Rabbi YY Jacobson Tells the Story: In Rome’s Ghetto, a Survivor Lights the Menorah Where He Was Saved as a Child

The story that follows was shared by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak “YY” Jacobson, one of the most influential and widely followed Jewish speakers of our time, known internationally for his teachings on Torah, Chassidut, and Jewish history, delivered through lectures and videos watched by tens of thousands around the world.

Rabbi Jacobson presented this account as a firsthand testimony, received directly from both the rabbi involved and the central figure in the story.

“This is not a second-hand story, third-hand, fourth-hand,”
“The person it happened to shared it with me personally.”

That such a powerful story emerges today from Rome’s Jewish Ghetto, through the work of the Chabad House led by Rav Aharon Michal Canaruto, gives this place a significance far beyond its local boundaries.
From one of the oldest ghettos in Europe, a Chanukah story has reached the global Jewish community, drawing international attention to Rome, its memory, and its Jewish renewal.

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A Chabad House in the Heart of the Oldest Ghetto

One year ago, Rav Aharon Michal Canaruto, an Italian Jew who grew up in Rome, became a Chabad shaliach in the city’s ghetto.
He established a Chabad House in a five-hundred-year-old building, in the heart of the historic Jewish quarter.

“It’s the old ghetto of Rome, if you know the history of the Jews in Rome,” Rabbi Jacobson recounts.

In a short time, the Chabad House became a vibrant center of prayer, learning, educational and social programs, drawing both locals and visitors.

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Two Bar Mitzvahs Delayed by Time

During Chanukah, a ninety-year-old Jewish man entered the Chabad House.
When asked whether he had ever celebrated a Bar Mitzvah, the answer was no.
He had never put on tefillin.

With him came another man, Gabriele, eighty-six years old, who also had never had a Bar Mitzvah.

“So they made two Bar Mitzvahs,” Rabbi Jacobson relates,
“one at ninety and one at eighty-six.”

It was the fifth night of Chanukah.
Tallit, tefillin, Shema Yisrael.
Both men received an aliyah to the Torah.

“He sent me a video of them dancing with the Sefer Torah,” Rabbi Jacobson says.
“It was like a soul emerging from another world.”

Both men were Holocaust survivors.

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Zot Chanukah: The Final Light in the Ghetto

Zot Chanukah, the final night of the festival, arrived.
A public menorah lighting was organized outside the Chabad House.

At first, only a few people were present. Then, suddenly, the crowd grew.
Among them was Gabriele, the eighty-six-year-old who had just celebrated his Bar Mitzvah days earlier.

He was invited to light the menorah.

“We wanted to give him the honor of lighting the final candle of Chanukah here, in front of the Chabad House in Rome’s ghetto,” Rabbi Jacobson recounts.

Gabriele lit all eight candles.

“We are standing in the Rome ghetto,” the rabbi told the crowd.
“From here Jews were deported and murdered. And today, the menorah is burning. Our light is burning.”

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The Revelation: A Rescue That Happened Right Here

Only after the lighting did Gabriele share something he had never revealed before.

“When the Nazis entered the Rome ghetto,” Rabbi Jacobson recounts his words,
“there were two small Jewish children, a brother and a sister.”

The children were playing in the street, unaware of the danger.
A Nazi soldier seized them and dragged them away to be killed.

They passed a dairy shop, owned by a non-Jewish Italian man.
Seeing what was happening, the man acted instantly.

“He began shouting: I’ve been looking for you for hours!”

He ran out, slapped the girl, and pretended the children were his own.

The soldier asked:

“Are these your children?”
“Yes.”

“The Nazi apologized,” Rabbi Jacobson recounts.
“He said: I thought they were Jewish children.”

He released them.
The milkman saved their lives.

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A Circle Closed After Eighty-Two Years

Gabriele concluded by telling the rabbi:

“This was the place where I was saved eighty-two years ago.”
“And your Chabad House is the dairy shop from which he came out to save us.”

In the very place where Jewish life was once targeted for destruction, a menorah now stands lit.
In Rome’s ghetto, the light of Chanukah continues to shine — and this time, the world is watching.

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This story unfolded through the work of Rav Aharon Michal Canaruto, Chabad shaliach in Rome’s Jewish Ghetto, whose dedication and leadership made these moments of memory, renewal, and Jewish continuity possible.

Video – Rabbi YY Jacobson Tells the Story

The full account of this story was shared publicly by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak “YY” Jacobson.
In the video below, you can hear his complete narration, from which the quotations in this article were drawn.

▶️ Watch the full video on YouTube:
Rabbi YY Jacobson – Chanukah Story from Rome’s Ghetto