UCEI – The People of the Book, open doors to culture
On September 14, over a hundred Italian locations will participate in the European Day of Jewish Culture by hosting meetings and initiatives. This 26th edition’s focus is “The People of the Book,” and Soncino, a city in the Lombardy province of Cremona, is the flagship city. The Soncino family, of Ashkenazi origin, printed the first Hebrew Bible with vocalizations there in 1488. This year’s theme is the symbolic common thread unifying all the initiatives into a millennial journey through the history of the Jewish people and its relationship with the book, including writing, rewriting, reading, studying, teaching, and exegesis.
The Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) explained that this theme was also adopted to highlight “the common roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, opening perspectives for interreligious and intercultural dialogue. These perspectives are particularly urgent in the current climate of radicalization and conflict, where authentic knowledge and study also become an act of social responsibility.”
The European Day of Jewish Culture will kick off on September 14 in Soncino, a symbol of the diffusion of Jewish culture in Europe during the Renaissance. The exhibition “Ex Libris – Authored Books” will feature books by Israeli authors that have been transformed into artistic objects. Other events will explore the history of Jewish books, from antique printing to modern publishing, and the journey from the harp of David to the guitar of Leonard Cohen.
“For out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord from Soncino,” reads a topographic mark on the 1488 printed Bible. This verse indicates the progression of the journey and the pact among generations on which the Day of Jewish Culture is based. In an essay on the UCEI website, Massimo Giuliani, a scholar of Jewish thought, reflects, “The Jewish people are not ‘the people of the Book,’ but ‘the people of the interpretation of the Book.'” “For this reason, after reading, the Torah scrolls are taken in a symbolic circle among the Jewish people, who come closer to them as if they were an etz chayim, a tree of life.”
This awareness has taken root over time through study and the confrontation of ideas—the pillars of Judaism. Rabbi Roberto Della Rocca, director of Education and Culture at UCEI, reminds us that “the written Torah cannot exist without the interpretive guide of the oral tradition” because, without a unifying thread, its richness becomes “a fragmented mosaic, incapable of offering a common horizon.”
The European Day of Jewish Culture is coordinated nationally by the UCEI and promoted at the European level by the European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ). In Italy, it is one of the most popular cultural initiatives, attracting thousands of participants every year who are eager to visit synagogues, museums, and Jewish quarters, as well as take part in the events.
For details on programs in different cities and further thematic insights, visitors are encouraged to visit the event’s website