Read the Column: Principal Rabbi Aaron Frank Reflects on His Visit to a Jewish Day School in Rome

Upper School Principal Rabbi Aaron Frank had the honor of participating in the Yael Foundation International School Leadership Exchange Program. This program matches experienced European principals with principals in the US. Last year, Ramaz received a visit from the principal of Renzo Levi Jewish Day School in Rome: this year, Rabbi Frank took his trip to visit Renzo Levi School for himself. Below, read his inspirational reflection on the trip, and enjoy the photos underneath.

 

 

48 Hour Witness to a “Jacobic” Promise: Breadth and Depth on the Streets of Rome

 

Parshat Vayetse begins with Jacob’s famous dream. In it, he is given the promise of Eretz Yisrael (Gen 28:13):

 הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ שֹׁכֵ֣ב עָלֶ֔יהָ לְךָ֥ אֶתְּנֶ֖נָּה וּלְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃

the ground on which you are lying I will assign to you and to your offspring.

 

And the promise continues in the next pasuk (Gen. 28:14):

וְהָיָ֤ה זַרְעֲךָ֙ כַּעֲפַ֣ר הָאָ֔רֶץ וּפָרַצְתָּ֛ יָ֥מָּה וָקֵ֖דְמָה וְצָפֹ֣נָה וָנֶ֑גְבָּה וְנִבְרְכ֥וּ בְךָ֛ כׇּל־מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הָאֲדָמָ֖ה וּבְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃

Your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. 

 

In identifying the role of that second pasuk, the Em HaMikra and the HaEmek Davar by 19th-century rabbis Elijah Benamozegh and Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (also known as the Netziv) share that this is actually a promise that we will be spread throughout the earth, not only in Israel.* However, while the image of north, south, east, and west is a physical picture of the inhabiting of our people around the world, this past week, I saw this image differently. 

For two days, I participated in the Yael Foundation International School Leadership Exchange Program, designed to match experienced European principals with principals in the US. I had the great honor to visit the Renzo Levi Jewish Day School in Rome.

In the school and on the streets of the Jewish neighborhood in Rome, this promise of east/west/north/south, struck a different chord.

These cardinal directions are not only physical. Yamah va kedmah, east and west, can point to the horizontal lens: connecting to others. Whether it be across beliefs or across oceans or across cultures, we as humans, as educators, and as Jews, are a people that have a common voice and a common cause. By the same token, tsafonah va negbah, north and south, can be seen as a vertical lens: connecting to the vertical plane, to a particular place and space, in a deep and grounded way. In that lens, all of us see the world through the blessing of our distinct cultures, beliefs, and voices, deeply grounded from where we come.

In a 48-hour period, I witnessed this reading of Hashem’s promise come alive.

 

יָ֥מָּה וָקֵ֖דְמָה - The Horizontal Plane: What We Share

When I walked into Renzo Levi School, I immediately noticed the mission of the school, just like everyone does when they walk into a room at Ramaz. And the words were familiar: "Our school educates Jews to practice Judaism consciously and be active, learned, supportive members of the Rome Jewish Community." As Jewish educators, we all share a common cause and common mission. (Photo #1 Below)

When I sat for hours with Principal Rav Benedetto Carucci Viterbi, Judaics Principal Rav Roberto Colombo, and Middle School Roberta Spizzichino, I realized that we were of one mind in the challenges that we have as Jews and educators. We are all trying to create environments where students and families connect academically and spiritually to Torah. We are all struggling with the monumental challenge of a changing world and how best to prepare our students to be contributing members of it. (Photos #2 and #3)

When I sat at lunch with the Student Government, they discussed their activities. And while there are so many differences, kids are kids: They have dreams of running businesses in Italy or serving in the IDF; they are articulate, amazing teens who want to be heard, want to lead, want to grow, and also want to fill the snack machines and wear hoodies. (Photo #4)

