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June 30th, 2014 - Tamuz 2nd, 5774
Outside the Box by Guido Vitale* Last week the journalists of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities welcomed among the guests of the Markets and Values ​​seminar that we held in Florence, the Italian economist Luigi Zingales (University of Chicago Booth School of Business). Zingales spoke of his meeting and strategic collaboration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, offering a fascinating and unusual portrayal of the Israeli leader. It was an encounter between a politician who operates outside the box and an economist who thinks outside the box. *Guido Vitale is the editor-in-chief of Pagine Ebraiche.   Italian Word of the Week: VENEZIA by Daniela Gross The 14th International Architecture Exhibition put anew Venezia (Venice) in the spotlight. That magical city, where water and light are intertwined in a so unique way, has reached an important role of reference in the global cultural scenario. It is not only the heritage of her ancient and glorious history, but a creative and passionate contribution to the contemporary culture. The Venice Biennale, the biennial exposition set up in 1893 and until the World War II dedicated mostly to Italian art, in the last twenty years has become a fundamental observatory on international Architecture, Visual arts, Cinema, Theatre, Music, Dance. You can love or hate the works in display, but it is impossible to ignore them.   In that universe Israel has always had a notable role, mainly in films and architecture, with participations among the most provocative and commented. This year at the Architecture Exhibition, the Israel pavilion, a visionary installation of sand and technology, reminds us the infinite fight of the State of Israel with the desert. It’s an evocative hint in a city like Venice, born defying the natural elements and even now fighting with the sea that surrounds her and runs throughout.  And in some way it evokes also the history of the Jewish Community of Venice, restricted in a Ghetto, the first instituted in Europe in 1516, for three centuries, but even then able to flourish and to develop a vivid culture. To appreciate that struggle, just visit the magnificent synagogues settled in the Ghetto: They are the triumph of the spirit (even architectural) against the monsters of the intolerance and the racism.		NEWS Merano Celebrates the Second Bar Mitzvah in 70 Years By Adam Smulevich The small Jewish Community of Merano in South Tyrol celebrated in the past few hours a unique, almost historical event: a new Bar Mitzvah, the second after Word War II. Standing at the Tevah, the 13 years old Nathan Menachem Aron Armani (his brother Aaron Levi also celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in Merano two years ago).   "For the second time since 1943 Jews from Merano gathered together to celebrate a Bar Mitzvah in their synagogue. Today is a special day that none of us will ever forget” president of the local Community Elisabetta Rossi Innerhofer said at the end of the ceremony, officiated by rav Isaac Havi and chazan Simeone Bordon and attended by several dozens of people (among them, the other two members of the Community board Mirko Wenter and Roberto Nahum). Read more Features The Rabbi and the Regatta By Rossella Tercatin It was a beautiful summer day in Venice. Over 2,100 boats and 8,000 rowers joined the Vogalonga, the legendary non competitive rowing regatta among the Laguna's canals. Among them, also a Rabbi. Rabbi Roberto Della Rocca, the director of the Department of Education and Culture of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities became very keen on rowing only in the past couple of years, after he moved from Rome to Milan and some friends suggested he join the historical Società Canottieri Milano, a rowing and sports club founded in 1890. Read more CULTURE Fundamental Israel, at the Biennale Architettura in Venice By Simone Somekh* Israel has recently presented its own national pavilion at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition of Venice, which is named Fundamentals and will be open to the public until November 23, 2014. The exhibition, commonly known as the Venice Biennale of Architecture, is managed by Rem Koolhaas, hosts pavilions of 65 participating countries, and is taking place in several historic venues around the charming, northeastern Italian city. It is the first time in the history of the Biennale that the national pavilions are invited to stick to a single theme, the title chosen is Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014 and aims at marking a century of globalized and technologically advanced architecture. Keren Yeala Golan and Roy Brand, two of the  four curators, presented Israel’s installation, which displays four automatic machines that draw the history of Israeli architectural growth on a layer of sand imported from the Negev desert in southern Israel. *Simone Somekh is a student at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, and writes as a freelancer for the Jewish Italian press. Read more עברית קול הספרים Sarah Kaminski, Università di Torino שני ספרים שהתפרסמו בעת האחרונה מתווים שני מסלולים מקבילים, הנוגעים לא נוגעים אחד בשני: האחד הוא ספרה של כלת פרס ישראל, הפרופ' אניטה שפירא, "ככל עם ועם" שיצא לאור השנה ומתווה את דרך המפעל הציוני מימי העלייה הראשונה ועד שנת אלפיים, שנים בהן התגבש הלאום הישראלי תוך שינויים עמוקים שנגרמו עקב משברים פוליטיים קשים, מלחמות צודקות ופחות צודקות, ובעיקר בעקבות קליטת העלייה ההמונית, שייצגה את האתגר המרכזי לציונות המודרנית. הסטוריה כתובה בבהירות ובניסוח נעים ולא אקדמי מדי Sight, Belief and Knowledge By Yaacov 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 of anguish and uncertainty. Prayer, as it is commonly considered, places the individual in a dialogue with the Divine, and allows him or her to rely on the presence of a knowing entity that will protect, and direct events as wewish them to take place. Relying one's consciousness upon God in praying soothes that sense of difficulty, and turns despair into a Divinely based hope. While conscious of the numerous discussions on this matter present in the rabbinical tradition, I would like to propose in this short article my own perspective on the duty of prayer. *Ph.D., Department of Comparative Literature, Bar Ilan University Read more
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