Venetian Ghetto
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The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jews were compelled to live under the Venetian Republic. It is from its name, in the Venetian language, that the word "ghetto", used in many languages, is derived.
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[edit] Etymology
The name is derived from the "campo gheto" an area that iron foundries located there in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries used for cooling slag (Venetian "gheta"; Italian "ghetta"; from Latin GLITTU[M], GLITTUS).[citation needed]
[edit] Location and geography
The Ghetto is an area of the Cannaregio sestiere of Venice, divided into the Ghetto Nuovo ("New Ghetto"), and the adjacent Ghetto Vecchio ("Old Ghetto"). These names of the ghetto sections are misleading, as they refer to an older and newer site at the time of their use by the foundries: in terms of Jewish residence, the Ghetto Nuovo is actually older than the Ghetto Vecchio.
[edit] Famous Venetian Jewry
Some famous Jews of the Ghetto include Leon of Modena, whose family originated in France, as well as his disciple Sarah Coppio Sullam. She was an accomplished writer, debater (through letters), and even hosted her own salon. Meir Magino, the famous glassmaker also came from the ghetto.
[edit] The Ghetto today
Today, the Ghetto is still a center of Jewish life in the City of Venice, and is home to the aforementioned five synagogues, a yeshiva, a kosher restaurant, several Judaica shops, and a Chabad synagogue[1]. Although only around 300 of Venice's roughly 1000 Jews still live in the Ghetto, many return there during the day for religious services in the two synagogues which are still used (the other three are only used for guided tours, offered by the Jewish Community Museum).
[edit] Historical Jewish demographic of the Ghetto
Though it was home to a large number of Jews, the population living in the Venetian Ghetto never assimilated to form a distinct, "Venetian Jewish" ethnicity. Four of the five synagogues were clearly divided according to ethnic identity: separate synagogues existed for the German (the Scuola Grande Tedesca), Italian (the Scuola Italiana), Spanish and Portuguese (the Scuola Spagnola), and Levantine Sephardi communities (The Scola Levantina). The fifth, the Scuola Canton, is believed to have been either French, or a private synagogue for the families who funded its construction. Today, there are also populations of Ashkenazic Jews in Venice, mainly Lubavitchers who operate one of two kosher foodstores, a yeshiva, and the aforementioned Chabad synagogue.
Languages historically spoken in the confines of the Ghetto include Venetian, Italian, Judeo-Spanish, Judeo-Arabic, French, and German. In addition, Hebrew was traditionally (and still is) used on signage, inscriptions, and for official purposes such as wedding contracts (as well as, of course, in religious services). Today, English is widely used in the shops and the Museum because of the large number of English-speaking tourists.
[edit] In fiction
- William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice, written ca. 1595, features Shylock, a Venetian Jew.
- Geraldine Brook's 2008 novel People of the Book which traces the history of the Sarajevo Haggadah has a chapter whose action takes place in 1609 in the Venetian Ghetto.
[edit] Reception
- Hugo Pratt: Venezianische Legende. Corto Maltese. Bd 8. Novel. Carlson, Hamburg 1985, 1998. ISBN 3-551-71669-2
- Mirjam Pressler: Shylocks Tochter. Venedig im Jahre 1568. Novel. Alibaba Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1999, Bertelsmann, München 2005. ISBN 3-570-30172-9
- Rainer Maria Rilke: Eine Szene aus dem Ghetto. in: Rilke: Geschichten von lieben Gott. Insel, Leipzig 1931, Argon, Berlin 2006. (div. weitere Ausg.) ISBN 3-86610-045-0
- The trilogy work by Israel Zangwill
- Kinder des Ghetto. 1897. Cronbach, Berlin 1897, 1913 (German).
- Träumer des Ghetto. 1898. Cronbach, Berlin 1908, 1922 (German).
- Komödien des Ghetto. 1907. Cronbach, Berlin 1910 (German).
[edit] References
- Ariel Toaff, "Getto - Ghetto," The American Sephardi 6:1/2 (1973): 71-77.
- Sandra Debenedetti-Stow, The etymology of “ghetto”: new evidence from Rome, Jewish History, Volume 6, Issue 1 - 2, Mar 1992, Pages 79 - 85, DOI 10.1007/BF01695211, URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01695211
- DIETRO LE PAROLE - GLOBALIZZAZIONE di Francesco Varanini URL http://www.francescovaranini.com/base.asp?pageid=2_35
- http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice_ghetto.htm
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ghetto (Venezia) |
- Official website of the Jewish Community of Venice
- Jewish Library-Archive "Renato Maestro"
- Official web site of the Jewish Ghetto of Venice
- Satellite image from Google Maps (Campo di Ghetto Nuovo is the large square in the centre)
- Ghetto map and history
- Jewish Venice
- Wiki: University of California Santa Cruz, Jewish Writers and the Modern European City: Venice
Coordinates: 45°26′43″N 12°19′35″E / 45.44528°N 12.32639°E
