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February 9th, 2015 - Shevat 19th, 5775
An Event of Interest By Guido Vitale* “The very fact that an official branch of the European Union considered the issue of antisemitism sufficiently disquieting to be worthy of public attention and serious investigation is in itself an event of interest." (Sergio Della Pergola, L. D. Staetsky, JPR Report  Perceptions and experiences of antisemitism among Jews in Italy, January 2015) *Guido Vitale is the editor-in-chief of Pagine Ebraiche.   Italian Word of the Week ARCHIVIO by Daniela Gross The Italian word “archivio” derives from Greek and Latin - “archium” or “archivium”. Except for the pronunciation, which is completely different (in Italian it sounds “ar-kee-vee-o), the word of the week is so similar to the English word “archive” that there is no need for translation. The role of the archives, to preserve the evidence of the past, has often been highlighted in Italian and in English, and it is crucial when we talk about the Shoah. Without documents – whether they are letters, photographs, objects, or oral testimony – we run the risk of losing an immense piece our own history, and of squandering the efforts of the survivors that testify about their persecution. To avoid this issue, the Cdec-Foundation Jewish Contemporary Documentation Center based in Milan, recently set up an important new service. The entire catalog of its library, along with the archival resources on the history of the Shoah in Italy, are now available online (http://digital-library.cdec.it). The website, which will be further improved in the near future, allows visitors to access interviews and testimonies about the Shoah, produced or collected by Cdec from the 1980’s. You can also browse the list of the Italian victims and all their data (date of birth and death, places of arrest and detention). It is also possible to access photographs from various archival collections. The website boasts an unpublished collection of photographs of the childhood of Anna Maria and Primo Levi. This project is supported by the Ministry of Culture.		NEWS A New Memorial in Bologna By Francesca Matalon "Cultivating the Memory of the Shoah via physical sites means cultivating the seeds of tolerance in peoples' consciences as a shield against racism and xenophobia". With these words Naor Gilon, the Israeli ambassador to Italy, praised the upcoming construction of a new Memorial of the Shoah in Bologna, a project of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, the Jewish Community of Bologna and the city of Bologna, with the participation of the Bank Foundation Monte di Bologna e di Ravenna. The announcement of the competition for designers, architects and artists from all over the world is now online (http://concorsi.archibo.it/shoahmemorialcompetition/home), and was presented on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Read more NEWS Antisemitism in Italy New Study Highlights Concern By Ada Treves A new study published this week by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and anticipated in the February issue of Pagine Ebraiche demonstrates that antisemitism is a significant concern among Jews in Italy, with clear indications that many perceive it to be a growing problem, particularly online. Co-Authored by Sergio Della Pergola - Associate Fellow at JPR and the Shlomo Argov Professor Emeritus of Israel-Diaspora Relations at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem - and Dr Daniel Staetsky, who is a Senior Research Fellow at JPR and Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge, the report shows that most Italian Jews feel well integrated into Italian society, antisemitic violence is rare, and only a minority feels sufficiently unsafe to be considering their future in the country. Read more exhibitions An Italian Child By Adam Smulevich During his first speech to Parliament Sergio Mattarella, the new president of Italy, memorialized Stefano Gaj Taché, a 2 year old Jewish boy killed in the Great Synagogue of Rome attack which was carried out by Palestinian terrorists on 9 October 1982. “Our country has paid, many times, and even in a not too distant past, the price of hatred and intolerance. I want us all to remember one name: Stefano Taché, killed in the cowardly terrorist attack in the Great Synagogue, here in Rome in October 1982. Stefano was only two years old. Stefano was our boy, an Italian boy,” president Mattarella said. Read more EVENTS  EXPO of Ideas By Daniel Reichel* “The key word of Expo is identity. The identity of Italy”, said the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Saturday, during Expo of Ideas, an event organized by the Ministry of Agriculture together with Expo Milano 2015. For Renzi the Expo - that will begin on May 1, 2015 - will be “an opportunity for Italy not just to grow, but also to show the world an image of a country that is trying to succeed and that will succeed.” Read more Español Autoridad Eliezer Di Martino* En Parashat Itró, en los capítulos 19 y 20, leemos acerca del momento en que los israelitas recibieron la constitución del reino de sacerdotes y Nación Santa. Este fue un encuentro único, no sólo la Epifanía del Señor en el Monte Sinaí no se repitió la historia, sino que no hay registro de un evento similar en la historia de las religiones: Dios aparece a toda una nación. En el capítulo 18, en cambio, Israel recibe su primer sistema de gobierno: una estrutura de delegación de autoridad con Moshé en su parte superior, con el apoyo de los jefes de miles, cientos, decenas, una estructura conocida hoy como la subsidiariedad. Esto, sin embargo, no provienen de un mandamiento de Dios, sino por un ser humano, no un miembro de la familia israelita: Itro, el suegro de Moshé. *Eliezer Di Martino es el rabino de Trieste. Leer más Avraham By Roberto Della Rocca* In the chapter 12 of Bereshit (Genesis) Jewish history begins with the command that the Eternal One gives to Abram: lech lechà, which translates to something like “Get yourself out,” but could also be taken as “go toward yourself,” i.e. in search of yourself.  