Off to Rome

We left Florence and would spend a good part of the day in the bus on the road to Rome. It was breathtaking how beautiful the ride was through Tuscany was. The first part Trip was driving through the green forested hills. The second part presented more of the brown harvested field and hills with houses and towns sitting on hill and mountain tops.

During the ride Lana again shared information including reading chapters from Primo Levi. The only stop of the day was to the hilltop town of Pittigliano, which has been called “Little Jerusalem.” This is a wonderful little gem not known to a large number of Jewish travelers. I had visited when I was on the Jewish-Catholic mission to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Rochester Agreement between the Archdiocese of Rochester and the Jewish community. The beauty of the town is seen as one approaches and sees it on the steep cliffs of a mountain. The bus dropped us off just outside the main gate and it was a short walk down charming narrow streets with peek-a-boo views out across the valley to other hills. On another vista you look down and see a flowing stream winding its way below through lush greenery.

We entered the synagogue building, but since there was a single restroom it took over a half hour to gather to go up to the synagogue itself. There was a small store with kosher products as we entered the buildings and it is run by one of the three Jews in the town. The woman was delightful, spoke no English but assured me the wine was kosher; and it was.

There is also a small office and gift shop. While waiting for others many wandered down to the wine cellar and mikveh area and later down to the room for the shochet and the bakery for matzah. We found two very interesting pictures; one of the teachers and staff of the school in the late 30’s and the other of a communal bar mitzvah celebration. 

We ascended to the synagogue which is a room with the readers section in the middle. A plaque on the outer wall commemorates those lost in the Holocaust. Inside there are plaques .commemorating WWI veterans and three rabbis who served. Lana explained that although never large in number at one point there were 500 Jews in a total population of 1,500, an extremely high percentage. During the Holocaust years those who remained in town were saved by their Christian neighbors. There were over 30 deaths. All of those people were outside of the town.

Over the years the congregation has ceased to exist but the local municipal government has paid for the upkeep. On a few occasions people come to the synagogue to have Bnei Mitzvah services and I think there has even been a wedding. The group needs to bring in a Torah, rabbi and whatever else they might need.

After the visit we had about an hour for lunch and looking around the small town. We then headed off to Rome. On the way I spoke a bit about Nostra Aetate, the Rochester Agreement, and our visit when I shook hands with the Pope.

We made it to Rome without any real problems. The hotel only had one small elevator so it took nearly a half hour for all of us to leave the lobby and go to our rooms.

Some of us walked to the Spanish Steps. I passed right by the hotel we stayed at n my last visit to Rome. We then found our way to the Trevi Fountain which was jammed pack with people. Most of the group ended up there. We then broke off in smaller groups for dinner.

Tomorrow morning we meet the Israeli ambassador to the Vatican.