Sicilian Culture: News: Head Rabbi of Rome To Retire After 50 Years

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Head Rabbi of Rome To Retire After 50 Years
From Italy-News.com
Elio Toaff, head Rabbi of the Jewish community in Rome, has announced his retirement after 50 years as its leader. Rabbi Toaff, 86, made the announcement personally in the main Jewish synagogue in Rome.
"I have decided to leave," the Rabbi said to an applauding and visually moved crowd. A ceremony is scheduled for October 21 in honor of Mr. Toaff who has been a constant point of reference for Roman Jews and non-Jews alike.
Rabbi Toaff is known for having welcomed Pope John Paul II to a synagogue in Rome on April 13, 1986.
ITALIAN PRIEST TO BE IMMORTALIZED IN JERUSALEM
Enzo Boni Baldoni, an Italian priest known for having put himself at risk to save many Jewish families during the holocaust, will be given a plaque on the Wall of Jerusalem that honors the “Righteous Among Nations.
” Mr. Baldoni, who died in 1972, was awarded the distinction posthumously by the Yad Vashem Institute for the Memory of Martyrs and Heroes of the Holocaust.
Mr. Baldoni, born in 1906 in Cavriago, was a priest in Quara di Toano when he hid and protected, with the help of his parishioners, dozens of Jewish families from the Nazis.
A certificate will be given to his family next Sunday during an official ceremony in Cavriago sponsored in part by the Israeli embassy in Italy. David Cassuto of the University of Ariel will be the presenter.

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