In some ways, the history of the Jewish community is something that we are all aware of. The tragic events that Jews experienced are taught throughout our entire lives, as it was certainly a major part of the world’s history. However, I never truly considered what the average Jewish life was like until we visited the ghettos that the Jewish community was confined to. Suddenly, everything has been put into a different perspective. During the time that Jews lived there, the ghetto had a huge impact on people inside and outside of the walls. Additionally, people continue to be impacted by the ghetto to this day.
In the past, people outside of the ghetto walls viewed the ghetto as a representation of the status that Jews held in Rome. Rome went through periods of high tolerance for the Jewish culture, and oppositely periods of very little tolerance for the Jewish presence in Rome. However, whether the goal was acceptance or not, Rome always kept a certain amount of control over the Jews. This is reflected in the very idea of the Jewish ghetto. It was as if the people outside the ghetto were expressing that, whether respected or not, Jews always had a certain place in Rome that was meant to be very clear. It appears as if it was a matter of power and control, as many aspects of Rome have always been about. The People outside the ghetto walls were impacted by that feeling of control; it was the Romans homeland, and whether they were going to be tolerate of the Jew’s vastly different lifestyle or not, they made it very clear where the Jewish community stood in Roman culture.
For the people living inside the ghetto in the past, the impact was incredibly stronger. The walls of the ghetto dictated in every way how the people inside lived. The Jewish community was, in every sense of the word, confined. They were confined to small living areas, to a specific lifestyle, and even to a certain appearance. I am sure that this must have made them feel lesser than other people. Additionally, there is a strong sense of being trapped. Every part of their life was trapped inside an area too small to sustain the population. In a lot of ways, the ghetto forced the Jewish community to contain all of their culture in one area that the Jews were locked into daily, like caged animals.
The Jewish ghetto has a very different effect today on both people inside the walls and those outside the walls. Those outside the walls are constantly reminded of the way that Jews were treated in the past. The ghettos represent the fact that Jews were not viewed as equal, and they paid some high prices for that. As someone on the outside of the ghetto walls, I was highly impacted by seeing what life inside was truly like. The close living space is something that one cannot comprehend from the outside. However, it is still clear that life was not ideal inside the ghetto. However, I find it very interesting to realize that everything sacred and important to the Jews were a part of that small area. They always put emphasis on the importance of religious traditions and ceremonies by using the space they had to honor these things. As an outsider viewing the ghetto today, it was moving to realize how the Jewish community survived on a daily basis.
It appears as if the people inside the ghetto are impacted very differently than any other group has been. When we visited the ghettos, I got a really different sense from the people inside the ghetto walls today. While these people are certainly impacted by the history that surrounds them and are reminded of it daily, they seem to embrace the idea of the ghetto in a very different way. Today, the ghetto appears like a place where Jewish people express their culture. The shops and bakeries and restaurants are one of a kind, and thoroughly Jewish. It as if the ghetto today is a way to preserve the culture and traditions of the Jews. I feel a sense of pride from the people inside the ghetto walls today, as they proudly share their original history and culture with the rest of the world.
Whether from the outside or inside of the Jewish ghetto, during contemporary times or in the past, the impact of life in the Jewish ghettos is strong. It is very eye-opening to experience the ghettos and to try and form an idea of what life was like in the past. I am very impressed with the way that the ghettos have transformed into a place that celebrates the culture and past of Jewish life, instead of confining and defining it.
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