The Ateneo Veneto, the oldest cultural institute in Venice, has longstanding ties of friendship and collaboration with the Jewish community. These ties deepen “the profound regret” expressed by Dario Calimani, president of the Jewish community, upon learning of a conference …
When the Shoah Memorial in Milan opened, on January 27, 2012, “one of the goals was to get 100,000 students’ visits,” recalls the President of the Shoah Memorial Foundation Roberto Jarach. Eleven years later, he can “proudly say “that those …
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 …
At the end of the 19th century, Italian gastronome Pellegrino Artusi knocked on the doors of various publishers to get his cookbook published. He tried, among others, to persuade Emilio Treves, the man who at that moment embodied Italian …
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 …
From synagogues to community spaces and public square, Hanukkah lights illuminated Italy with their festive message. Accompanied by a children’s choir, Rabbi Alberto Funaro lit the menorah at the Tempio Maggiore in Rome. Here, the president of the Jewish Community, …
The remains of the Bova Marina synagogue, dating back to the 4th century, stand as a testament to the ancient history and legacy of Judaism in the Calabria region. The light of Hanukkah illuminated these historic grounds, thanks to an …
More than 17 million euros have been allocated to improve infrastructure in Israel’s northern region, alongside upgrades to Jerusalem’s street lighting and targeted interventions in the Old City’s alleys in Safed. These are among the investments announced by the Israeli …
The Directorate-General for Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape of the Ministry of Culture and the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) signed a protocol to “regulate the activities of excavation, conservation, and restoration of Jewish burial contexts.” At the …
The Turin-based artist Giorgio Griffa is internationally recognized as a master of contemporary painting. His works are displayed globally, from the Tate Modern in London to the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Now, the Museum of Lights in Casale Monferrato, Piedmont, …
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 …
“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, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
After living between Milan, Paris and the Far East, photographer Mario Troiani settled in Israel drawn by “the emotions that this country and its light awaken in me.” For Troiani, born in 1962, capturing Israel’s colors and characters was more …
The European Day of Jewish Culture on September 15th will be dedicated to family. And in Rome, “no place better represents this concept than the Great Synagogue, which will soon celebrate 120 years since its inauguration,” said art historian Giorgia …
Also known as Judezmo or Judaeo, Ladino is the ancient language of the Sephardic Jews, which survived the forced expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula in the late 15th century and the subsequent dispersion throughout the Mediterranean region. According to recent …