Barbieri to the rabbis and their flock

NIA MAGOULIANITI-MCGREGOR

Even with a razor in his hand, Tony, a barber with an 80 per cent Jewish clientele and an Italian accent that rivals Marcello Mastroianni’s, is a gentle, mild-mannered man, a lover of marathon running, of coffee with a little grappa – and Jewish culture thanks to his long-term Jewish clientele.

At the entrance of Salon Roma, a little slice of Italy in Parktown North in Johannesburg, with orange sofas, small cubicles with authentic barber chairs (“Some men like their privacy when their hair is being cut,” says Tony) and a calendar of Jewish holidays, is a black and white photograph of a smiling Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft with Pope Francis at the Vatican, a present from the rabbi to Tony.

“Inside the shop, you will see of photo of me and Nino (barber Nino Vivaldi) with the late Chief Rabbi (Cyril) Harris,” he says.

There are other rabbis in Tony’s appointment book, including Rabbis Rapoport, Kacev, Lipskar, Levy and Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein.

“But ah,” muses Tony, “Chief Rabbi Harris’ hair! It was very thick and beautiful and he had a magnificent silver beard.”

Of course, he says, beards are important to religious men. “The haircuts can be any style – a number one or a number two, depending on taste, but rabbis are very focused on their beards. Some can be trimmed. Some can’t be touched. And you must approach the whiskers with great care.”

Tony started Salon Roma in Nugget Street, Johannesburg in 1972 – 11 years after leaving Italy aged 18 – with an all-Jewish clientele. He now knows which Jewish holidays forbid cutting of hair or shaving and all else that goes with hair and Jewish people. “Sometimes a client will ask me: ‘Tony, is it the right time to cut my hair?’ and I have to say: ‘No, we must wait another day.’

“Although I am Italian, I like the idea of eating kosher, of the celebrations and the way people look after each other in times of trouble. Once I discussed become Jewish with Rabbi Boruch Rapoport. I had to ask: ‘Is it going to be sore?’

“The rabbi replied: ‘Well, I don’t remember.’”

Both men laughed and the subject was closed.

When he moved his premises to Tyrwhitt Avenue in Rosebank in 1995, his Jewish customers showered him with presents. “I received so much, a fridge, even a TV…”  And when he moved Salon Roma to its current home in Parktown North in 2008, Rabbi Mendel Lipskar put a mezuzah at the door!

His favourite story involves Chief Rabbi Harris. “Every time I cut his hair and he wanted to pay, I would refuse. But every time, he would take out R50 and insist: ‘Tony, this is a blessing to play the horses.’

“I love the stories,” says Tony. “Once Rabbi Silberhaft told me how a Christian man living in Mauritius, wanted to marry a Jewish girl. He was just about to start his conversion to Judaism when Rabbi Silberhaft delved into his family history, traced his descendants and discovered the man’s grandmother was Jewish. The man, ‘Geff’ Geffroy is still a client and a good friend.

“Sometimes the staff have a little whisky with our clients on a Friday, or we make a special plan if a client is getting married.”

Tony has a loyal staff. Pino Lizzi, now 74, has been with him since the beginning. There’s also Nino Vivaldi, Enzo Romano, Giuseppe Rossi, Tony Frau and Fabio Montepara, Tony’s son.

Men like to talk sport, says Tony, but mainly, “men talk about how their wives want their hair. They will say: “Tony, my wife likes it long, don’t cut it too short please.’. Or they say: ‘Tony, last time, my wife, she didn’t like your haircut.’ And if the sons come along for their first haircut, it is the wife who judges whether it’s a good cut or a bad cut.

“One thing I’ve learnt from the community? To respect your wife. I’ve also learnt the wife gets the last word. Even on haircuts.”