ABSTRACT
For nearly 30 years, between 1536 and 1563, Abramo ben Aron Scazzocchio was a central figure in the life of the Jewish community of Rome. Abramo ben Aron was a rabbi, and we know a great deal about Italian rabbis at this time, thanks principally to the works of Boksenboim, Horowitz, Woolf, and especially Bonfil, whose scholarship has broached a number of the topics that will be dealt with below. 1
Abramo ben Aron's traditional rabbinic skills were limited. He may have been called Marana Rabana ve-Aluf, as befits a scholar of repute { 12,1,50v; 2,1,82v; 12,1,4r; 12,1,32v},2 but he certainly did not measure up
tothestandardsofthetruerabbinicluminariesofhisday:thelegalgenius oftheKatzenellenbogensortheMintzs,therhetoricofMordecaiDatoor JehudahMesserLeon,themysticismofMenahemAzariahdaFano,orthe sermonicandpolemicalheightsofLeonedaModena-tomentionjustafew. Indeed,Abramo'sonetrueresponsumisnotevenhalakhicallyconvincing. Yet,thisresponsumtellsusmuchaboutRomanJewishlife.Indeed,wherever AbramobenArontrod,welearn.ForAbramoScazzocchiowascontinually soughtoutinhisday,thatsignificantperiodwhentheRomanGhettowas established,asanarbiterorlegalcounsel,evenbytheRomancommunity itself-amongothers.Lookingatthetypesofcasesinwhichheinvolved himself,thekindsofbrawlingandnoisydisputesthatattractedhisattention, istolookthroughawindowonAbramo'stimes;infact,toseetypesofpeople withwhomstudentsofJewishleadershiphaverarelydealt.RabbiAbramo's taleisnotoneofheroism,inspiredleadership,orofhighmoralprobity.Asa communalfigure,AbramobenAronScazzocchiowasatbestatechnocrat;as anadvocate,ashrewdlitigator.Yet,itispreciselytheseuninspiredqualities thatmakeAbramoScazzocchiosoattractiveasubject.
