Jews from all over the world read and study Rashi's Commentary on the Pentateuch every day, a text of absolute reference for the Jewish religion for its fine content and for the undisputed depth of its author.

The work of the French Rabbi and exegete of Jewish origin Rashi (acronym of Rabbi Salomon ben Isaac, Italianized name Rabbi Salomone Jarco, Latinized name Rabbi Šelomoh ben Yişhah), the greatest medieval commentator on Torah and Talmud, who lived between February 1040 and  July 1105 in France, it was given to  characters in the Giudecca of Reggio Calabria in February 1475, by the typographer Avraham Ben Garton Ben Yishaq. Rashi's Commentary on the Pentateuch printed by Avraham Ben Garton Ben Yishaq in Giudecca Reggina was the oldest known Hebrew book in the world, therefore the first Hebrew book whose printing date is known.

A prestigious page that testifies to the cultural vitality of ancient Reggio, evidently an important center of exchanges, a forge in which to publish a book that is still held in high regard by the Jewish community after more than five centuries. Due to its geographical position on the banks of the Strait, Reggio was the gateway for the first Jews who crossed the Continent in 200 BC and it was a place where the Jewish community lived in peace and prosperity. A fruitful integration that was the basis of intense exchanges which gave impetus to economic activities, giving a strong international dimension to the trade in kosher wine and silk, a source of great development for the community of the time. A contact between cultures that generated progress and well-being in Reggio.

In this context of great ferment, the Jews of the Giudecca of Reggio Calabria were pioneers on the cultural side, preceding the well-known printing house in Soncino, in the province of Cremona, and the Venetian school of Daniel Bomberg, Marco Antonio Giustiniani and Alvise Bragadin. In fact, among the favourite areas there was the typographic one. Italy in the 15th - 16th centuries thus became a world center of the Jewish press, as was to be expected for the country that hosted one of the most important Jewish settlements after the Diaspora. Therefore, the Giudecca of Reggio Calabria was so authoritative that it was a place in which to practice printing with movable type with wisdom and wisdom while this technique was writing its beginnings in Germany. Only two decades earlier, the Gutenberg Bible had been delivered to the world, which since 2001 has been on the prestigious list of UNESCO's Memory of the World.

Aschenez and the Reggini

Only Reggio, in Italy, can boast a Jewish descent and can claim as its founder Aschenez, identified with Askenaz, son of Gomer and great-grandson of Noe. Giovanni Flavio and San Girolamo spoke of the Reggini so called by the Greeks, qualifying them as direct descendants of Aschenez, therefore Aschenazi; but they were the Reggio people of Reggio near Constantinople (one of the main gates of the great city of the East was called the gate of Reggio). The text of St. Jerome is particularly clear on this point and the misrepresentation that over time has been "tolerated" and accepted has always attested to an evident and mutual appreciation between our Reggio and the Jewish community. Suffice it to recall that in Reggio dominated by the Normans in the eleventh century, the system was trilingual: Greek, Arabic and Hebrew. An ennobling legend that, contrary to its neighbor Messina, Reggio has not forgotten, consecrating its memory also in the toponymy by conferring the name Aschenez to one of the main streets of the city.

Rashi's commentary, the story between stories

The precious Jewish incunabulum, discovered by Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi (Sale Castelnuovo, Turin 1742 - Parma 1831), Piedmontese presbyter, orientalist, Jewish scholar and bibliographer, scholar of medieval Jewish literature, curator of a significant collection of Hebrew writings preserved in the Palatine Library of Parma (Giovanni Battista De Rossi's collection, location 1178), was purchased in 1816 by Maria Luigia of Austria, together with other important documents of Jewish culture in Italy. She herself then donated it to the Regia Bibliotheca Parmense, today the Palatine library, where Rashi's Commentary on the Pentateuch is kept in all its splendor. It seems that De Rossi himself was so interested in Rashi's commentary, evidently a highly valuable tome, that he bought a second copy after the first was lost in the Po.

In memory of this history and of this rare and precious book, also a symbol of the tradition of incunabula of which Reggio was also a copious forge, a photographic copy has been included in the patrimony of the Pietro De Nava Municipal Library in Reggio Calabria since 2006. It was requested and obtained by the then mayor of Reggio Calabria, Giuseppe Scopelliti, on the initiative of the councilor for culture of the time Fabrizio Veneziano, of the director of the Reggio library Domenico Romeo and the historian Francesco Arillotta.

