Acting on the premise that ignorance begets anti-Semitism, a bi-lingual pictorial history of Jewish contributions to Roman civilization from 161 BCE to the present, originally published in 1970, has been re-issued and distributed to every school library and public library in the city of Rome, the province and the surrounding region.
The book, “Jewish Rome-Roma Ebraica” by Henryk Geller, was selected by the Rome Jewish community to serve as an educational tool. Its republication and distribution has been subsidized by the municipal, provincial and regional authorities in cooperation with the community. The new edition contains prefaces by Rome’s Chief Rabbi, Elio Toaff, and by President Sandro Pertini.
Henryk told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the book casts light on many historical facts that explain the origins of classic and modern anti-Semitism of which even the higher educated echelons of Italian society have been unaware.
He noted that the West, after adopting the unique monotheistic, ethical and universal messages of Judaism, forgot the Jewish origins of Christian values. The reason for the lapse of memory lies in history, Geller said. The State permitted anti-Jewish myths to replace the authentic Jewish religious message, he said.
His book draws attention to the rich cultural and archaeological patrimony of Roman Judaism, now rapidly deteriorating for lack of means for its preservation or for new diggings. “If we succeed in replacing ancient anti-Jewish myths with an understanding of history, we might begin to really uproot the ingrained effects of centuries-long education aimed at disdain of the Jew,” Geller told the JTA.
NEW DETERMINATION BY JEWISH COMMUNITY
The choice of Geller’s book to combat ignorance, “the primary cause of anti-Semitism” — which appears to be on the rise — also represents a new determination by the Roman Jewish community to fight back.
This was triggered by the 1982 terrorist attack on the main synagogue in Rome in which a young child, Stefano Tache, was killed and 33 worshippers and passers by wounded. That tragic event marked a turning point in the Jewish community’s relations with the local and regional authorities.
The community had appeared to lack sufficient leverage to combat anti-Semitic overtones in media reportage of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon which had adverse repercussions for Jews among many Italians.
The act of violence against the synagogue triggered the anger of Roman Jews which, after a period of dignified silence, they verbalized in the famous “J’Accuse’ against sections of the media and the Catholic authorities who consciously or unconsciously allowed a biased climate to grow.
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
President Pertini, in his preface to Geller’s book, refers to the loss of his brother “in the Nazi persecution and deportations to concentration camps.” The memory of those times, he wrote, hopefully will serve as a warning to all today that such horrors may never be repeated.
“So many Jews have shared the vicissitudes of the Roman community throughout the centuries … in happy and less happy days,” Pertini wrote. “I applaud with all my heart the initiative undertaken by the Lazio region and Jewish community to present this volume … especially directed towards the younger generation.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
