History’s most notorious Jewish ghettos were no doubt established during the Second World War as a prelude to that community’s liquidation in the Holocaust. But the sad tradition of forcing a city’s Jews into a ghetto actually began 500 years ago today in Venice, Italy.
In 1509, war forced Jews living on the Italian mainland to seek refuge in the island city of Venice. As has so often happened throughout history, the majority population was unhappy with the Jewish community’s different ways. And so, on March 29, 1516, the Venetian senate decreed all of the city’s Jews into a new ghetto. It was Europe’s first attempt to corral Jews into a single enclosed place.
These Jews were the descendants of those who were dispersed throughout Europe after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. But unlike the popular lore, Venice’s well-known “Giudecca” island was not the place where the Jewish ghetto was established, thus giving that island its name. In fact, the name is actually derived from “Zudega,” a word from the Venetian dialect meaning “judged.” It was home to many banished families, not just Jewish ones.
Since Jews were not permitted to own land or have jobs that other Venetians had, they plied their trades at the Rialto Market or were money lenders, and thus an important part of the Venetian economy. So expulsion of the Jews wasn’t an option – the economy couldn’t handle that. Instead, a ghetto was established, and Jews were “locked in” from midnight to dawn. They were also forced to wear clothing that identified them as Jews, such as yellow hats.
Eventually, Jews from Germany, Spain, and southern Italy settled in the ghetto and before long, each group built its own synagogue. Those synagogues still exist today, although rarely used, given that Venice’s Jewish population today is maybe 300 souls out of a total Venetian population of around 60,000.
Still, the synagogues are well maintained and now incorporated into a Jewish community tour. The Spanish synagogue, called the Scuola Grande Spagnola, is the most ornate and brilliant, as pictured above.
Despite Italy’s occasionally unhappy relationship with its Jews – an estimated 7,500 were killed in the Holocaust – it is quite remarkable that 500 years later, there is still a Jewish presence in Venice. In fact, last Friday night, while visiting in Venice, curiosity took me to the site of the Jewish ghetto to see what, if any, Jewish life still exists.
I discovered the ultra-Orthodox Lubavitch movement holds Shabbat services every Friday night and Saturday morning, keeping the tiny Jewish community alive.
In a country where almost 80 percent of the people are Catholic it was quite astonishing to see – almost 500 years to the day later – Jews from all over the world, and all over Venice, gathering to celebrate on Easter weekend.
Donate Now