Women at the Top

By Daniela Gross

“I am an entrepreneur, but I’d rather call myself a good Jewish mom.” This is the way Ruth Dureghello, chose to introduce herself during a long interview by Paolo Conti on the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Last week, Dureghello’s list “Per Israele” (i.e. “For Israel”) won the relative majority of the seats of the Council of the Jewish Community of Rome (12 out of 27).

The newspaper further noted how the most ancient Jewish community in Europe has so far never been lead by a woman, although this doesn’t mean that women don’t play an important role in the Jewish Italian world, since there are women who do guide other Jewish Communities, and a woman, Tullia Zevi, was among the most influential and respected presidents of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (furthermore, in these elections for the Council seats, three out of four lists were lead by women).

Mrs Dureghello – 48 years old, mother of two, with a degree in Law – is certain, wrote Conti, that the issue is not “between old and young people, or between men and women, but between those who can and those who cannot have a role of responsibility.”
“However, Mrs Dureghello admits that a woman at the top of the most ancient Jewish Community of the Diaspora would be a sign of civilization, ‘against fundamentalisms, bigotry, extremisms, mannerisms, or limitations’,” the article concludes.