The Italian Rabbinical College
starts the academic year

The academic year just had it start at the Italian Rabbinical College. The courses, which are taught in remote and involve dozens of students, were inaugurated with a lecture on Talmud by the Chief Rabbi in Rome Riccardo Di Segni. Starting from a topic apparently far in time, the lesson, which was focused on the Tractate Meghillah, touched many timely issues. “The Talmud provides us with a journey in logical and existential dimensions totally separated. However, this separation is fictitious”, explained Rabbi Di Segni. The lecture was introduced by the addresses by the president of UCEI – Union of Italian Jewish Communities Noemi Di Segni e by the Rabbinical college coordinator rav Benedetto Carucci Viterbi. Both focused on the challenges faced by didactic activity in the pandemic, which represents both a crisis and an opportunity. “Recently we noticed an increase of participation and a growing interest in Jewish studies”, said Noeme Di Segni. “It is a remarkable attention, which is not restricted to adults. It is a challenge we are called to address and elaborate”.
For his part, Rabbi Carucci expressed the hope that the lessons may be attended by an ever-increasing number of members of the Jewish communities. “We all know that presence is the ideal condition for didactics, but it is also true that we may learn something from an emergency situation as the one we are going through”.