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July 13th, 2015 - Tamuz 26, 5775
The Newsroom Is Open By Guido Vitale* Redazione Aperta, the yearly journalistic workshop organized by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, begins this Monday in Trieste, for its seventh edition‎. The enthusiasm and the will of growing together are still there, exactly as they where in 2009. Meanwhile the journalists who compose the newsroom have had a huge professional growth and every month they produce three printed papers, two daily newsletters, a press review, plus many more products which have conquered more and more readers. And the experiment which led to this newsletter. We are proud of all of it, and we are happy to declare it. *Guido Vitale is the editor-in-chief of Pagine Ebraiche.   SUMMER BOOKS Il tempo migliore della nostra vita By Daniela Gross The latest book of Antonio Scurati, which in English translates as “The Best Time of Our Life”, tells the story of Leone Ginzburg, who was among the main Italian intellectuals in the fascist era. Mr. Scurati traces Ginzburg's life from when he was expelled by the university because he was a Jew to the day he was killed in prison. Leone had the courage to refuse to swear allegiance to the regime and prefer to commit himself to the Resistance. Despite persecutions, he formed a loving family (his wife was the renown Italian writer Natalia), and founded the famous publishing house Einaudi. Il tempo migliore della nostra vita By Antonio Scurati Bompiani 267 pp.		NEWS Italy and Israel Together for Peace and Security  By Daniel Reichel The Israeli Defense minister Moshe Yaalon visited Rome last week and met with the Italian Defense minister Roberta Pinotti and several military officials. “The bilateral talks focused on the mutual commitment to seek an area of peace and security in the Eastern Mediterranean,” said a statement from the Italian Ministry of Defense on the meeting with Yaalon. The Israeli minister had previously met with the Chief of Staff and had visited the Operational Command and the Commander in Chief of the Naval Squadron. “The two ministers expressed their willingness to consolidate the ongoing collaboration between the armed forces of the two countries on security issues,” said the officials of the Italian Ministry. Read more EVENTS - Pagine Ebraiche, The Newsroom Is Open By Ada Treves Beginning today, the seventh edition of Redazione Aperta (Open Newsroom) will bring all the journalists of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) in Trieste, for two weeks of work and lessons with numerous guests. It is the one occasion when all the members of the newsroom can spend long days working together, while normally they are scattered around the country and are often travelling to cover news from all the twenty-one Communities of Jewish Italy. Started in 2009, when the reality of the News Department of UCEI was only beginning its journey, now Redazione Aperta is an affirmed and solid reality. Read more INTERVIEW France, the Temptation of Alyah By Rachel Silvera There is the temptation to leave and the concern to stay. Since the latest terror attacks last January at the newsroom of Charlie Hebdo and at the HyperCacher supermarket, the debate has been opened and it has reached all the Jewish communities in the diaspora: Should French Jews stay, wear kippas on their heads and fight for their national identity or should they move to Israel? The question seems to have two opposing responses: the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited all French Jews to hurry up and leave Europe, whereas the Chief Rabbi of France Haim Korsia stressed the importance for them to stay in their home country. About this debate, the Jewish writer Eliette Abécassis just published “Alyah. The temptation du départ” (Albin Michel Publishing House). Read more Français "Je ne suis pas un héro" Francesca Matalon "Rien n'a changé dans ma vie, je prends le métro, le bus. J’habite dans le même endroit, la même petite chambre de 14 mètres carrées. Rien n’a changé dans ma vie. Ce que j’ai fait je ne l’ai pas fait pour me vanter, pour dire que moi je suis un héro. J’ai dit à tout le monde que je ne suis pas un héro. J'ai juste fait un geste, pour sauver moi même d'abord, puis pour sauver d’autres personnes à l’Hypercacher". Lassana Bathily, employé malien à l'Hypercacher de la Porte de Vincennes lors du 9 janvier, le jour de  la prise d'otage perpétrée par Amedy Coulibaly dans laquelle il a été avec son courage un grande aide pour les forces de police, refuse l’étiquette de héro. Six mois après, le 9 juillet, il raconte à la radio sa nouvelle vie avec son nouveau