Today 22nd of Tevet , Dec. 31 in Jewish History

In 1798, mobs attempted to torch the Jewish ghetto of Rome, but rains put out the fire. Upon the occurrence of this miracle, the day was then designated as a holiday by Roman Jews.

The Roman (Jewish) Ghetto was located in the rione Sant'Angelo in the area surrounded by today's Via del Portico d'Ottavia, Lungotevere dei Cenci, Via del Progresso and Via di Santa Maria del Pianto close to the Tiber and the Theater of Marcellus in Rome, Italy.

This "ghetto" had two objectives— to protect Christians from too close an association with persons of a different religion, and to protect the Jews from mobs or hooligans. The ghetto was welcome to some Jews because it protected the small community from the drain which must follow from assimilation to the majority and enabled special religious customs to be observed without interference.

The Jews were also subjected to various restrictions and degradations, including having to attend compulsory Catholic sermons on Shabbat. During Rome's annual carnival, scantily-clad Jews were forced to race along the main street, while the crowd mocked them, threw trash, and reigned heavy blows. (The event often proved fatal.) Hygienic conditions inside the ghetto were terrible, and there was constant flooding from the nearby Tiber River. Outside the ghetto, Jews were required to wear identifying yellow clothing. When Napoleonic forces occupied Rome, the ghetto was legally abolished in 1808, and the city of Rome tore down the ghetto walls in 1888.