This process of identification, however, entails a kind of breaking away from the past, from hereditary prejudices, from unconscious social and cultural norms. *Roberto Della Rocca is a rabbi and the Director of the Education Department at the Union of Italian Jewish Communities. This article was translated from the Italian by Daniel Leisawitz, professor at Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA) and his students.   Read more
Follow us on    This newsletter is published under difficult conditions. The editors of this newsletter are Italian journalists whose native language is Italian. They are willing to offer their energy and their skills to give international readers the opportunity of learning more about the Italian Jewish world, its values, its culture and its traditions. In spite of all our efforts to avoid this, readers may find an occasional language mistake. We count on your understanding and on your help and advice to correct these mistakes and improve our publication. Pagine Ebraiche International Edition is published by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI). UCEI publications encourage an understanding of the Jewish world and the debate within it. The articles and opinions published by Pagine Ebraiche International Edition, unless expressly stated otherwise, cannot be interpreted as the official position of UCEI, but only as the self-expression of the people who sign them, offering their comments to UCEI publications. Readers who are interested in making their own contribution should email us at desk@ucei.it  You received this newsletter because you authorized UCEI to contact you. If you would like to remove your email address from our list, or if you would like to subscribe using a new email address, please send a blank email to  desk@ucei.it stating "unsubscribe" or "subscribe" in the subject field. © UCEI - All rights reserved - The articles may only be reproduced after obtaining the written permission of the editor-in-chief. Pagine Ebraiche - Reg Rome Court 199/2009 – Editor in Chief: Guido Vitale - Managing Editor: Daniela Gross. Special thanks to: Francesco Moises Bassano, Susanna Barki, Amanda Benjamin, Monica Bizzio, Angelica Edna Calò Livne, Eliezer Di Martino, Alain Elkann, Dori Fleekop, Daniela Fubini, Benedetta Guetta, Sarah Kaminski, Daniel Leisawitz, Annette Leckart, Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, Yaakov Mascetti, Francesca Matalon, Jonathan Misrachi, Anna Momigliano, Giovanni Montenero, Elèna Mortara, Sabina Muccigrosso, Lisa Palmieri Billig, Jazmine Pignatello, Shirley Piperno, Giandomenico Pozzi, Daniel Reichel, Colby Robbins,  Danielle Rockman, Lindsay Shedlin, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves, Lauren Waldman. Questo notiziario è realizzato in condizioni di particolare difficoltà. I redattori di questo notiziario sono giornalisti italiani di madrelingua italiana. Mettono a disposizione le loro energie e le loro competenze per raccontare in lingua inglese l'ebraismo italiano, i suoi valori, la sua cultura e i suoi valori. Nonostante il nostro impegno il lettore potrebbe trovare errori e imperfezioni nell'utilizzo del linguaggio che faremo del nostro meglio per evitare. Contiamo sulla vostra comprensione e soprattutto sul vostro aiuto e sul vostro consiglio per correggere gli errori e migliorare. Pagine Ebraiche International Edition è una pubblicazione edita dall'Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane. L'UCEI sviluppa mezzi di comunicazione che incoraggiano la conoscenza e il confronto delle realtà ebraiche. Gli articoli e i commenti pubblicati, a meno che non sia espressamente indicato il contrario, non possono essere intesi come una presa di posizione ufficiale, ma solo come la autonoma espressione delle persone che li firmano e che si sono rese gratuitamente disponibili. Gli utenti che fossero interessati a offrire un proprio contributo possono rivolgersi all'indirizzo  desk@ucei.it Avete ricevuto questo messaggio perché avete trasmesso a Ucei l'autorizzazione a comunicare con voi. Se non desiderate ricevere ulteriori comunicazioni o se volete comunicare un nuovo indirizzo email, scrivete a: desk@ucei.it indicando nell'oggetto del messaggio "cancella" o "modifica". © UCEI - Tutti i diritti riservati - I testi possono essere riprodotti solo dopo aver ottenuto l'autorizzazione scritta della Direzione. Pagine Ebraiche International Edition - notiziario dell'ebraismo italiano - Reg. Tribunale di Roma 199/2009 - direttore responsabile: Guido Vitale - Coordinamento: Daniela Gross. Realizzato con il contributo di: Francesco Moises Bassano, Susanna Barki, Amanda Benjamin, Monica Bizzio, Angelica Edna Calò Livne, Eliezer Di Martino, Alain Elkann, Dori Fleekop, Daniela Fubini, Benedetta Guetta, Sarah Kaminski, Daniel Leisawitz, Annette Leckart, Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, Yaakov Mascetti, Francesca Matalon, Jonathan Misrachi, Anna Momigliano, Giovanni Montenero, Elèna Mortara, Sabina Muccigrosso, Lisa Palmieri Billig, Jazmine Pignatello, Shirley Piperno, Giandomenico Pozzi, Daniel Reichel, Colby Robbins,  Danielle Rockman, Lindsay Shedlin, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves, Lauren Waldman.