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October 12, 2015 - Tishri 29, 5776
La seule exactitude By Guido Vitale* «Se mettre en avance, se mettre en retard, quelles inexactitudes. Être à l’heure, la seule exactitude.» (Charles Péguy) *Guido Vitale is the editor-in-chief of Pagine Ebraiche.   On the Front Line By Daniela Gross “In Milan, the Jewish commitment is made plain in the ongoing work at the Milan Holocaust Memorial where thousands of migrants and refugees have found a safe, free place to spend the night.” On October 2, the humanitarian effort of Italian Jews came again to the international spotlight thanks to the US edition of the Huffington Post. A long article by Paul Brandeis, titled “Hearing Echoes of the Past, Jews Are on the Front Line of the European Refugee Crisis,” widely reported the action taken by the Milan Jewish insitutions to give shelter to migrants. Mr. Brandeis highlights the symbolic impact of hosting people seeking refuge from war just where Jews were warehoused, and ultimately sent to concentration camps. “Over 3,500 migrants and refugees have spent the night in the memorial where 40 makeshift beds have been placed and where food is brought over by other Jewish and Christian groups,” he wrote. The article quoted the vice-president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) and of the board of the Memorial Roberto Jarach. Paul Brandeis reminded us that in “the wider Italian Jewish community the reaction has been just as strong. Renzo Gattegna, President of the UCEI proposed to dedicate the European Day of Jewish Culture on Sept. 6 to the newly arriving people stating: That part of humanity, innocent and defenseless, who is forced to a desperate escape from their homeland to save the life of their own and of their children. Welcoming and the respecting other faiths and cultures dates back to the very origins of Judaism’. The group is also dedicating the next issue of their magazine Pagine Ebraiche to the crisis and the Jewish value of assistance.”		NEWS Tornado Hit Leghorn’s Synagogue By Adam Smulevich Last week, a small tornado damaged the synagogue of Leghorn, Tuscany, the hometown of legendary rabbi Elio Toaff (1915-2015). The storm destroyed many windows of the building, which was designed by Roman architect Angelo Di Castro and inaugurated in 1962. The synagogue stands on the site of what was the city's magnificent seventeenth century old synagogue (fatally hit during a bombing raid by Allies in World War II. Read more MOVIES A Mockumentary against Anti-Semitism By Rachel Silvera   Leonardo Zuliani has disappeared and everyone is very worried about him. Zuliani is an anti-hero who loves to hate, especially to hate Jews. He lives during a time when anti-Semitism is not seen as a danger but rather the real danger is called “antisemifobia”, the fear of anti-Semitism. Leo Zuliani is the protagonist of “Pecore in erba” (“Sheep in the Grass”), the first movie written and directed by the young Roman Jewish director Alberto Caviglia, who had previously worked as assistant to director Ferzan Özpetek. The movie is currently being shown in Italian movie theaters after making its premier at the prestigious Venice Film Festival. The film won the prize Arca CinemaGiovani, and received enthusiastic reviews. Read more FEATURES Focus on the Refugee Crisis  By Daniel Reichel “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt,” (Exodus 23:9). The biblical ethic urges us to welcome foreigners but on the other hand, as explained to Pagine Ebraiche by rav Alberto Moshe Somekh, the highest level of tzedakah is giving to the poor and the needy the means to support themselves. The most advanced nations should help the less developed ones not just from an economic point of view, but also from a cultural one, said the rabbi. These are two possible solutions from a Jewish prospective to the refugee crisis that is changing the face of Europe. As rav Somekh points out, there are many others as well. The newspaper Pagine Ebraiche has devoted a special section of this month's edition to help us discover and reflect on some of the different suggestions that people and institutions have given to the issue of migration. Read more MEDIA - New Year Wishes on Pagine Ebraiche By Rossella Tercatin Fifteen Italian rabbis explain their hopes and wishes for the new Jewish year in the October issue of Pagine Ebraiche.  The President of the Italian Rabbinical Assembly, rav Giuseppe Momigliano, pointed out his concern for “the situations of suffering and crisis on many fronts”. He wishes Italian Jews to reflect, pray, rediscover their values and feelings and to act according to mitzvot. The new issue of Pagine Ebriache also offers a recollection of Jewish initiatives before the current crisis of the migrants in this month’s special section, all devoted to the topic of “migrations”. The culture section of the paper looks into “Via San Nicolò 30. Traditori e traditi nella Trieste nazista” (Via San Nicolò 30. Traitors and betrayed in Nazi Trieste), a new book by journalist Roberto Curci which reconstructs the story of a Jewish informer of the Nazi regime. Read more Français Pas de Benedetto Carucci Viterbi* L'homme - dans son parcours d'élévation spirituelle - expérimente continuellement des pas en avant et en arrière. Ceci est le message de Moïse à la fin de sa vie, quand il dit: "Je ne pourrai plus sortir et rentrer".   *Benedetto Carucci Viterbi est rabin. La traduction est de Francesca Matalon. Lire la suite Double Life – Orange Juice By Daniela Fubini* The gates of hell have been kicked open again, and it's hard to say exactly when or why. We are not at war, not in the middle of a new Intifada, but we are not at peace either. People walk fast and look around with more attention than the usual. It will pass, hopefully soon, but in the meantime, damages are caused, on many levels. Israel is not in any imaginable way a segregated society: thousands of Palestinians work in every city, move around the Country from north to south from east to west, every weekday, often travelling for several hours in order to check in at work. After the first week of attacks and riots, those workers are among the people more affected by the tensions. In mixed cities like Haifa and Acco, Arab restaurants and markets were desert over the past weekend. And in the Old City in Jerusalem, where every two stores in the narrow streets sell freshly squeezed fruit juices, working with a knife is becoming a problem. Knives scare people, who walk away from the beautiful oranges. *Daniela Fubini (Twitter @d_fubini) lives and writes in Tel Aviv, where she arrived in 2008 from Turin via New York. 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, Michael Sierra, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves, Lauren Waldman, Sahar Zivan. 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, Michael Sierra, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves, Lauren Waldman, Sahar Zivan.