Catholic Word of the Day: GHETTO, 02-09-11

CatholicReference.net ^ | 02-09-11 | Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary

[Salvation]

Featured Term (selected at random):

GHETTO

Originally the street or quarter of a city (borghetto, small borough) in which the Jewish people lived. The earliest ghettos were in Italy in the eleventh century, but they became common by the later Middle Ages. They were partly the result of legal restriction by the civil authorities, and partly the requirements of the strongly communitarian way of life of the Jews themselves. In 1556, Pope Paul IV established a ghetto in Rome, which continued until 1870. It is known that already before the time of Christ a ghetto existed in Rome, where numerous Jewish freemen (former slaves) lived in the Trastevere district.

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

[Salvation]

Did you know this definition of the word "ghetto?"

We viewed photos of the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw on my pilgrimage to Eastern Europe. Heart-breaking.

[Salvation]

Catholic Word of the Day – links will be provided later by another FReeper.

 

Denial of Faith	Charisms of Service	Infanticide
Episcopal Conference	Eparchy	Righteous Anger
Ecclesiastes	Immodest Looks	Creation
Sigilum (Seal of Confession)	Aggiornamento	Actus Dei
Gradual	Presbyterians	Cartago
Diversity of Grace	Dieis Irae	Anti0Semitism
Parental Instruction	Moral Act	Parallelism
Ittai/Ithai	Ferial	Positive Imperfection
Night of the Spirit	Balm, Balsam	Ghetto

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[Fiji Hill]

I have read that “ghetto” means “foundry” in the Venetian dialect of Italian and is linguistically related to the German word “giessen” (to pour). In Venice, the Jewish community was apparently located near a foundry.

[TSgt]

Elvis’s interpretation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ox1Tore9nw

[TSgt]

Paul Shanklin’s interpretation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz2eCFoafXk

[Piranha]

I don’t think it is accurate to say that the ghettoes were made in part by the Jews themselves, unless you redefine the word to simply mean “neighborhood”.

The Jews were a cohesive community that was wary of assimilation into the larger community, and their communal institutions were located in the area where the Jews tended to live. Functionally, though, a ghetto was coercive and mandatory and was walled off from the rest of the city and closed off with gates that were opened only at prescribed times.

[the invisib1e hand]

mselves, unless you redefine the word to simply mean “neighborhood"

"redefine?" the etymogy says, " little borough" --if that isn't a "neighborhood," what is? It appears to be completely devoid of any unhappy connotations. So, it appears the redefining was done later, and accepted as the original.

[Piranha]

So if a ghetto is simply a “little borough”, then do you live in a ghetto?

What does it mean that the ghettos were abolished in Rome in 1870? Surely Jews continued to live in little boroughs after that.

Were Jews the only people to live in little boroughs? If not, then why was the word applied exclusively to Jews (until it was reapplied to refer to slum neighborhoods in the United States in the late mid-20th century)?

[Piranha]

Sorry, I hit reply a bit too soon.

Etymology indicates the source of the word. It is related to but not coterminous with its definition. I believe, as was posted above, that the word derives fromm Venetian dialect meaning iron forge (although, since I speak neither mainstream Italian nor Venetian dialect I can’t confirm this), but regardless, the fact that a word derives from another one gives insight and color but not a full definition. This is precisely why I wrote in my first post that “functionally” the ghettos were walled and gated.

[AnAmericanMother]

Actually, I think it depends upon whether the enclosure was decided upon by the inhabitants, or imposed upon them from outside.

Creating a boundary (eruv) around an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood (in the old days, a wall with doors; these days a symbolic boundary, like wires strung on utility poles) allows certain activities (like carrying objects or pushing a baby carriage) to be performed on the Sabbath. So it's not necessarily a bad thing. Obviously in some places it became a bad thing but that doesn't necessary reflect on the concept.

The Toco Hills eruv is probably the best known in Atlanta. It really is a completely self-sufficient community. My vet's office is about 50 yards outside the SW boundary.