travail dans un stade géré par la mairie de Paris. Chaque matin depuis deux mois il est en formation et l’après midi en stage. Lire la suite Hegemony, Fragmentation and the Yearning for Coherence By Yaacov Mascetti* As of last Sunday, the (ultra)Orthodox parties control all of Israel's religious services – this includes conversions, marriages, divorces, funerals etc. This is the most recent, and I would say also the most worrying stage in a long process which has seen a restricted group of rather extremist rabbis take control of the State funded rabbinical establishment. The religious strata of the Israeli society are quite different in their behavioral formats, and alas the modern orthodox, or better those who are commonly known as the "National religious," are growing more and more weary of this haredi putsch on the Rabbanut. I am worried – a lot of us are. This is a problematic moment in the history of Israel, and of the Jewish people as a whole. It's certainly not the first time we have had to deal with this tension between a multi-vocal pluralism expressing the variegated nature of religiosity on the one hand, and a more dogmatic and univocal current of voices stating that there is one truth and one orthopraxis. *Yaakov Mascetti holds a Ph.D. and teaches at the Department of Comparative Literature, Bar Ilan University. Read more
Follow us on    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. In spite of all our efforts to avoid this, readers may find an occasional language mistake. We count on your understanding and on your help and advice to correct these mistakes and improve our publication. Pagine Ebraiche International Edition is published by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI). UCEI publications encourage an understanding of the Jewish world and the debate within it. The articles and opinions published by Pagine Ebraiche International Edition, unless expressly stated otherwise, cannot be interpreted as the official position of UCEI, but only as the self-expression of the people who sign them, offering their comments to UCEI publications. Readers who are interested in making their own contribution should email us at desk@ucei.it  You received this newsletter because you authorized UCEI to contact you. If you would like to remove your email address from our list, or if you would like to subscribe using a new email address, please send a blank email to  desk@ucei.it stating "unsubscribe" or "subscribe" in the subject field. © 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, Amanda Benjamin, Monica Bizzio, Angelica Edna Calò Livne, Eliezer Di Martino, Alain Elkann, Dori Fleekop, Daniela Fubini, Benedetta Guetta, Sarah Kaminski, Daniel Leisawitz, Annette Leckart, Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, Yaakov Mascetti, Francesca Matalon, Jonathan Misrachi, Anna Momigliano, Giovanni Montenero, Elèna Mortara, Sabina Muccigrosso, Lisa Palmieri Billig, Jazmine Pignatello, Shirley Piperno, Giandomenico Pozzi, Daniel Reichel, Colby Robbins,  Danielle Rockman, Lindsay Shedlin, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves, Lauren Waldman. Questo notiziario è realizzato in condizioni di particolare difficoltà. I redattori di questo notiziario sono giornalisti italiani di madrelingua italiana. Mettono a disposizione le loro energie e le loro competenze per raccontare in lingua inglese l'ebraismo italiano, i suoi valori, la sua cultura e i suoi valori. Nonostante il nostro impegno il lettore potrebbe trovare errori e imperfezioni nell'utilizzo del linguaggio che faremo del nostro meglio per evitare. Contiamo sulla vostra comprensione e soprattutto sul vostro aiuto e sul vostro consiglio per correggere gli errori e migliorare. 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 Avete ricevuto questo messaggio perché avete trasmesso a Ucei l'autorizzazione a comunicare con voi. Se non desiderate ricevere ulteriori comunicazioni o se volete comunicare un nuovo indirizzo email, scrivete a: desk@ucei.it indicando nell'oggetto del messaggio "cancella" o "modifica". © 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, Amanda Benjamin, Monica Bizzio, Angelica Edna Calò Livne, Eliezer Di Martino, Alain Elkann, Dori Fleekop, Daniela Fubini, Benedetta Guetta, Sarah Kaminski, Daniel Leisawitz, Annette Leckart, Gadi Luzzatto Voghera, Yaakov Mascetti, Francesca Matalon, Jonathan Misrachi, Anna Momigliano, Giovanni Montenero, Elèna Mortara, Sabina Muccigrosso, Lisa Palmieri Billig, Jazmine Pignatello, Shirley Piperno, Giandomenico Pozzi, Daniel Reichel, Colby Robbins,  Danielle Rockman, Lindsay Shedlin, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves, Lauren Waldman.