Another copy of the Commentary is kept in Jerusalem. Three hundred copies of Rashi's text alone would have been printed by Avraham Ben Garton Ben Yishaq on linen paper in Reggio, as reported in the “History of Jewish Typography in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and the Levant from its beginnings around 1472 "by Bernhard (Haim) Friedberg. Of these original prints there is only news of the one kept in Parma, of which there is a copy and Jerusalem and Reggio Calabria. It is also the only work, among those printed by Avraham Ben Garton himself. Ben Yishaq in Giudecca Reggina, who survived the subsequent burning of books and Jewish culture.

A stake, the result of bitter persecution caused by the rivalry with the printing of books in the Italian language, much less profitable and therefore threatened by that in the Hebrew language.

The exposure to the public and the meeting with Debora Penchassi: "Rashi's comment, the most important ever written for the world Jewish community"

The Commentarius in Pentateuchum, a work of Rashi, considered the "father" of all Talmudic commentaries, was the focus of a meeting held in the setting of the Garcilaso De La Vega room of the Aragonese Castle in Reggio Calabria. Sponsored by the Calabria Region, the Municipality of Reggio, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (Ucei) and the Jewish Community of Naples, the event was carried out with FUC regional funds pursuant to Regional Law 19/2019 - Public notice bearing the denomination "Contributions to cultural activities Contributions to cultural activities in implementation of DGR 64/2019 for celebrations and anniversaries, seminars and scientific publications".

Thanks to the work of the Culture - Tourism sector of the Department for the Enhancement of Cultural Heritage of the Municipality of Reggio Calabria, with a favorable opinion from the Archival and Bibliographic Superintendency of Calabria, the meeting was an opportunity to tell this story together with the cultural manager of the synagogue of Lincoln Square in New York, Debora Penchassi, and to exhibit the copy until then kept at the municipal library Pietro De Nava in Reggio, making it accessible through the exhibition set up in the Pietro Da Toledo room of the Aragonese Castle.

Once the contingency linked to the CovID19 emergency has been overcome, the exhibition will return to being open to the public every Wednesday from 9:00 to 13:00 and, upon reservation, on the occasion of guided tours of groups and school groups.

“I am honored to be here - said Debora Penchassi - and to feel as Calabrese as you are. We are here to recall one of the most important moments in the history of Judaism, given that Rashi's precious Commentary on the Pentateuch was printed here, the first book in Hebrew language printed with a certain date, a constant reference for scholars and faithful. Rashi was a fine commentator who in the year 1000 managed to produce this precious commentary, also confronting himself with the most authoritative rabbis, also Italians. I believe there are twelve Italian words in the Commentary precisely for these virtuous cultural contacts. Rashi had the merit - explained Debora Penchassi - of preserving and spreading the Hebrew language through biblical texts among the communities residing in Europe after the Diaspora, to the point of being considered one of the most important architects of the revival of literary Judaism in the Middle Ages. It was a mission that he honored with a style marked by clarity, precision and simplicity. His comments, dating back over a millennium ago, to date, can be considered the most important writings so far ”, explained Debora Penchassi, who offered an invaluable contribution to the exhibition. By conducting a research she has in fact recovered eight pages of Rashi's Commentary at the Chabad Central Library in Brooklyn in New York and at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, also in New York, managing to produce copies to take to Reggio. Some of them have been reproduced in the panels of the exhibition. On this occasion, an important collaboration was sealed with the Municipality of Reggio Calabria which will certainly be the harbinger of other initiatives in order to compose a complex and prestigious mosaic with ancient pieces, whose journey knows no boundaries.

An important teamwork made possible the event and the exhibition, strongly desired by the municipal administration of Reggio Calabria represented by the mayor Giuseppe Falcomatà, by the councilor for the Enhancement of Cultural Heritage, Irene Calabrò, and by the General Director of the Municipality, Giuseppe Putortì.

An initiative that from Reggio Calabria has launched an important signal of peace at a time when the level of attention towards the Jewish community in Italy was highest, following the serious episodes of intolerance following the celebration of the Memory of the Shoah.

