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November 23, 2015 - Kislev 11, 5776
Même pas By Guido Vitale* Même pas peur! (Paris, novembre 2015) *Guido Vitale is the editor-in-chief of Pagine Ebraiche.   Silent Splendor By Daniela Gross Today, more than ever, we need to remember how rich the weave of languages, cultures, and habits can be. Journalistic help comes to us from the last issue of the New York Times Style Magazine. With its warm title  “Welcome to the World”, the newspaper leads us to Italy: first, to Messner’s new museum in South Tyrol; then, to Venice’s old Jewish Ghetto and to its five synagogues, illustrated by Anthony Cotsifas’s suggestive images. As reported by James McAuley, “Today a quiet, crumbling corner of a sinking city, the Venetian ghetto was once a microcosm of Venice itself, a tapestry woven of many nations, pasts, traditions, and languages. Venice was a capital of the Mediterranean world, but it was also a capital of Jewish life in Europe, the epitome of the Diaspora’s potential.” “The most enduring evidence of the cosmopolitan universe that used to exist here – he continued – are the five synagogues that today lie hidden behind the nondescript facades of dilapidated apartments buildings where a few families actually still live: small jewel boxes that quietly preserve an enchanting global artistry.” The most brilliant jewel preserved in these synagogues is evidence of a thriving international culture, in which a great variety of traditions, habits, and languages, lived side by side. It is not easy to weave this immaterial tapestry of art, spirituality, and beauty. But we can do that, even during history’s worst times.		NEWS After Decades, Naples Wipes Out Homage to a Fascist Judge By Adam Smulevich After 45 years, the city of Naples has finally renamed the street formerly dedicated to Gaetano Azzariti who had been a prominent Italian judge who ran the Tribunal of Racial Laws. It was his court that stripped Italian Jewish citizens of their most basic rights during the Fascist era. The street is now named after a very young Neapolitan Jewish baby girl whose name was Luciana Pacifici. She died on a train bound for Auschwitz when she was only 8 months old. Read more NEWS "In France, in Israel and in Mali, Terror Harbors the Same Goals" By Rossella Tercatin   The Italian-Israeli prominent demographer Sergio Della Pergola was interviewed on Channel 2 of Italian National TV on Saturday night. He pointed out how the terror that targets Israel is the same terror that targets France, Mali and many countries all over the world.  “Israel cannot be kept separated. The strategy of terrorism of not granting people even a single day of peace is the same in France, Israel and Mali, where, by the way an Israeli educator was also killed,” Della Pergola said. Read more NEWS A Kippah-Wearing March to Say No to Anti-Semitism and Terrorism  By Francesca Matalon Hundreds of citizens filled the streets of a Jewish neighborhood in Milan to say no to anti-Semitism and terrorism last Wednesday.  The march started at the very same spot in front of a kosher restaurant where an Orthodox Jewish man, Nathan Graff, had been stabbed a few days before. Participants all wore a kippah, to show the pride of the city against terror. The demonstration, organized by the NGO City Angels and the Amici di Israele (Italian Friends of Israel), also paid tribute to the victims of the Paris terror attacks with a minute of silence. Read more culture BilBOlBul, the Serious Side of Comics By Ada Treves The international festival of comics Bilbolbul opened last Thursday, preceded by a series of events as a sort of appetizer, a glimpse into the real program. The ninth edition of the international festival of comics in Bologna has been organized in autumn for the second time, thus creating along with Lucca Comics a real "comics season" in Italy. The first event, as in BilBOlBul tradition, was a serious one: the round table "Social or dissociated", in fact, brought cartoonists and illustrators to discuss communication, with the aim of rethinking together new issues related to their craft. Which channels do they use? Which are the benefits of being in or out social networks? A passionate and interesting comparison of different points of view, thanks to the presence of several authors who have focused on their methods and on how (and if) Facebook, Instagram and the like button have changed the way they work. Read more events - The Meaning of Nostra Aetate By Rachel Silvera This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican declaration promulgated in 1965, which has consistently improved the relations between Jews and Catholics. A little over 800 years have passed also since the Fourth Council of the Lateran, which in 1213 formalized anti-Jewish measures that brought to the isolation and centuries of suffering. To remember these events, the Pontifical Lateran University organized a conference with the former Israeli ambassador to the Holy See Mordechay Lewy and the professors of the Lateran University Michael Maier and Achim Buckenmaier. Read more Français Héros de Pierpaolo Pinhas Punturello* Qu'en est-il d'une société désespérée, muette, assassinée par une violence inattendue et pourtant annoncée, qui se retrouve à célébrer comme héros même les chiens? Quand les enfants qu'on avait cru avoir formés dans nos valeurs et avec nos rythmes occidentaux se révèlent nos pires bourreaux, nous avons désespérément besoin de héros, même héros à quatre pattes, qui nous inspirent confiance dans un monde, notre monde, que nous avions pour acquis. Exode 11.7: "Mais contre tous les enfants d'Israël même pas un chien pointera sa langue". Je réfléchis sur le chien Diesel, qui est mort dans un assaut contre les terroristes, qui est mort pour donner un sens à notre monde, lorsque la voie semble être perdue dans un tragique vendredi soir à Paris.   *Pierpaolo Pinhas Punturello est rabin. La traduction est de Francesca Matalon. Lire la suite Double Life - "We told you so" By Daniela Fubini* A while ago, a very influential man (the Pope, no less) said in an interview that we are in the middle of World War Three, and we don't recognize it only because it is fought in small battles rather than in one large campaign. At that time, I took the comment as an extreme though interesting interpretation of the present. But it was August 2014 and in Israel we had just had a hell of a summer, literally. When you are a physical bridge between Countries, languages, cultures, when you have a "double life" like me, there are moments in which it's hard to overcome the comfort zone, and accept that other places may be rocking right when you finally started feeling some quiet. You tend to assume that all of your different worlds are quiet or crazy at the same time. And they are not, most of the times. *Daniela Fubini (Twitter @d_fubini) lives and writes in Tel Aviv, where she arrived in 2008 from Turin via New York. 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, Michael Sierra, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves, Lauren Waldman, Sahar Zivan. 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, Michael Sierra, Rachel Silvera, Adam Smulevich, Simone Somekh, Rossella Tercatin, Ada Treves, Lauren Waldman, Sahar Zivan.