Over the past two weeks I have visited synagogues in three Italian cities: Florence, Sienna, and Rome.

I attended services in Florence and as I drew near, I knew I was in the right place because there were two soldiers armed with submachine guns standing in the street, which was partially blocked off. Otherwise, there was nothing to indicate that the building behind a locked gate was a synagogue. In Sienna, Google maps said we were there but we couldn’t find it, until my companion stumbled upon the doorway.

But in Rome it is a large proud building, shining white, with signs posted along the walls announcing its presence. It too is carefully guarded and you must pass through a metal detector to enter, but at least you can walk up to the entry with your head held high.

A block away is a wide street filled with kosher restaurants. Young Orthodox couples crowded the streets, many with children. I heard people speaking Hebrew, and the menu that I consulted was in Italian, English, and Hebrew.

I thought about this week’s Torah portion, called Re’eh, “see.” In it, Moses tells the Children of Israel, “See, I am setting before you today the blessing and the curse— the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.“ (Deuteronomy 11:26-28)

As I sat eating kosher meat in an open air restaurant on a public street in Rome, I realized that despite everything that has befallen the Jewish people, we indeed saw and heard the message. For many of us, myself included, Judaism has changed. What has not changed is our devotion to Torah and to the values and precepts that God and Moses laid out so long ago.

It is miraculous that we are still here. And it is wise that we protect our places of worship, here in Italy and around the world. We are not naive. We have dealt with hatred and prejudice for as long as we have been a people. Even in the proud and beautiful Jewish museum in Rome, there are reminders. I turned a corner and found myself face-to-face with a concentration camp uniform on display. And the restaurant at which I ate? It is called Ristorante Ba’Ghetto, restaurant in the ghetto.

We Jews have no illusions about the world in which we live. We have survived through these many centuries, and I pray that we will continue to survive and to thrive.