This year marks the 560th
year of the arrival of a German-Jewish family to Soncino, a little town in northern
Italy, and their success in establishing a world-famous printing business in medieval Jewish life.
In 1454, Franceszo Sforza, the then
duke of Milan, whose jurisdiction extended to include Soncino, authorized Symon
Ebreus (Simeon, the Hebrew) to settle in Soncino, along with his family and
friends, and practice “artem feneratoriam” (namely, to give money in interest).
However, when town officials set up a public loan office and made private
banking almost impossible, Israel Nathan, the son of Simeon and a wealthy
physician, along with his sons, Joshua and Moses, decided to open the printing
press that called itself after the name of the town. Soon, they began to
publish many Jewish books, and became so famous that of them it was written,
“From Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord from Soncino” (Based
on Isa. 2: 3).
In March of 1961, I visited the
town of Soncino. It was still a small rural town, with a large castle called
Rocca Sforzesca. The town people were not accustomed to foreigners. I remember
seeing a number of women doing the laundry in a small river. When they noticed
my travelling companion and me, they suddenly stopped their work and set their
puzzled eyes on us, asking each other, “Who are these people?” Once they found
who we were, and especially that I was a descendant of the Jewish family that
printed books in their town, they became quite friendly. I then realized that I
was the only Sonsino in Soncino! We then met the local priest, Monsignor Pietro
de Micheli, who graciously gave me a copy of his book, Soncino; Memorie e
Notizie (1956).
We stayed only one night in town.
The next morning, we hired a guide who took us around. We visited the famous
castle of Soncino. Our guide also took us to two interesting streets. One of
them was called, “Via della Stampa” (“The Street of the Printing House”) and
the other “Via degli Stampatori” (The Street of the printers), a clear
indication of the location where the family lived. The town is very proud of
the fact that its name is now famous throughout the world.
And so am I.
Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.
March, 2014
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