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| Vittorio Dan Segre (1922-2014) |
 by Guido Vitale*Jewish Italy is mourning the passing away of Vittorio Dan Segre, one of its great protagonists. Before Rosh Hashanah, immediately after the release of “Storia di un ebreo che voleva essere eroe” (The History of a Jew who wanted to be a hero), his latest book, we talked for a last goodbye and he asked me to read his recent analysis on the situation in Israel. Here are some of his words: "The war in Gaza, in addition to strengthen national solidarity, is raising the awareness of the true Israeli weakness: too small domestic market, social imbalance, low level of formal education, language barriers and above all an unbridled confidence in the capacity of the military technology to replace human imagination and inventiveness. Where will this lead? It is impossible even to imagine it because of the international turmoil and the collapse of American leadership. After all, as Keynes used to say, in the end we will all be dead. It is true, but the choice of how to live is ours, because - as the Kabbalah teaches - in each of us everything is decided through the conscious evolution from selfishness to altruism." *Guido Vitale is the editor-in-chief of Pagine Ebraiche. |
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| Italian Word of the Week: DIGIUNO |
| by Daniela
Gross Maybe nothing like Yom Kippur is able to stir and dissolve the infinite differences of the Jewish world. Beyond different ritual habits and melodies, in that day the Jewish people experience at each latitude a deep feeling of unity along with the hardness of the “digiuno”, as in Italian we call the fast. That feeling of unity is somehow amplified, in this new 5775, by the troubled and sad year we just left behind: a year signed by the war, the renewed Anti-Semitism in Europe, and the rising of a dangerous and bloody extremism in the Middle East. Not by chance, the greetings’ messages pronounced by the Rabbis in the synagogues on the day of Rosh HaShanah as the greetings of the President of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities you can find in this issue inevitably refer to the current, difficult situation. But in a couple of days, the solemn Day of Atonement will lead the powerful feeling of the possibility of a life’s new chapter. And to remind us that a new chapter is always possible, there is a news reported this week: According the last census, the Jews now living in Israel are 6 millions and 104,000. In other words, seventy years after the Shoah and for the first time in the Israeli story, the number of the Jewish population surpass the number of the persecutions’ victims. In demographic terms 104,000 people it is not a big deal, but in symbolic ones it absolutely is. |
This newsletter is published under difficult conditions. The editors of this newsletter are Italian journalists whose native language is Italian. They are willing to offer their energy and their skills to give international readers the opportunity of learning more about the Italian Jewish world, its values, its culture and its traditions.
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© UCEI - All rights reserved - The articles may only be reproduced after obtaining the written permission of the editor-in-chief. Pagine Ebraiche - Reg Rome Court 199/2009 – Editor in Chief: Guido Vitale - Managing Editor: Daniela Gross.
Special thanks to: Francesco Moises Bassano, Susanna Barki, Monica Bizzio, Angelica Edna Calò Livne, Eliezer Di Martino, Alain Elkann, Daniela Fubini, Benedetta Guetta, Sarah Kaminski, Daniel Leisawitz, Annette Leckart, Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, Yaakov Mascetti, Francesca Matalon, Anna Momigliano, Giovanni Montenero, Elèna Mortara, Lisa Palmieri Billig, Shirley Piperno, Giandomenico Pozzi, Daniel Reichel, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves.
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Pagine Ebraiche International Edition è una pubblicazione edita dall'Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane. L'UCEI sviluppa mezzi di comunicazione che incoraggiano la conoscenza e il confronto delle realtà ebraiche. Gli articoli e i commenti pubblicati, a meno che non sia espressamente indicato il contrario, non possono essere intesi come una presa di posizione ufficiale, ma solo come la autonoma espressione delle persone che li firmano e che si sono rese gratuitamente disponibili. Gli utenti che fossero interessati a offrire un proprio contributo possono rivolgersi all'indirizzo desk@ucei.it
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© UCEI - Tutti i diritti riservati - I testi possono essere riprodotti solo dopo aver ottenuto l'autorizzazione scritta della Direzione. Pagine Ebraiche International Edition - notiziario dell'ebraismo italiano - Reg. Tribunale di Roma 199/2009 - direttore responsabile: Guido Vitale - Coordinamento: Daniela Gross.
Realizzato con il contributo di: Francesco Moises Bassano, Susanna Barki, Monica Bizzio, Angelica Edna Calò Livne, Eliezer Di Martino, Alain Elkann, Daniela Fubini, Benedetta Guetta, Sarah Kaminski, Daniel Leisawitz, Annette Leckart, Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, Yaakov Mascetti, Francesca Matalon, Anna Momigliano, Giovanni Montenero, Elèna Mortara, Lisa Palmieri Billig, Shirley Piperno, Giandomenico Pozzi, Daniel Reichel, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves.