EVENTS Italy Celebrated European Day of Jewish Culture
By Pagine Ebraiche staff
The European Day of Jewish Culture was held in dozens of locations all over Italy on Sunday, October 14, 2018. The selected leading city, Genoa, hosted the national event that honored the victims of the collapse of the Morandi Bridge two months ago. At the beginning of the opening ceremony, the chief rabbi Giuseppe Momigliano offered a prayer for them, their families and the city.
“God, Our Lord, we remember today before you the dear people, men, women and children, that prematurely found death in the terrible tragedy of the Morandi Bridge that happened in this city – said the rabbi – May this calamity become a source of a renewed spirit of compassion and mutual generosity and from the effort to act according to principles of justice and charity may come to be a shared commitment for the good of the city and all its’ residents”.
The message of unity was reaffirmed also by the mayor Marco Bucci. “Every community is important, diversity is a value of this city and we can all work together to build the future for our children”.
The president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) Noemi Di Segni brought the solidarity of all Italian Jewish Communities and highlighted how among the many possibilities to help the city, the UCEI has chosen to raise the funds to create scholarships for the students of the areas involved in the collapse.
The theme chosen for the 2018 edition of the Day was “Storytelling”. A message of praise was sent also by the president of Italy Sergio Mattarella, that denounced the reawakening of racism and anti-Semitism, highlighting how “your stories can have a fundamental role in shaping the memory of the collective conscience.”
Speaking at the event were the president of the Genoa Community Ariel Dello Strologo and rabbi Benedetto Carucci Viterbi, who gave a lecture on the topic of storytelling, while actor Pietro Fabbri read some texts of the Jewish tradition.
Among other events of the day there was a panel on Jewish storytelling in theatre, the inauguration of the exhibition, “The enemy race” about the eightieth anniversary of the anti-Jewish laws, a roundtable on Jewish literature, and a production of Fiddler on the Roof.