A meeting marked by authoritative interventions - Ada Arillotta, Archival and Bibliographic Superintendent of Calabria, Ivana Pezzoli wife of Roque Pugliese, Calabrian manager for the Jewish community of Naples, Eligio Daniele Castrizio, professor of Numismatics at the Department of Ancient and Modern Civilizations of the University of Messina and Francesco Arillotta, historian and member of the Deputation of Homeland History of Calabria - who contributed to enriching the knowledge of the history of this writing, its author, its printer and typography, located between Porta Mesa (now via Giulia) and via Amalfitana (now via Felice Valentino), where today via Giudecca is located, and of the Jewish community in Reggio.

Rashi Script, un primato culturale senza tempo

Printed on a 37-line basis, a technical standard at the time considered to be avant-garde (Gutenberg's Bible, printed twenty years earlier in Mainz on 23 February 1453, on 42 lines from the sixth sheet onwards, consisting of 641 sheets, or 1282 pages, is included in the prestigious Unesco World Memory list), Rashi's commentary also has the distinction of being characterized by a pioneering style of printing, today still known as Rashi Scripture. "The wise and original contribution of the typographer Avraham Ben Garton Ben Yishaq who chose the Hebrew book, currently the most studied, most read and most printed, was also important for the greatness of Rashi's commentary, to experiment with a new printing methodology that for first time, in order to distinguish the commentary from the biblical text printed with a common square typeface, he resorted to the semi-cursive Sephardi style of the fifteenth century, used by the Jews of Spain. A rounded font that was first used in a biblical commentary. With the invention of the printing press, the commentary and the biblical text were incorporated into a single page, which is why the distinction of characters proved useful and spread precisely with the name of Calabria Rashi and then Rashi Script ", highlighted Debora Penchassi, cultural manager of the Lincoln Square synagogue in New York.

Prints, silk and kosher wine: the Jews in Reggio, a virtuous contact between cultures

The Jewish presence was of fundamental importance for Reggio, having marked its history in a profound way. It was an exchange that generated wealth, leaving traces that have survived over the centuries, such as Rashi's Commentary, but not only.

In southern Calabria, the past existence of a number of synagogues is documented such as to be compared with Palestine and with characteristics and style in perfect line with the great oriental synagogues. Just think of those of Vibo, Reggio (of which only the plaque remains today kept in the Reggio Archaeological Museum) and Bova, where there are traces of the second oldest synagogue in Europe, after that of Ostia Antica.

To denote the depth of Reggio and its Giudecca is also the work of Christian evangelization in Calabria which, according to some historians of the Religions, begins in Reggio in 61 d. C., on the occasion of the pause of Paul of Tarsus, the main missionary of the Gospel of Jesus and known as the Apostle of the People, precisely because of the presence of a thriving Jewish community.

Then again the undisputed role of Reggio, crossroads of international trade in silk and kosher sweet wine, that is grape wine produced according to the religious law of Judaism and used for the rites of Shabbat (the Saturday of rest and prayer) and Pesach, Jewish Passover, among others. A production that, as the numerous finds between Ferruzzano and Bruzzano demonstrate, took place on stone millstones with a production system (today at the center of international studies) identical to that used in Palestine, Syria and Egypt. This places the Reggio of the past, in a context of considerable economic development, after a period of poverty and exploitation, and the seat of fervent and profitable productive activities. The role of the Jews in this prosperity is documented.

The same depiction of the Menorah on the neck of the amphorae classified as Keay LII, whose production in the footsteps of the Syrian amphorae model is typical of Calabria Bruzia in the period between the fourth and seventh centuries, attests the Jewish commissioning of these amphorae used precisely for contain Kosher wine.

Another flourishing production thanks to the Jews of the Giudecca di Reggio Calabria was that of silk which, outside the imperial monopoly, with the Arab advance in Syria, arrived in Calabria due to the particular aptitude of its coasts to be fertile ground for the white mulberry, of whose leaves the silkworm fed. This is the time of the displacement of the settlements from the coast to the inland areas, also to escape the constant raids of the Arabs. A notable source of wealth, that of silk, nourished by the presence of the Jewish community that was the protagonist, depends on its international marketing.

In short, a beautiful story to be remembered. We have had much and have lost much. A story still to be known and discovered and from which to continue learning, in an atmosphere of encounter, study and friendship.