A long journey through time and stories to confront the next challenges

The Jewish Book Festival. festival starts on September 23 at 5:00 p.m. with the opening speeches, by the president of MEIS Disegni; by Daniele Ravenna representing the Ministry of Culture; by the regional councilor Mauro Felicori; by the mayor of Ferrara Alan Fabbri, and by the UCEI president Noemi Di Segni.
At 6:00 p.m. the festival opens to the public with a dip in the past: a multi-voiced conversation dedicated to life in Pompeii, Jerusalem and Rome in the crucial decade from the 70s to the 80s of the first century. The director of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples Paolo Giulierini discusses it with the emeritus professor of Classical Philology at the University of Bari Luciano Canfora, author of the book “Il tesoro degli ebrei. Roma e Gerusalemme” (The treasure of the Jews. Rome and Jerusalem”), Laterza 2021 and Samuele Rocca, author of “Mai più Masada cadrà” (Never again will Masada fall”), Salerno, 2021. Archaeologist and digital media curator Astrid D’Eredità moderates the meeting.
Friday 24, the morning (9:30-11:00) will be dedicated to schools with “What is a house for?”, a philosophy workshop for children by the philosopher, educator and writer Sara Gomel.
At 12:00, presentation of “Il merito dei padri. Storia de La Petrolifera Italo Rumena 1920-2020” (The merit of the fathers. History of La Petrolifera Italo Rumena 1920-2020) by Tito Menzani, Emilio Ottolenghi and Guido Ottolenghi published by Il Mulino in 2020. The book recounts the story of a company and a family, between the obstacles of war and the racial laws, falls and ascend.
Guido Ottolenghi dialogues on the subject with Romano Prodi, current president of the Foundation for Collaboration among Peoples. The new dean of the University of Ferrara Laura Ramaciotti moderates the meeting.
At 4:00 p.m. the director Spagnoletto and the president of the Institute of Contemporary History of Ferrara Anna Quarzi presents the book by Edith Bruck “Il pane perduto” (The lost bread) published by La nave di Teseo, 2021. The memoir was awarded the Youth section of the Strega literary prize and the Viareggio-Rèpaci Prize. The author participates from remote.
On Saturday 26, the evening screening of The fiddler on the roof concludes the second edition of the project ArenaMEIS titled “A laugh will save us”. The event starts at 20.30. For the occasion, from 7.30 pm onwards, the exhibition “Jews, an Italian story” will be open.
The Jewish Book Festival ends on Sunday 26 with a whole day dedicated to books: at 10:00 am a workshop for children 7 to 10 is scheduled, organized by MEIS. At 10:15 the director of the CDEC Gadi Luzzatto Voghera presents the book by Raniero Fontana “André Neher. Apertura di spirito, coraggio della fede” (André Neher. Openness of spirit, courage of faith), Pazzini, 2020, dedicated to the French naturalized Israeli philosopher and theologian André Neher, a great connoisseur of Kabbalah.
At 11:30 the attention focuses to the Y-TAL-YA project. After the greetings of UCEI President Di Segni, speeches are in program by Oren Weinberg, director of the National Library of Israel; Sally Berkovic, managing director of the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe; Yoel Finkelman, curator Judaica collection of the National Library of Israel; Francesca Bregoli, associate professor of history (Queens College, NY); Andrea De Pasquale, director of the Central State Archives and Chiara Camarda, cataloger of the Y-TAL-YAH Books Project. Moderates Gloria Arbib (Steering Committee Y-TAL-YA Books Project and member of the Board of Directors of the MEIS Foundation).
Translations by the student of the School for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Trieste interns at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.
At 16:30 the curator Shaul Bassi presents the volume “Il cortile del mondo. Nuove storie dal Ghetto di Venezia” (The courtyard of the world. New stories from the Venice Ghetto) Giuntina publisher, 2021, together with the writer Igiaba Scego, author of one of the essays. MEIS curator Sharon Reichel moderates the conversation.
Closing appointment at 6:00 p.m. with “Io sono la mia casa” (I am my home) with the Israeli writer Eshkol Nevo, from whose book “Three floors” (Neri Pozza, 2015) the director Nanni Moretti drew his latest film presented at the Cannes Film Festival, and the writer Alessandro Piperno who has recently released the novel “Di chi è la colpa” (Whose fault is it), Mondadori, 2021. Moderator, the director of the Circolo dei Lettori of Turin and writer Elena Loewenthal.
The Jewish Book Festival is sponsored by the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Municipality of Ferrara, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities and the Jewish Community of Ferrara. It is realized also with the collaboration of the Institute of Contemporary History of Ferrara and the sponsorship of Coferasta.

Above, the logo image of the Jewish Book Festival evokes the theme of this edition through the worlds Bait-Casa (home, in Italian and Hebrew).