The remains of the synagogue at Rome’s ancient port of Ostia, dating back to the first century, testify to the continuous Jewish presence in Italy for more than two centuries. They are also a great source of new historical discoveries. A few months ago, during an excavation campaign supported by the Ministry of Culture, a… leggi
Also known as the Megillah (the Scroll) in Hebrew, the Book of Esther is a fascinating and mysterious biblical text. The heroism of Esther, the young Jewish queen who saves her people from annihilation at the hands of the heinous Hamman, is just one of the many perspectives the story offers. The story of Purim,… leggi
In the late 1960s, Jack Stroumsa, director of the Jerusalem Municipality’s Public Lighting Department, met a young Italian engineer named Gianfranco Yohanan Di Segni. Both were olim hadashim – new immigrants to Israel. Born in Rome in 1941, Di Segni and his family had escaped the Shoah under the protection of a convent of nuns. After the… leggi
Roberto (Roby) Bassi, an esteemed figure in the Italian and European Jewish world, passed away on March 1. Born in Venice, he was a professor of dermatology. The author of numerous scientific works, he was one of the pioneers of the psychosomatic medicine in Italy, becoming president of the Italian Society of Psychosomatic Medicine and… leggi
On February 27, the Chamber of Deputies unanimously approved a bill to fund “Memory trips” to Nazi concentration camps by secondary school students. The measure, approved by the Senate on January 18, 2023, now returns to the upper house of the Italian Parliament for a technical correction, after which it will have the green light.The… leggi
“Sport unites people even in the most difficult moments, when there are wars and divisions. It is not a matter of champions, but of every person who competes with themselves and others.” With these words, Gabriele Nissim, president of the Gariwo foundation (Garden of the Righteous Worldwide), introduced the foundation’s 2025 program. Ahead of the Milan-Cortina… leggi
The United States under Trump’s second administration will be full of surprises, predicted Italian journalist and academic Furio Colombo (photo). A longtime critic of the tycoon-turned-president, Colombo believed this term had the potential to be “worse and more dangerous”. Unfortunately, Colombo will never be able to verify if his predictions come true. The renowned journalist… leggi
David Patsi, an esteemed figure in the Italian and international Jewish world, passed away on January 25, in Jerusalem. Well known in European Jewish circles as a cultural attaché for the Jewish Agency, he later served as president of Hevrat Yehude Italia, an organization representing Italian-Israeli citizens, and of the Dante Alighieri society in Jerusalem.Born… leggi
Scenario, education, visibility, protection, and communication. These are the five “strategic guidelines to prevent and combat” antisemitism at the heart of the national plan developed under the guidance of General Pasquale Angelosanto, the Italian coordinator against anti-Jewish hatred. Presented on February 20, the document denounces “a creeping antisemitic prejudice, that resurfaces mainly by exploiting the… leggi
Hundreds of people and numerous associations gathered in Rome to remember Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the young Israeli mother and her two children who were abducted by Hamas on October 7 and whose bodies were returned to Israel last week. In their memory, the Great Synagogue in Rome was lit orange on Monday and… leggi
(Le opinioni in questo spazio non sempre corrispondono a quelle del giornale)
The goal was to strip away the rhetoric surrounding Liliana Segre. To move beyond the “very Italian” attempt to turn her into a symbol. And to let her speak today, offering the public a faithful portrait of her story and worldview. Liliana is the title of a documentary by Milanese film director Ruggero Gabbai, dedicated… leggi
“Years later, as he approached his eighties, Niccolò Introna would feel the need to defend himself for the first time in his life. It was as if he were on trial, not them. Particularly not the two people in question, including Hitler’s emissary who had been shadowing him for over a year and a half.”… leggi
Ruth’s is a kosher vegetarian restaurant next to the synagogue in Florence. Its owner for over twenty years, Tomas Simcha Jelinek, is also a vegetarian. “Everyone has been here. Even the Italian steak king, Dario Cecchini. Outside his realm, he doesn’t eat meat. He often chooses us to escape that bubble,” Simcha said with amusement.… leggi
After centuries of confinement in the ghetto, the granting of civil rights and freedoms offered Roman Jews the opportunity to build a grand synagogue in that very area, serving as a symbol of their historic shift toward emancipation. The synagogue was intended to “proudly rise among the constructions of the new city” and embody a… leggi
In 2017, the Archdiocese of Palermo’s decision to grant the free use of an ecclesiastical property to establish a synagogue made headlines worldwide. The New York Times captured the moment with the headline: “500 Years After Expulsion, Sicily’s Jews Reclaim a Lost History,” underscoring the symbolic weight of this gesture more than five centuries after the expulsion… leggi
The film producer Marina Piperno, 89, and Luigi Morando Faccini, 84, are partners both in cinema and in life. They have no children. “Our legacy is our movies, they are our past, our present, and our future,” says Marina, a leading figure among Italian female film producers. Together with her husband, also a film director, Marina is busy packing… leggi
Franco Cesana was still a child when he fell in combat to help liberate Italy from Nazi-fascism. On September 14, 1944, his young life was cut short in Picciniera di Gombola, near Modena, in the Emilia Romagna region. Six days later, he would have turned 13. In November, a monument was on the very steps… leggi
After World War II, Louis Goldman became an established photographer in the USA. During the war, he was a young Jewish man hounded by the nazi-fascists. Born in Germany to Polish parents, he fled to Paris and later hid in Florence, thanks to the assistance of the Opera of the Divine Providence of Madonnina del… leggi
An international conference, press presentations, and events in museums and cultural institutions—these are just some of the initiatives being planned to share the achievements of I-Tal-Ya Books with a wider, non-specialist audience. This ambitious cataloging project, focused on Jewish books in Italy, is coordinated by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) in collaboration with… leggi
More than 1,500 rare printed volumes from the Jewish community of Mantua have been cataloged as part of the international I-TAL-YA Books project, led by the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI). Architectural photographer and visual artist Giulia Flavia Baczynski, a graduate of the Polytechnic University of Milan, spent “eight hours a day, for… leggi