MEDIA – Two women editors for the Monthly Review of Israel

La Rassegna mensile di Israel (The Monthly Review of Israel) is one of the longest-running cultural publications of the Italian Jewry, and it now has two female editors for the first time. Founded by Alfonso Pacifici and Dante Lattes, the journal has been edited by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) for over a century. Initially conceived as a weekly publication, it was structured as a monthly issue for the weekly Israel.

At the beginning of 2025, historians Myriam Silvera and Liliana Picciotto took over from former director Gianfranco Di Segni. Silvera began working on the publication in 1984. An expert in the history and culture of the Jewish people in the modern age, she serves as the didactic coordinator of the UCEI’s three-year degree course in Jewish Studies. Her goal is to bring Jewish culture to the forefront of public debate. “Today, a Manichean approach that falsifies facts seems to be increasingly popular,” observed Silvera, who will serve as editor-in-chief. “For this reason, we must do everything we can to draw Italian society’s attention to the richness of Jewish dialectic, whose roots lie in the Talmud.”

While antisemitism is widespread, she added, “we cannot limit ourselves to denouncing it. That would not be enough. Instead, we must find new ways to suggest alternatives through cultural work that could indirectly clarify some situations.” Among La Rassegna’s strengths, Silvera said, “there is the fact that in our newsroom there are many Italkim, the Italians in Israel, who will be able to contribute from their unique perspective.”

Liliana Picciotto, an expert on Nazi-fascist persecutions and the Holocaust, agrees on the importance of opening up more to society. “La Rassegna is on the shelves of the most prestigious universities in the world and in many cultural centers,” Picciotto explained. “It is, of course, a remarkable milestone, but it’s a shame that it remains confined to this field. We should try to expand its reach and make it known to a wider public.” The new direction’s goal is also to address current issues. Picciotto added, “We cannot shy away from reflecting deeply on what has happened since October 7, 2023. Nor can we shy away from reflecting on what we have experienced since then and on the world in which we find ourselves.”

a.s.

Translated by Francesco Gambino and revised by Rebecca Luna Escobar, students at the
Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Trieste, trainees in the newsroom of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities — Pagine Ebraiche.