Creator Bio
Elio Toaff
1915–2015
Elio Toaff was born in Livorno, Italy. He studied law in Pisa and was ordained as a rabbi in 1939. After serving in Venice, he became the chief rabbi of Rome in 1951. Toaff was respected for his dealings in interfaith issues.
Content by Elio Toaff
Primary Source
Address at Pope John Paul II’s Historic Visit, Synagogue of Rome, April 13, 1986
Your Holiness,
As the Chief Rabbi of this community, whose history goes back thousands of years, I wish to express to you my intense satisfaction at the gesture you have wished to carry out today…