ABSTRACT
In January 1943, despite misgivings about the Chief Rabbi, the Jewish community in Rome approved funds to meet the sizeable expenses' Zolli was incurring in order to gain recognition as an Italian citizen and as a Chief Rabbi. Almost from the beginning of his tenure as Chief Rabbi in Rome, there was tension between Zolli and members of the giunta or Jewish council and, in particular, acrimony in Zolli's relationship with Ugo Foa, the president of the Jewish community. Zolli's younger daughter, Miriam, in a conversation with Hochman and his British counterpart, Rabbi Meyer Berman, asserted that her father never belonged in a synagogue as a rabbi. If the charge is accurate, the rabbi's practice may well have been explained by his heart condition, but after Zolli's conversion, his former students and congregants were disinclined to be charitable in their analysis of his character.
