Episode 29: The Story of Di Litziata, the Christian Who Converted

00:02 As part of the story of Reb Moishe, the Alter Rebbe’s grandfather, we are now telling the fascinating and remarkable story of the man known as the monk di Lziata. He was a brilliant Christian who spent many years debating against Judaism and then suddenly disappeared. Now he had reappeared at the Vatican and wanted to meet the pope. But the pope and all the cardinals insisted that he first attend a festive reception in his honor, since he was such an important figure in the Church. He insisted that he did not want the reception. And so a splendid papal delegation, with carriages, horses and riders, set out across Rome to find him. They could not find him; he had vanished. They returned to the planned reception, not knowing what to do. And we continue. What happened? Di Lziata had decided not to wait for someone to come and take him to the reception, and had set off there on foot. When he reached the Vatican, he approached a servant and told him that an audience with the pope had been arranged for him, and asked the servant to take him in. The servant did not know that, in another wing of the Vatican, they were already preparing a magnificent reception for the man standing before him. So he seated his guest, di Lziata, in a waiting room, then went into the office of a senior official and told him that an unknown man was asking to be received by the pope. Well, it never occurred to the official to connect this unknown man with di Lziata, whose arrival everyone in the papal palace was eagerly awaiting. The official grew angry at the servant for being so foolish that he could not get rid of nuisances on his own, and for daring to disturb his superior at such a critical moment. As punishment for the servant’s stupidity and insolence, he gave him a resounding slap across the face and told

03:00 him to send the uninvited visitor out at once. Well, the servant was now worked up. He went out and poured all his anger on di Lziata, loudly demanding that he leave immediately. When di Lziata, in his innocence, could not understand why this was happening, the servant grabbed him and dragged him outside. So what did di Lziata do? Surprised, he decided to request an audience with the pope through the usual channels. He went into the public reception office and joined the line of people waiting to register for an audience with the pope. Meanwhile, the grand procession sent to bring di Lziata to the Vatican returned empty-handed. The master of ceremonies had to announce to the gathering that the honored guest had disappeared. The invitees began to disperse. The prevailing opinion was that the monk must have felt, at the last moment, that he had not yet completed his purification and sanctification and was not worthy of being received by the pope. For that reason, people thought, he had returned to his seclusion. So the attendees went home one by one. On his way home, one of the Vatican dignitaries who had been at the event stopped at the public reception office in the Vatican to take care of some matter. Imagine his astonishment and shock when he saw the elderly di Lziata standing there, waiting his turn. With reverence and bewilderment, he summoned the courage to approach di Lziata and ask what was going on. Di Lziata simply told him everything that had happened and said he was waiting his turn for an audience with the pope. At once there was a great commotion. The senior Vatican official hurried to bring the distinguished guest into the office and convened an urgent consultation about what to do to correct the mistake. In the end, after consulting the pope himself, they decided to hold the reception again, this time with even greater ceremony and fanfare, while taking steps to ensure that everything went smoothly. To make the reception a success and allow for thorough, responsible planning, the date was postponed

06:09 until later, so there would be time to prepare the public for this special event. But di Lziata made it clear that he was determined to meet the pope privately, because he had something of great importance to tell him and discuss with him. When he stood firm and absolutely refused to be persuaded that the reception was necessary, the pope was informed. The pope agreed to receive di Lziata in private. No one was present when our monk, di Lziata, met alone with the pope, and no one knew what they discussed. The elderly monk remained in the pope’s room for only twenty minutes. When he came out, the cardinals were waiting for him, but he said nothing to them and hurried out of the palace, to their utter astonishment, and disappeared. After a few minutes of confusion and bewilderment, one of the cardinals thought to enter the pope’s room. He was stunned to see the pope overcome with dejection and grief, with clear signs in his eyes that he had been crying hard. The pope did not even look at the cardinal who entered or say a word to him. The cardinal did not dare ask the pope what had upset him. He returned to his colleagues and told them everything he had seen. The cardinals did all they could to solve the mystery of the visit and its aftermath. All sorts of theories were proposed, but none led to a clear answer. An atmosphere of tension took hold of the palace. For days and nights, everyone in the palace gathered in private and talked incessantly about the elderly monk’s strange visit. The pope himself shut himself in his room for several weeks and allowed no one in, not even those closest to him. The cardinals went about mournful and downcast, wondering what had happened. They held secret consultations, but these came to nothing. Only after some time did the terrible secret slowly begin to emerge. It turned out that when the monk entered the pope’s office, the pope stepped forward warmly and offered him the cross to kiss, as

09:33 was their custom. Di Lziata pushed the cross away from his face, to the utter astonishment of the head of the Catholic Church. The pope then saw that the old man did not even kneel, as Christians customarily did on such an occasion. Confused, the pope looked at him questioningly. Did this mean that di Lziata had left Christianity? Indeed it did. Thirty-five years earlier, di Lziata had distinguished himself in the Church’s debates with Jews. With his great talent and rhetorical skill, he had even succeeded in defeating many Jewish opponents. Yet deep inside, doubts about the truth of Christianity had begun to gnaw at him, and he started to question his path. It was precisely through his debates with Jews, even those he had apparently won, and through the written arguments he published, that di Lziata gradually became convinced that Judaism was the true and just faith. In the end, he became completely convinced that Judaism was the Torah of truth. He decided to leave Christianity and become a Jew. Di Lziata knew he could do nothing toward that goal while he remained in Venice, where he had gained such tremendous honor and fame that word of him had reached the Vatican. He also understood that he must not give his Christian colleagues even a hint of his conclusion, since they would surely do everything in their power to stop him from carrying out his decision. So he decided to disappear. While rumors spread that he had gone to India to withdraw into seclusion, he was actually on his way to Amsterdam in Holland, which was then a center of Torah and Jewish life. In Amsterdam he converted, taking the Jewish name Avraham. There he sat and studied Torah diligently, without anyone knowing anything about his past or his identity. When he reached the age of seventy, he decided to visit the pope for one purpose alone: to tell him that he was Jewish and explain to him that the Church was making a mistake

12:47 harsh in its treatment of Jews, and by turning a blind eye to the shedding of Jewish blood and to their torture, it encourages these terrible acts by the Christian masses. The Church also directly encourages measures of oppression against the Jews. The head of the Church must know that even when it holds violent power, justice is on the side of Judaism, and gradually, Christians of independent spirit will join the Jewish people. The righteous convert di Leciata even intended to call upon the pope to examine his own path and recognize that the Jewish faith is the true faith. During their meeting, the convert presented his arguments for twenty minutes without pause, delivering sharp words of rebuke to the pope. The pope was overcome with tears. He could not open his mouth, and long after the elderly man had left his room, the pope remained seated, deep in thought, with tears running down his cheeks. Several weeks later, he recovered and revealed the mystery of the visit to his close associates. Together they discussed how to conceal it from the public. They understood that a spirit of doubt about the truth of Christianity had begun to spread among many Christians. If it continued to grow, many Christians might convert to Judaism, and who knew how far it might go. At the end of a series of consultations, they decided what steps to take: on the one hand, to intensify the promotion of Christianity, and on the other, to root out any expression of doubt about the Church’s righteousness among members of the Christian community in and around the Vatican, even by violent means. Yet despite everything, the closely guarded secret began to become known. And although the Church’s measures meant that almost no further conversions took place, the story itself stirred feelings of satisfaction and even joy among the Jews.