subsequent settlement in other parts of the globe, thought by Biblical scholars to be about 587 BC when King Nebuchadnezzar took the inhabitants of Jerusalem into captivity).
This (Jewish Ghetto) was/is the oldest Jewish community in Europe, outside of Israel.
So, if the Roman Jews came before the Diaspora, why did they come here in the first place?
Because they were diplomats and businessmen. And during the centuries they had to live with emperors and popes. And were tolerated because they were good for the business, and were not pushing their religion to the others; they were keeping it for themselves.
AND then what happened?
In 1500, the Reformation came, and the Church (meaning the Catholic Church) had to fight any alternative religion. And so the ghetto was established in Rome (by the Pope--or at least by his decision to…avoid any contamination between Jews and Christians.) The Jews were segregated into a 4-block walled area in Rome in 1555.

SO WHAT WAS IT LIKE IN THE GHETTO?

Well, there were 9,000 Jews squeezed into that 4-block area in this Section of Rome. It flooded every winter because the Tiber River which borders it, would flood every winter. So that made it a muddy, squalid and disgusting place to live.

The synagogue was the community center. It looks like a church (instead of a synagogue) because back when it was built there were no Jewish architects handy, and that’s what Christian builders knew how to make.
These are all pictures of the inside of the synagogue.

This is one of the balconies in the Synagogue--where the women who came to worship were asked to sit.

a view from the back of the synagogue as you enter.

This synagogue is still used today. These are prayer book boxes that are given to those who make a donation and is a place where they can keep their prayer book and not have to carry it (which is considered work on the Sabbath) to the Synagogue. There is a seat that accompanies each of these boxes.

and the History of the Jews Museum
The decor inside this Synagogue is Art Nouveau with a dash of Tiffany. The dome was painted with the colors of the rainbow — symbolic of God’s promise to Noah that there would be no more floods. The stars symbolized that the Jewish people would be as many as the stars in the sky.
Back in previous centuries, when the ghetto was a walled-in town, Christian Romans built churches at each gate. And each of these churches came complete with an attempt — in Hebrew script — to convert the Jews.
While most of the squalid ghetto was demolished with Italian unification in 1870, the buildings facing the main drag survived. Today, Shops sell fine, locally produced Judaica, and kosher restaurants proudly serve traditional dishes, like those with artichokes.
Now the Jewish Community can live where they want in Rome--but people still come to this area to socialize with those who chose to still live here.

LARGO OTTOBRE 16, 1943

This square is named for the date when the Nazis parked their trucks in this square and threatened to round up all the Jews and take them to Concentration camps unless they (the Jews) could come up with 50 Kilos of Gold.(and in less than 2 days). Well--the Jews came up with the gold--but the Nazis took their gold and still rounded them up for the Camps.

Outside the apartments in the Jewish Ghetto, you can see these gold squares in front of some of the apartments. On these gold squares are the names of the people living in these apartments that were actually taken from here and put on the trucks and trains heading to the Concentration Camps. Many were sent to different camps based on age and/or health.