Elio Toaff

Elio Toaff (30 April 1915 – 19 April 2015) was the Chief Rabbi of Rome from 1951 to 2002. He served as a rabbi in Venice from 1947, and in 1951 became the Chief Rabbi of Rome.

Early life Toaff was born in Livorno in 1915, the son of the city's rabbi Alfredo Sabato Toaff and his wife Alice Yarch. one of four children, the others being Cesare, Renzo and Pia, He recalled later every Jew in Ancona survived the war thanks to the assistance given by their Catholic neighbours.

Postwar period At the conclusion of the hostilities of World War II, Toaff was appointed chief rabbi of Venice, a position he held until 1951 when he assumed the same role for the Jewish community of Rome. While in Venice he also lectured on Hebrew language and literature at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice. He published his autobiography, Perfidi giudei, fratelli maggiori (Perfidious Jews, Elder Brothers) in 1987.

Toaff resigned as chief rabbi at the age of 86 on 8 October 2001 and was succeeded by Riccardo Di Segni. On the eve of his retirement, Toaff said:

'A rabbi doesn't work only for his community or for the Jews. A rabbi has to talk to every human being who needs him. He belongs to everybody. He is for everybody.'

Pope Francis sent a telegram to Dr. Riccardo Di Segni, Toaff's successor as Chief Rabbi of Rome:

Toaff and his wife had four children: three sons, one being Ariel,

Jewish-Catholic relations Upon the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Toaff, as Chief Rabbi of Rome, paid tribute to the late pontiff, saying: "Jews will always remember what the Catholic Church did for them by order of the pope during the Second World War. When the war was raging, Pius spoke out very often to condemn the false race theory," a sentiment echoed widely in the Jewish communities at that time, though later challenged by Rolf Hochhuth. There had been nonetheless contact with Pius XII and the local community, a situation that changed with Pope John XXIII who on one occasion stopped his car outside of the synagogue to bless the Jewish worshippers as they left, a gesture, the first papal blessing in 2,000 years, which moved them profoundly. On 7 April 1994, Toaff co-officiated at the Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah at the Sala Nervi in Vatican City, along with Pope John Paul II, and the President of Italy Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.

Rabbi Toaff remained friends with John Paul until the pontiff's death and attended his funeral. He was one of the two people who the pope mentioned in his last will and testament, in which he stated: "How can I fail to remember the rabbi of Rome, and the numerous representatives of non-Christian religions?" The only other living person to be named was John Paul's longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz.