The History of Jewish Rome: Part Two

Join the BZD and tour guide, Laura Weinstein for a two part series about the history of Jewish Rome.

The “Ebrei” of Rome claim to be the oldest continuous Jewish community in the world, outside of Jerusalem. Get a window on 2000 years of their history, including those brought to Rome as slaves in 70 CE/AD, the various ancient and medieval congregations, the influx of Jews from Spain and later Libya, the 300 years in the Papal-imposed Ghetto, to the flourishing 15,000 strong of today!

Part 1 (March 22) will focus on the presence of Jews in Ancient Rome (before and after the Second Temple, including the earliest communities of Jews in Rome, their synagogues and their graveyards, through the medieval period)

Part 2 (March 29) We will focus on Roman Jewish history, including a bit about the shift of power from Emperors to Popes in the medieval period, the influx of Jews from Spain who joined an existing population that had been in Rome since the time of the Maccabees, the 300+ years in the Papal-imposed Ghetto, how the Unification of Italy affected the Jews of Rome, the terror of WWII, the immigrants from Libya who changed the face of the community, to the flourishing 15,000 strong of today!

A Baltimore native, Laura Weinstein has a Master’s degree in Art History from John Cabot University in Rome and has lived in Rome for 17 years. Because of her interest in religion, Laura started studying and traveling to India 7 years ago, to date she has visited over 40 sites. Her resulting Master’s thesis focused on the trade connections between ancient Rome and ancient India via a little ivory statue that was found at Pompeii in 1938.
For the past twelve years, under the banner of Roman Holiday Tours, she has maintained a team of licensed guides in Rome and all over Italy helping lead historical and cultural day-tours, in many languages.