Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Intimate Strangers by Fredric Brandfon - Available

Intimate Strangers

A History of Jews and Catholics in the City of Rome

by Fredric Brandfon
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Read a sample Read a sample
1 of 1 copy available
2024 Catholic Media Association Book Award Winner in History
The Jewish community of Rome is the oldest Jewish community in Europe. It is also the Jewish community with the longest continuous history, having avoided interruptions, expulsions, and annihilations since 139 BCE. For most of that time, Jewish Romans have lived in close contact with the largest continuously functioning international organization: the Roman Catholic Church. Given the church's origins in Judaism, Jews and Catholics have spent two thousand years negotiating a necessary and paradoxical relationship. With engaging stories that illuminate the history of Jews and Jewish-Catholic relations in Rome, Intimate Strangers investigates the unusual relationship between Jews and Catholics as it has developed from the first century CE to the present in the Eternal City.
Fredric Brandfon innovatively frames these relations through an anthropological lens: how the idea and language of family have shaped the self-understanding of both Roman Jews and Catholics. The familial relations are lopsided, the powerful family member often persecuting the weaker one; the church ghettoized the Jews of Rome longer than any other community in Europe. Yet respect and support are also part of the family dynamic—for instance, church members and institutions protected Rome's Jews during the Nazi occupation—and so the relationship continues.
Brandfon begins by examining the Arch of Titus and the Jewish catacombs as touchstones, painting a picture of a Jewish community remaining Jewish over centuries. Papal processions and the humiliating races at Carnival time exemplify Jewish interactions with the predominant Catholic powers in medieval and Renaissance Rome. The Roman Ghetto, the forcible conversion of Jews, emancipation from the Ghetto in light of Italian nationalism, the horrors of fascism and the Nazi occupation in Rome, the Second Vatican Council proclamation absolving Jews of murdering Christ, and the celebration of Israel's birth at the Arch of Titus are interwoven with Jewish stories of daily life through the centuries. Intimate Strangers takes us on a compelling sweep of two thousand years of history through the present successes and dilemmas of Roman Jews in postwar Europe.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 1, 2023

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780827619029

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780827619029
      • File size: 2230 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      April 21, 2023

      Archaeologist Brandfon (religious studies, Coll. of Charleston) traces the history of the often fraught relationship between Jews and Catholics in Rome, the European city where Jews have had the longest continuous presence. Beginning before there were Catholics anywhere, in the 1st century BCE, and continuing into the 21st century, the book details the connections and divisions between the two communities. Brief and intimate characterizations of Roman emperors, medieval popes, and European political figures are mixed in with descriptions of legal and religious interactions. Brandfon follows the development of the Church's antisemitism and dives deep into the conflicting historical treatments of Pope Pius XII's actions during the Holocaust, while crediting numerous Italian Catholics with saving their Jewish neighbors during the Nazi occupation of Rome. The author also points out the ambiguity of modern popes embracing Judaism as "the older brother" of Catholicism by reminding the reader of the roles played by older brothers in the Bible. VERDICT A fascinating and readable history that's essential for those interested in Jewish or Italian history.--Joel Neuberg

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading