By COLlive reporter
In the heart of Rome’s historic Jewish Ghetto, a place rich with memory and resilience, something remarkable is happening.
Just ten months after its founding, the Beis Chabad of the Jewish Ghetto of Rome, under the leadership of Rabbi Aharon (Ronnie) and Sterna Canarutto, has already become a vibrant hub of Jewish life, learning, and connection.
This summer, Beis Chabad’s activity has taken on new energy, thanks to the arrival of four dedicated bochurim on Merkos Shlichus: Mendel Metzger, Mendy Rubinstein, Shmuly Pewzner, and Levi Uminer.
These young emissaries joined Rabbi Canarutto in daily outreach, bringing Torah, mitzvos, and joy to locals and tourists alike.
Every day, tens of people stop by to wrap tefillin—some for the first time in their lives. For many, it’s a deeply moving and spiritual encounter, made all the more powerful by the setting: a Jewish Ghetto that has witnessed both unimaginable darkness and miraculous light.
A Place Steeped in History
The very location of this Beis Chabad carries a profound and sacred history.
During World War II, when the Nazis came to deport Rome’s Jewish community to the concentration camps, desperate Jewish mothers urged their children to flee. With the ghetto sealed off, escape seemed impossible.
But an unlikely hero stepped forward. The local milkman—a non-Jew who owned a dairy shop in the very space where the Beis Chabad now stands—saw the children running. One by one, he took them in, hiding them in his shop, protecting them from certain death.
Eighty years later, that same room has been transformed into a place of Torah, tefillah, and Jewish pride. The cries of terrified children have been replaced by songs of joy, the rhythm of Torah study, and the sound of mitzvos being performed in the very spot that once served as a hiding place for life itself.
“The Beis Chabad of the Jewish Ghetto of Rome is more than a community center—it is a living tribute to Jewish survival and continuity,” said Rabbi Canarutto.
“It serves locals and tourists, young and old, observant and secular, offering a warm smile, an open heart, and a chance to connect to their Jewish roots.”
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Longue vie au Beth Habad de Rome
I worked, many years ago, for Empire Press the publisher or printer of Talks and Tales and Shmussen… The Rebbe regularly reviewed the contents and often made comments. I saw, once, that he crossed out the word “nazi” and replaced it with the word “German.” I later discovered a letter published in one of the early collections of the Rebbe’s letters (I believe an English collection) where the Rebbe explained that all Germans are guilty, not just members of the Nazi party. The Rebbe offers evidence of this in the fact that there was no significant German resistance to Hitler’s… Read more »
Rome is in Italy – NOT Germany
These bochrim are the poster boys of lubavitch!
Does anyone know the name of the milkman?
Those bochrim are amazing!
With love,
Kosher Without Borders
Incredible article and great story