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December 21, 2015 - Tevet 18, 5776
Maoz Zur By Guido Vitale* "Seit Jahrhunderten singen jüdische Familien nach dem gemeinsamen Zünden der Channukakerzen den Pijut »Maos Zur«. Der Titel bedeutet so viel wie »Festung und Fels«. Das Lied erzählt in sechs Strophen die jüdische Geschichte und legt dabei besonderes Augenmerk auf die Zeit im Exil und die jeweils anschließende Erlösung. (…) Die Idee der jüdischen Geschichte als Prozess einer g’ttlichen Erlösung ist im Text tief verankert. Seit Generationen spendet sie Juden Wärme und macht dadurch die Kälte des Exils erträglich – bis heute." (Vyacheslav Dobrovych) *Guido Vitale is the editor-in-chief of Pagine Ebraiche.   Blacklist in Disguise By Daniela Gross Waiting for the New Year, media are filled with every kind of list. We can choose amongst the best books, the best movies, and even the best scientific discoveries. The worst list we read, however, comes from Italy. Featured by the Radio Islam website, it enumerates the “Italian influential Jews” and includes entrepreneurs, journalists, teachers, historians, and so on. As reported on the daily Il Giornale by Patricia Tagliaferri, “the Prosecutor’s office opened an investigation, for the time being against unknown persons, after the publication on the website of a blacklist of Jewish people, a kind of proscription list.” Radio Islam - whose home page declares it is “a non-political association, aimed at promoting more and better relations with the West” and is against “Jewish racism toward non-Jews and international Zionism’s goals”- might soon be shut down by the police. In the meantime, many names of the presumed “Italian influential Jews” spread throughout the media, thanks to accurate quotations. Is this freedom of press, or another hatred speech in disguise?		NEWS Gina, a New Righteous among the Nations By Adam Smulevich Yad Vashem honored the memory of Gina Silvestri, a partisan who saved Italian Jewish journalist Massimo Della Pergola (1912-2006) and his family during World War II, recognizing her as a Righteous Among the Nations last Thursday. Della Pergola, one of the most appreciated sport columnists of his time, is also the inventor of Totocalcio: a predictive competition about twelve matches played every weekend which immediately became an extraordinary success among soccer fans and helped finance the national soccer federation. Gina Silvestri, a Florentine citizen with evangelical beliefs, helped Massimo, his wife Adelina and their little son Sergio (just one year old) to escape from Florence and illegally cross the border to Switzerland. This happened on Christmas Day, 1943. Read more featureS The Fascist Regime and Italian Jurists By Francesca Matalon During the Fascist regime in Italy, the directions of the Fascist party on racial discrimination were transformed into laws by a group of jurists who worked for the regime. In his new book Le leggi antiebraiche e razziali ed il ceto dei giuristi (The Italian Anti-Jewish and Racial Laws and the Class of the Jurists, published by Giuffrè) Giuseppe Acerbi tells the story of these controversial figures and their historic role. The book was presented in Rome at the Tullia Zevi Library and Archive of the Italian Union of Jewish Communities (UCEI).   Read more newS In Turin, Kosher Bakery Offers Free Bread to the Needy   By Ada Treves "Every evening, when we close the bakery, we place all unsold bread in two baskets tied to our outside railing, for those people who might need it. We noticed a similar initiative in another Italian town, and we thought it was a great idea... more and more people are having a hard time, we have noticed it, this is just a small help". It is with such simplicity Andrea Bertino explains the latest initiative of the only kosher bakery in Turin, an idea in line with the openness and generosity that over the years have made it a true reference point not only for the local Jewish community, but for the entire neighborhood. Read more media Toscanini in the spotlight on Pagine Ebraiche By Rachel Silvera The sound of courage, the sound of freedom are celebrated in the new issue of Pagine Ebraiche. January's special section is devoted to the orchestra conductor Arturo Toscanini. Famous worldwide, Toscanini refused to lean to Fascist dictatorship and in 1936 he agreed to direct the opening concert of the Israeli Philharmonic (founded by the violinst Bronislaw Huberman). Through the orchestra, Huberman saved many Jewish musicians from Nazi persecution. The special section, edited by Ada Treves, features contributions from musicologist Enrico Fubini, journalist Viviana Kasam, Gabriele Nissim (President of Gariwo), Josh Aronson, Harvey Sachs, Gabriel Vole, Mario Soldati and Hebrew scholar Maria Teresa Milan. The music of Arturo Toscanini will be celebrated with a huge concert for Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27, 2016, which is also sponsored by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities. Read more Français La peur de David Bidussa* Après le vote français de dimanche dernier, je me suis retrouvé à penser plusieurs fois à la première leçon de George L. Mosse que j'ai entendue à l'Université hébraïque de Jérusalem. Le thème était le vote des juifs allemands aux élections en janvier 1933. En sourprenant beaucoup d'entre les présents, y compris moi-même, Mosse réflaichissait sur la logique derrière le vote d'une partie de la minorité juive allemande, et pas une partie petite, pour Hitler. Le problème, Mosse soutenait, n'était pas le fait qu'ils ne connaissaient pas Hitler. C'était qu'ils avaient plus peur des Juifs polonais, qu'ils estimaient être une menace, que d'Hitler. Donc ils ont choisi de rejeter ceux qu'ils pensaient être la principale cause de leur peur, pour confier leur destin à celui qu'ils considéraient être le “moindre mal”. La peur n'est jamais un bon conseiller.   *David Bidussa est un historien. La traduction est de Francesca Matalon. Lire la suite The Unforeseeable Immediacy of Redemption By Yaacov Mascetti* I'm a stage in my life where God's omniscience and omnipresence is no longer an axiom of faith – actually, I am at a stage in life where the opposite is the case, where Divine absence is to be wished for in order for there to be faith, for there to be adoration, for there to be yearning. I need space, I need to be heard, and I need to be seen. The traditional Jewish conception of God being the creator and owner of the universe has found parallels in other traditions too. Horror vacui, or plenism, was commonly stated as a state in which nature abhors vacuum. Aristotle postulated it, was then contradicted and criticized by the atomism of Epicurus and Lucretius; Hero of Alexandria then challenged this theory in the first century CE, but his attempts to create an artificial vacuum failed. The theory was eventually debated in the context of seventeenth-century English philosophy and science, by Thomas Hobbes and Robert Boyle, among others, and then in the eighteenth century by Newton and Leibniz. Vacuum, or the sheer absence of presence, to use the terms of my title, has often been a source of anxiety. *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, Arlindo José Nicau Castanho, 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, Arlindo José Nicau Castanho, 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.