By Eliezer Di Martino* Recently we have seen a renewal of Aliyah to Eretz Israel from several parts of the world. The desire to do Aliyah is a result of various reasons and contexts, but whatever reason brings a Jewish family or person to emigrate to Israel it is absolutely astonishing that they do so, …
By Angelica Edna Calo Livne* This is the third year of our project PRL – Partnership of Regional Leadership. We work with youngsters from Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Israel. This week, Annika Khano, the coordinator of KAS, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung wrote: “Dear all, this is just a reminder that the training in Aqaba will be …
By Yaakov Mascetti* I am not an orderly man, I am rarely unswerving, and certainty is not my cup of tea. So in all the chaos of these days, in all the violence and senseless anger, I think that I’ll allow myself a Joycean synthesis of events that took place here in the last three …
By Anna Momigliano* When Italy’s new Prime Minister begun his term, earlier this year, pro-Israel commentators were quick to label him as the first pro-Israel left-leaning head of government in Italian history. In his inaugural speech the young and charismatic Matteo Renzi – a Democrat eager to distinguish himself from the old guard of his …
By Yaakov Mascetti* “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help?”: Sight, Belief and Knowledge. Lack of knowledge is one of the most difficult places to be in, to think in. We always want to know, to be in control. Upon lacking knowledge, the ensuing feeling is usually one …
By Anna Momigliano* Italy has had a Jewish presence since the second century B.C.E. This means, among other things, that there Jews here before Christianity even existed – in Italy or anywhere else. Yet in this overwhelmingly Catholic country where other religions are often seen as “foreigner,” at times they make you feel like you’re …
By Eugene Korn* I was distressed to read the recent misinformed statements of Jacques Roumani in “Interfaith Dialogue: Challenges and Limits.” He appears trapped in an outdated and inaccurate understanding of today’s Catholic Church, a fact clearly indicated by his quote of Franz Rosensweig. That statement, “that Judaism is the internal foe of the Church” …
By Yaakov Mascetti* The story of “Maamad Har Sinai” is a one of revelation, within the framework of a synesthetic experience, in which God writes his commandments onto two stone tablets. The narrative opens many questions and answers few, leaving the reader in a wonder-struck confusion, while it delineates the traits of a unique historical …
By David Harris* The deadly attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels on Saturday, followed by a violent assault on two kippah-wearing brothers outside Paris on Sunday, have triggered new concerns for the well-being of Europe’s Jews. The success of several extremist parties in this weekend’s European Parliament elections makes the situation even more worrying. …
By Edna Angelica Calò Livne* When I received the invitation from Carolyn Handschin, a manager at the UN Organization at Geneva, my first thought was to look for another participant from Israel with whom to cross the border at Hussein Bridge, close to Beit Shean, in order to reach Amman in Jordan, where the eighteenth …
By Yaakov Mascetti* A couple of weeks ago, Jonathan, a good friend of mine and one of the most important psychologists in Israel, called with a rather last minute request: “Yaakov, would you be so kind to give the congregational speech for my daughter Hadas’ bat mitzvah? We’d like you to be the one to …
By Gadi Luzzatto Voghera* The importance of the Italian Jewry, the main significance of its history, is related to the Jewish experience in the Renaissance period. In those centuries many events occurred to the lives of the Jews in Italy, and most of these became main points and more general issues for the history of …
By Jacques Roumani* I believe Rabbi Rosen misses the point of Rav Di Segni‘s fundamental position on the limits and possibilities of interfaith dialogue anchored in understanding, reconciliation, as well as respect for axiomatic differences. There is no objection here for Christians to render in Christian terms the sufferings of the Shoah to a Christian …
By David Berger* Christians have every right to interpret the Holocaust through the prism of their religion and even to incorporate elements of Judaism and Jewish ritual into a quintessentially Christian theological context. Criticism of this symphony because it undermines the uniqueness of the Holocaust is entirely defensible, perhaps even correct, but it does not …
by David Rosen* Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni’s article entitled ” The Limits of Dialogue and a Symphony that Sounds Wrong” in which he criticises the symphonic tribute to the memory of the Jewish victims of the Shoah by the Catholic organization “The Neocathechumenal Way” – in particular the concert of homage in Auschwitz, and implicitly …
by Riccardo Di Segni* On the 15th of November the Osservatore Romano published an interview with Rabbi David Rosen (“Why we cannot be enemies”) which, among other things, includes this question: “At the end of June, Auschwitz hosted a celebration in memory of Holocaust victims, with important rabbis, cardinals and bishops, where a symphony on …