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November 24th, 2014 - Kislev 2nd, 5775
Data and Lies by Guido Vitale* Recently I attended, along with fellow journalist Fiona Diwan of the "Bollettino della Comunità ebraica di Milano" (the newsletter of the Jewish Community of Milan), a course organized by the Professional Association of Italian Journalists. It was dedicated to the issues of privacy and the respect of personal identity in online publications and there has been a speech by Marco Pratellesi, who manages the online publications of the weekly L'Espresso. He raised the problem of Internet traffic data, which is sometimes falsified or artificially inflated by Italian news websites. It is a major issue, over which the Italian Jewish world should exercise a close supervision. *Guido Vitale is the editor-in-chief of Pagine Ebraiche.   Italian Word of the Week ATTENTATI by Daniela Gross Unluckily, the Italian word of the day is “attentato”. The Treccani Encyclopedia, one of the most authoritative linguistic Italian sources, explains that the word derives from the Latin verb “attemptare”, that means “to attempt”. At this point, one would imagine that “attentato” indicates any attempt, either positive or negative. However, in Italian, an “attentato” is specifically the attempt to cause damage to people’s life or properties: by harming their rights, their reputation, their freedom, their home. More practically, when we talk about an “attentato”, usually we are talking about a terroristic attack. In the last weeks, the news from Israel have led us to repeat that word several times a day, with horror, sadness and worry. Many times, in these months, Pagine Ebraiche International has highlighted the close connection between Israel and Italy. Geography certainly plays a role in it, since the two countries are separated only by a short airplane ride, but this proximity is not an empty concept. Most of the Italian Jews have relatives, friends or colleagues who live in Israel; most of them have lived there, at least for a short period of time; most of them spend holidays or vacation there. Thus, it is heartbreaking to experience once again that terrible feeling of anguish in realizing how the peace is still far away, and how much our dear ones are still in danger.		news Jerusalem at Heart By Rossella Tercatin Shock, anger, a deep sense of loss and sadness: these are the feelings that spread through The Italian Jewish community at the news about the terrorist attack that took place in the Kehillat Yaacov in Jerusalem last Tuesday. While the unbearable details of what happened emerged, the reaction was instant and unanimous: “Let us gather, let us fill our synagogues, in order to pray, to honor the dead, and to cry out loud our love for life.” Read more LEADERS Meeting in Milan Jewish leaders from all over Europe gathered in Milan last weekend to attend the Meeting of Presidents of Jewish Organisations organized by the European Council of Jewish Communities and by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in cooperation with Milan Jewish Community and the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI). “After living here for so long, we can proudly state that Italian Jews are an example of how it is possible to live as a minority in a country where we are well integrated and have close ties with the rest of the population – said UCEI President Renzo Gattegna - And we are an example of how it is possible to do so without losing our history, our traditions or our identity”. Read more NEWS How to Step up Europe’s Efforts Against Renewed Anti-Semitism By Daniela Gross A strong encouragement to the OSCE’s States in order to step up their efforts and cooperation in countering anti-Semitic acts and hate crimes, was launched by the high-level conference that recently took place in Berlin to commemorate the OSCE’s Berlin Declaration. For two days, political leaders, governmental officials and civil society representatives from across the OSCE region gathered in Berlin to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the OSCE’s Berlin Declaration on Anti-Semitism and to discuss the challenges posed by contemporary anti-Semitism. Read more NEWS A New Rabbi for Turin By Ada Treves The Jewish Community of Turin, in Piedmont, has a new Chief Rabbi: the official ceremony took place Sunday, the 16th of November, in the presence of more than 100 people, a big number for a community like Turin. It took more than a year to find the right candidate but we can now announce that rav Ariel Di Porto - with his wife and two small children – has been  in town since September. Read more Português Irmãos por Eliezer Di Martino* Rebeca em princípio estéril, ficou finalmente grávida. Sofrendo muito ela “foi a consultar o Senhor”. A explicação que recebeu foi que os dois gémeos estavam a lutar no seu ventre, e que eram destinados a continuar esta luta no futuro: “…Duas nações há no teu ventre, e dois povos se dividirão das tuas entranhas, e um povo será mais forte do que o outro povo, e o mais velho servirá ao mais novo.” (Génesis 25, 23). Em seguida os gémeos nascem, primeiro Esaú e depois, apanhando o calcanhar do irmão, Jacob. Consciente da promessa que lhe foi feita, Rebeca favorece o mais novo, Jacob. Anos depois, ela persuade o Jacob a vestir a rouba do irmão e a receber a bênção que o pai Isaac, quis dar em principio ao irmão Esaú. *O rabino Eliezer di Martino é o rabino-chefe de Trieste Leia mais Books By David Bidussa* In his latest book to appear in Italian translation, Judas, Amoz Oz writes of the idea of treason that maybe it is only through a book that one can speak and find the way to be heard--much more effectively than in a public speech or on television. This is the message that those who still believe in reading have been waiting for; it is not true that the book is dead.  With books one still can... *David Bidussa is an historian of social ideas. The article was translated by Sabina Muccigrosso and Jazmine Pignatello, students at Muhlenberg College (Chew St. Allentown, Pennsylvania USA).
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