JEWS OF ITALY

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

                            Image of Joshua from the 3rd-century wall paintings at the synagogue of Dura-Europos, a Roman border city in Syria;  Is this our Joshua who led the Exodus for Moses?  Why are his arms tied? A painting of a Jewish figure named Joshua with his arms tied in front of him is likely depicting the biblical figure Joshua, the high priest, from the book of Zechariah, rather than the more famous Joshua who succeeded Moses. The imagery comes from the story of his vision, in which he appears before God in filthy garments. The central meaning of the painting refers to the vision in Zechariah 3:1-5:

Jews lived in Italy earlier than any other country in Europe. After all, they both lived along the Mediterranean Sea.   They lived in Italy in the  2nd century BCE which was before the Christian era.  They were living in Rome.  Later, they lived in the southern ports an along the trade routes.   There are Jews living in Italy still.  Jews were living i at least 40 places before the close of the Classical Period (1840-1930).  

Roman general Pompey conquered Jerusalem and its surroundings by 63 BCE. The Romans deposed the ruling Hasmonean dynasty of Judaea (in power from c. 140 BCE) and the Roman Senate declared Herod the Great "King of the Jews" in c. 40 BCE. Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea became the Roman province of Judaea in 6 CE.

CATACOMBS  give us graphic evidence of their way of life and to a high degree of cultural assimilation that was going on.  Their condition seriously deteriorated with the Christianization of the Roman Empire by the 4th century (300's)  with the Constantine, the emperor's edicts against Jews and his mother, Helena's interest in Jesus.  He saw them as competition to his new religion of Christianity.    

In the Middle Ages, religion played a major role in fueling antisemitism. Even though it is not a part of Roman Catholic dogma, many Christians, including many members of the clergy, have held the Jewish people collectively responsible for the killing of Jesus, through the so-called blood curse of Pontius Pilate in the Gospels, among other things.  

My Goldfoot family has on the tree in the 8th century the surname of Kalonymas of Italy, and 10th-cent. Germany who moved to Germany by the 12th century.  It's a well-known name in Genealogy, including David Jacob Meir (maybe Golda Meir), David ben Kalonymus, David Kalonymus of Naples and Masysence (Mainz), and Eleazar ben Judah of Worms; Related to Saltman, Dawrashan and Jaffe.                         

Nevertheless, Jews at first were protected by the Popes against the worst excesses and their fundamental rights were maintained. 

 Bari, Italy:  Bari is the capital of the Puglia region in southern Italy, located on the Adriatic coast. It is a major port and university city with a population of over 315,000, known for its historic old town (Bari Vecchia) and its modern Murat district. Key attractions include the Basilica di San Nicola, the Castello Normanno-Svevo, and a lively waterfront promenade.  

In the Dark Ages, the great center of Jewish life was in the south, in Bari, for example.  Italy played a part in the transmission of Talmudic scholarship to Northern Europe.  The Southern Italian communities were mainly involved in wholesale trade, from which they were later eliminated by the Venetians, and in handicrafts, particularly dyeing and silkweaving.  In Sicily, there was a large proletarian community of manual laborers.  

At the end of the 13th century (1200's) , persecution in the kingdom of Naples drove large numbers of Jews to Christianity.  At this period, however, Jewish loan-bankers began to be invited for the public convenience into the towns of central and Northern Italy.  This was the origin of the famous communities of Florence, Venice, Mantua, Ferrara and others.  

In 1492, the Spanish authorities expelled the Jews from Sicily, and presuming all of Spain.  It's the year that Columbus left with several conversos manning his ship.  Recent DNA testing shows that Columbus was Jewish.  Years ago the Jewish Digest ran stories of him writing letters to his sons in Hebrew.  Jews from Spain often moved to Portugal next door until they also joined the ban of Jews in  their country.    In 1541Jews were banned from the kingdom of Naples to which they never returned.  Elsewhere in this period the Jews lived on the whole in affluent and comfortable conditions and both influenced and were influenced by the RENAISSANCE, says my Jewish encyclopedia, yet I've never read any report about that.  It's all about finding a country that would take them in.  

                           Pope Paul IV 

With a Counter-Reformation, their position deteriorated.  Pope Paul IV's bull cum nimis absurdum (1555)  instituted THE GHETTO and the concumitant oppression in Rome and the Papal States, this policy being later imitated all over the country.   The GHETTO PERIOD lasted  until the end of the 18th century.  

Today's main square of the Venician Ghetto.  

The idea of the segregation of the Jews, implicit in earlier Church legislation, goes back to the Lateran Councils of 1129 and 1215  which forbade Jews and Christians to live together in close contact.  In Spain, the Jews lived at least from the 13th century in juderias provided with walls and gates for their protection.  From the 15th century, the friars in Italy began to press for the effective segregation of the Jews, and in 1555, Pope Paul IV made the order for Jews living in Papal states.  It first happened in Rome and then all over Italy by the next generation.  

Jews were forced to leave Spain and other countries, and if they didn't, they were forced to convert.  If a converted Jew practiced Judaism, he was killed.  They were tortured and burned  at stakes if they were discovered.  

• Venetian Ghetto: 

  The first ghetto was established in Venice in 1516 in a former foundry, after which the word "ghetto" originates. The government granted Jews permanent residence but confined them to a guarded island, locking the gates at night. 

EMANCIPATION was introduced at the time of the French Revolutionary Wars of 1796.  It was canceled on the fall of Napoleon in 1814-1815, and was reestablished with the consolidation of a united Italy.   by 1840-1870.  

In the course of the next generation, Jewish emancipation was more complete in Italy than in any other country of Europe.  

The position of the Jews was on the whole maintained in the early years of FASCISM in 1922, but by 1938, after Mussolini ended an alliance with Nazi Germany, a thoroughgoing anti-Semitic policy was adopted.  Jews were being removed from office like in Germany and many Jews started emigrating.  Italy did not imitate Nazi brutality, but during the German occupation of Northern Italy in 1943-1945, violent persecution began and some thousands of Italian Jews were deported to the death camps.  The blow certainly affected Italian Jewish lives.  Some 3,000 have settled in Israel.  

Population of Jews in Italy in 1990 was 34,500 of whom 15,000 lived in Rome and 10,000 in Milan.  There are approximately 27,000 to 36,000 Jews in Italy today, with estimates varying by source. The largest communities are in Rome and Milan, and the Jewish population is represented by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities.  It hasn't changed much at all.  I wonder why? 

There are an estimated 30,000 Italian Jews living in Israel today. This population, alongside a community of around 30,000 in Italy, is part of a global Jewish population of about 60,000 Italian Jews. 

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish encyclopedia, 1992

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_antisemitism 

https://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2022/04/tracking-down-kalonymos-descendants.html