Jewish Rome and Trastavere

Trastevere literally means across the Tiber. This is the area where non-Roman citizens often congregated to settle. That was true of the 1st Jewish settlers in the 2nd century BCE In response to provocation from the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a delegation traveled to Rome to ask for support against Antiochus. Some decided to stay.
The Jewish community developed on both sides of the river. The 1st picture is of the main synagogue in Rome. This is where Pope John Paul II met with the chief rabbi of Rome to offer an apology and ask forgiveness for the way Jews were treated by the Catholic church and it's teaching. Both of his successors have done the same.
The 2nd picture is of the facade of what was a synagogue. The building has been redone, but the facade is original.
The 3rd picture is a Jewish community and cultural center that I'm told is very active and vital. The 4th picture is a street where Jewish life is lived today. I was there during Shabbat. So not many people were around.
The 5th picture is of an island in the Tiber. Originally there was a Temple of Asclepius here. Asclepius was the Greek god of healing, and the entire island was a healing cult. The Jewish physicians of the time interacted with the cult and were among the best doctors of the time, and that continued over the centuries. Even when Judaism was forced into a ghetto here, the well to do managed to keep their Jewish doctors. Today there are 2 hospitals and a church on the island. One hospital is founded by Christians; the other by a Jewish group. This has nothing to do with who can be treated where.
The last picture (or one like it) always seems to appear in accounts of Judaism these days. This is the square where the trucks waited when the Nazis rounded up the Jews for transport to Auschwitz. The large building was there then and is now the museum of the Shoah in Rome.Read more