When I entered tefillah, or a class, my neshama sang. While we all know intellectually that Jews all over the world share a language and a rhythm, listening and seeing is a whole other level in the powerful experience of horizontal connection. When I watched fifth graders singing “Maoz Tsur” with excitement for Chanukah (or “Chanucca” as written on banners in the halls), when I learned an Italian-language sugya about the challenge of belief, or when I prayed with over 60 students during Shacharit, the power of what we share made that global, horizontal experience as a Jew come alive. (Photos #5-#6) And finally, in the most intense of the experiences, we are all connected in our love and dedication to Israel. As one walks into the Jewish neighborhood, one cannot help but be taken by the hundreds of stickers tributing the fallen IDF soldiers. (Photo #7)

During my visit, there was a chesed program welcoming child cancer patients from Israel to the Roman Jewish community and to the school. As I danced with the students and the Israeli visitors from Rachashei Lev Organization to “Od Yoter Tov” and “Am Yisrael Chai” and as we sang “Hatikva,” the only words I could think of, as I wiped away tears of pride and joy, were “מִי כְּעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל”, there is no people like our people. (Photos #8 and #9) We are physically separated by oceans and miles, but our common threads as humans, as educators, as Zionists and as Jews, link us hand in hand, with a common, iron-strong chord across the globe.

 

צָפֹ֣נָה וָנֶ֑גְבָּה - The Vertical Plane: Being Uniquely Grounded in One's Space

 

According to my tour guide, Jews have been in Rome for at least 2000 years, if not more. And it is not a simple history. From the destruction of the second Bet Hamikdash, when Jews were taken to Rome as slaves and their leaders were murdered, to Nazi roundups, and even to a 1982 terrorist attack at the Synagogue, this is a community that has been persecuted, oppressed, and terrorized.

And, even while carrying all that burden, this is a community that lives with incredible joy, love, and pride in their heritage as Jews and as Romans. So many of the people I met have connections to extended family in Israel, but they choose to be in Rome consciously to invest in their community and keep the story alive.

We walked on the streets of the Jewish Ghetto, streets where Jews were rounded up, that are now hot real estate and thriving with Jewish life, business, and culture. Emanuele and Dino, my tour guides, both had a gleam in their eyes as they told the long history of the Jews of Rome–of their prolific scholarship, their amazing art and architecture, and their incredible resilience. They also took great pride in showing me sites of the broader culture of Rome. (Photo #10 and #11) Shmuel, an alum of the school, who now works in a kosher restaurant, could not serve me enough amazing Jewish kosher dishes, sharing proudly the recipes passed down to generations.(Photo # 12)

Emanuele Di Porto, the Secretary General of the Rome Jewish Community, taught me about the unique structure of the Roman Jewish Community as it is one that is run by an elected central council that oversees Jewish life. When asking him what he would want people to know about the Roman Jewish community, he simply said “that we are important.”

There is not a shortage of reasons for the Jews of Rome to feel despair, but when one spends time there, that word doesn't even enter one’s mind. It is a place of deep, deep connection where the vertical chord of history grounds this community in a most powerful way. 

 

One final image: 

As I walked the Renzo Levi School halls, I noticed that students were wearing school swag. On the back of the school sweatshirts was written the phrase “Proud to belong.” I could not think of a better phrase to describe this trip and this community and what I learned from them. They are proud to belong to a people that dreams, davens, and dances as one. They are proud to belong to a people that has both a deeply rooted connection to their home and to our Homeland.

I will carry these lessons forward, dedicating myself to the lifelong task of working to create spaces defined by both comprehensive unity and eternal pride.

!!!עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי

 

*Em Hamikra, כאן רמז לגלות ישראל בד' כנפות הארץ and HaEmek Davar, 

שגם בגלות ובשפלות יהיו נפרצים בכל פנות הארץ

 

Photo #1:

 

Photos #2 and #3:

 

Photo #4:

 

Photos #5, #6a, and #6b:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo #7:

 

Photo #8:

 

Photo #9:

 

Photos #10 and #11:

 

Photo #12: