"Minhag Bnei Roma"

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Bibliography:
Menachem Artom, HaMinhag HaItaliani BYrushalayim, Jerusalem 1991
Shmuel David Luzzatto ("ShaDaL"), Mavo LaMachzor Livorno

The rite of the Conegliano Synagogue in Jerusalem is technically called "Minhag Bnei Roma" (Children of Rome Prayer Custom), "Loazit" (Foreign), "Loez"(Foreign), or "Italiani". In modern Hebrew it is called " Minhag Italki" (Italian Prayer Custom).
The Italian Synagogue itself was called at the beginning "Beit Knesset Lefi Minhag Bnei Roma" (Synagogue according to the Children of Rome Custom). Nevertheless, during the first year of its existence the name was changed to "Bnei Romi", in order not to attract the attention of the British police. In that period in fact Italy was at war with the Allied forces and the British were obviously suspicious of any organisation whose name included the word "Roma".

The roots of "Minhag Bnei Roma" date back from the rite that was in use in the Roman Jewish community during the Second Temple period. It was partially preserved both by the Roman and other communities in Italy, along with the Sefardi and Ashkenazi rites that were introduced to Italy by the descendants of Sefardi and Ashkenazi Jews that reached Italy over the centuries.

The Italian rite is basically the continuation of the one which was in use in the Land of Israel during the Second Temple period. It is still possible to identify some traces of that ancient rite in the present Italian rite, such as the special Shema' blessings on the eve of Shabbath "…asher kila ma’asav beyom hashevi’i…" – " ..emet ve-emunah bashevi’i kyamta.." and the Hebrew nussach "kol nedarim…" on Yom Kippur night, instead of the Aramaic one "kol nidre’ " which is said in other rites.

Differences with other rites include the use of plurals, and the presence of both redundant and missing parts in many sections of prayers (Zemirot, Kaddish, Amidah etc).
The Italian rite is particularly rich in "piutim" (poetic pieces), some of them common to the Sefardi or Ashkenazi rites, composed for special occasions like Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, special Sabbaths and Festivals. Some of these poetic pieces were written by Jewish authors living in Palestine and included in the prayers during the first millenium C.E; others were composed by Italian poets during the 11-13th century, and by Spanish authors like Yehuda Halevi, Shlomo Ibn Gabirol, Moshe Ibn Ezra.

"Machzor Bnei Roma" was the first prayer book to be published . The first edition dates from 1485, when it was printed by Soncino. Many machzorim (prayer books for all the year services) were published afterwards, the last one being the famous one printed in Livorno in 1856, with forewords by Shmuel David Luzzatto. Later, another edition was published by M.E. Artom.

The first time Italians gathered to pray in Jerusalem according to the ancient Italian rite was for the High Holidays in 1941 (5701). The minyan was organised by Menachem Artom and Moshe Cohen Pirani. This first "experiment" was so successful that it was decided to organise regular services for Sabbaths and Festivals. However, some problems had to be solved. Firstly, how to adapt the Italian rite to the halakhic rules laid down concerning the fact that prayers were held in Eretz Israel: until that moment, in fact, services according to the Italian rite had only been held in the Diaspora. Secondly, the difficult task of selecting from the many different minhaghim (prayer customs) of the various Italian communities: as a matter of fact, in Italy, there is no community which prays exactly in the same way. This is mainly due to the influence of the Ashkenazi rite (in the North of Italy) and of the Sefardi rite (in the Center of the country).
Some basic rules were thus compiled. As far as differences between the rites of the Diaspora and Eretz Yisrael were concerned, the general principle adopted was to imitate what was used in other communities in Israel, especially for Torah readings and blessings ( for example, saying "Tal umatar" from the 10th of the MarHeshvan month).
When possible, some of the piutim and psalms recited during the second day of Festivals in the Diaspora were preserved and introduced into the prayer of the first and unique Festival days celebrated in Israel.

The final "Nussach" (version) was established according to the Machzor printed in Bologna in the years 1540-1541 (Kimcha’ De Avishuna). Cases where it was decided to pray differently from the Bologna Machzor were also specified.

This process was completed during the first and second years of the Italian synagogue’s existence, which does not mean that modifications to what had already been defined were impossible. For example, with the birth of the State of Israel, a new blessing for the State was introduced in Sabbath services and a special prayer for Independence Day was created. Other minor changes were introduced in the prayers when the Synagogue moved to its present location.
Even if services were held only for Sabbaths and Festivals, the Nussach was established and therefore printed also for weekdays, this was both for the benefit of people praying alone and in case the Italian Synagogue would be able to host regular weekday services in the future.



See also:
The Liturgical Music of the Spanish, Portoguese and Italian Jews




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