Tag Archives: Pope

Jew of the Week: Rabbi Elio Toaff

“The Pope of the Jews”

Rabbi Toaff with Pope John Paul II

Elio Toaff (1915-2015) was born in Livorno, Italy, the son of Livorno’s chief rabbi. Despite the fact that his father did not want his son to follow in his footsteps, Toaff nonetheless pursued religious studies (as well as law and theology at the University of Pisa) and was ordained a rabbi by age 24. At 26, he was appointed rabbi of Ancona. Not long after, Germany occupied northern Italy, and Toaff became a resistance fighter. Captured by the Nazis and sentenced to death, he managed to escape while digging his own grave. Following the war, Toaff became the rabbi of Venice, and a professor at its university. In 1951, he became the Chief Rabbi of Rome (and, in effect, the Chief Rabbi of Italy) a post he held for 51 years until retiring in 2002. He had the monumental task of restoring Italy’s Jewish communities after the massive destruction they experienced during the war. Rabbi Toaff focused his efforts on rebuilding Jewish infrastructure, reigniting Jewish education, and bridging the gaps between Jews and non-Jews. In 1986, he invited Pope John Paul II to Rome’s Great Synagogue for a joint prayer. The Pope accepted, marking the first time in history a pope visited and prayed at a synagogue. The two had a very close relationship. Incredibly, Rabbi Toaff was one of just two people that the Pope mentioned in his last will and testament (the other being the Pope’s personal secretary), writing “How can I fail to remember the rabbi of Rome?” Rabbi Toaff cleared the way for the Pope to visit Israel in 2000, and to establish formal diplomatic relations between the Jewish State and the Vatican. Rabbi Toaff was beloved by Jews and Catholics alike, and was a central voice of morality in Italy, as well as the primary authority in Jewish law. Toaff was knighted by the Italian Republic, and given the title of ‘Senator for Life’. He was commonly nicknamed “the Pope of the Jews”. Sadly, Toaff passed away on Sunday. He would have turned 100 years old next week.

Words of the Week

A rabbi doesn’t work only for his community or for the Jews. A rabbi has to talk to every human being who needs him. He belongs to everybody. He is for everybody.
– Rabbi Elio Toaff

Jew of the Week: Dona Gracia Mendes

Commemorative Coin of Dona Gracia Mendes

Commemorative Medal of Dona Gracia Mendes

Hanna ‘Gracia’ Nasi (1510-1569) was born in Lisbon, Portugal to a family of conversos – aka Marranos, Jews who were forcibly converted to Christianity – and named Beatriz de Luna Miquez. She married Francisco Mendes Benveniste, a wealthy spice trader and banker. When she was only 28, Gracia’s husband passed away, leaving the business to her and his brother. Gracia thus joined her brother-in-law in Antwerp (then part of the Spanish Netherlands). From there, she organized an escape network for Jews to flee Spain and Portugal from the Inquisition, smuggling them in spice ships, providing them with money and documents to make their way to the Ottoman Empire where Jews were still welcome. This saved the lives of countless Jews, who nicknamed her ‘Our Angel’. Shortly after, her brother-in-law died as well, leaving Gracia alone at the helm of the massive Mendes financial empire, dealing with the likes of European kings, the Sultan of Turkey, and several Popes. At the time, she was possibly the most powerful woman in the world. After a series of political intrigues, which included an unjust imprisonment and several attempts to seize her wealth, Gracia settled in Istanbul, where she was now free to return to her religion. She built and financed dozens of synagogues and yeshivas across the Ottoman Empire. In 1558, the Sultan granted her a lease for the desolate town of Tiberias in Israel. Gracia began rebuilding the town, allowing Jewish refugees to settle there, with the vision of reestablishing a Jewish homeland in Israel. Many historians consider this the earliest modern Zionist attempt. Today, Donna Gracia has become a feminist icon, and is celebrated as a hero around the world. Both Philadelphia and New York City host a ‘Dona Gracia Day’, and the Turkish government has sponsored exhibits in her honour. There is a museum exploring her life in Tiberias, and the ‘La Senora’ synagogue of Istanbul, named after her, still stands to this day. Dona Gracia is the aunt of past Jew of the Week Joseph Nasi

Words of the Week

One of the greatest tragedies of intellectual human experience is that we study Bible stories when we are 55 in the same manner as we studied them when we were 5.
– Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky

Jew of the Week: David Reubeni

David Reubeni was born around 1490 in a place called Chabor – the location of which is disputed to this day, though the best evidence points towards Afghanistan, where certain Pashtun tribes still practice Jewish customs (despite being officially Muslim) and speak of a folk hero named Daoud Roubani. In 1522, Reubeni left on a long journey around the world, going to India, Africa, throughout the Ottoman Empire and Europe. Along the way he claimed to be a messenger from the distant Jewish Kingdom of Chabor. His wisdom, piety, and military genius were evident to all who met him, including the Pope and a host of other rulers and dignitaries. To these leaders he proposed a plan to conquer Israel from the Ottomans through a Jewish-Christian alliance. The plan gained a lot of steam, and even appeared to be manifesting at one point. Pope Clement VII supported it, and King Juan III of Portugal promised eight ships and 4000 cannons. However, the messianic fervour that resulted inspired some Jews to rebel against the Inquisition, causing the loss of key allies. Meanwhile, skeptical Jews joined anti-Semities and opponents in preventing what they felt was another “false messiah”, though Reubeni never claimed to be one. It was Emperor Charles V of Spain who eventually had Reubeni and his key supporters arrested. They were assigned to the Inquisition and never heard from again. Reubeni’s cause and time of death are unknown, though his diary survives in Oxford (a second copy was destroyed by the Nazis). His story is as fascinating as it is mysterious: a man with an unknown beginning and an unknown end, hailing from a lost Jewish kingdom, who nearly succeeding in reestablishing a Jewish state in Israel four centuries before the Zionist movement.

Words of the Week

A person must seek out a spiritual livelihood with all the intensity of his strength, just as he seeks a material livelihood.
– The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Hayom Yom, Cheshvan 14)