Living life as a Jew was never easy. Even previously, life was always unfair towards the Jews. In the twelfth century, us Jews were evicted from England and were forced to settle elsewhere. There were only a few places which were relatively tolerable towards us Jews. One of the places where Jews were allowed to settle was Venice, and that is only because we are useful to the Venetians. Jews must have thought that as time went on, their conditions would improve but right now, it is the sixteenth century and I believe that our life has become more difficult for us.
People know me by the name Elijah. I was born in a Jewish family and I am proud of who I am. The Venetian laws restrict Jews from working in certain professions such as manufacturing, so we are forced into alternative professions. I am a money lender by profession just like my forefathers. To earn a livelihood, we charge interest with the money we lend and that led to many Christians hating us. However, this city will do anything to make a Jew’s life complicated so they have detailed banking laws which keep our interest rates low and our lives difficult to live.
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Many years ago, the Venetian council debated whether the Jews should remain Venice. They decided to let us remain in this city, but our residence would be confined to Ghetto Nuova. One would assume that by giving us a place to live in, the Venetians were generous. It is quite the opposite. They went great lengths to ensure that our lives were never at peace by setting unrealistic and impractical restrictions. An example of this oppression is that the Ghetto is a place where several thousand of Jews are all crammed into tall buildings in a small walled area. Furthermore, the access to the rest of the city is restricted. We are only allowed to leave our homes in the day and are locked inside at