ROME – Families in uncertainty: the event dedicated to the Bibas Family
In Rome, the European Day of Jewish Culture began at the garden of the monumental Great Synagogue, which this year celebrates 120 years since its inauguration. One of the three exhibitions organized for the occasion, Centoventi anni di matrimonio al Tempio Maggiore. Famiglia e tradizione degli ebrei di Roma (One hundred and twenty years of marriage at the Tempio Maggiore: Family and Tradition of the Jews of Rome), was displayed along its gates.
The photographs span different periods: some from to the era of the racial laws, others from the aftermath of the Palestinian attack on the Great Synagogue in October 1982 – the attack claimed the life of young Stefano Gaj Taché – and some were taken after the end of the pandemic. “These photos teach us that life must go on at all costs, by having new children and growing the family even in the most tragic moments,” emphasized Victor Fadlun, president of the Jewish Community, opening the European Day of Jewish Culture with vice-president Antonella Di Castro and the Regional Culture councilor Simona Renata Baldassarre.
Fadlun extended this message to all of Italy, a country in perpetual demographic crisis: “We must believe in the future; we must believe in the family.” Fadlun’s thoughts turned to some families he described as “paradigmatic,” referring to those with loved ones still held captive in Gaza, in the tunnels of horror, where hostages “are tortured and enduring the impossible.” He expressed special concern for the Bibas family, whose four members were kidnapped from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yarden. The father was taken separately from his wife and their two young children, Kfir and Ariel, who were just 9 months and 4 years old at the time. They are all still held in Gaza.
Finally, vice-president Di Castro, who oversees Culture, reminded attendees that in Judaism family is the foundation of education and “the primary place where Jewish identity is shaped.” This commitment, she said, did not stop “after the tragic events of October 7,” with the Jewish community and its young people, “working together every day to plan and build new families that will serve as the foundation for a prosperous future, with the hopeful belief that culture, democracy, and unity will lead us to better times.”
Two additional exhibitions opened at the Jewish Museum. The Del Monte family through the centuries: Art, history, and memory, curated by the museum itself, highlights the contributions to culture by the Del Monte family, even during the most challenging periods. Organized by the Community’s Jewish Cultural Center, Bonds: Family portraits of 20th-century Jewish artists provides an intimate and profound look at the Jewish family backgrounds of several 20th-century artists.
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