International

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

February 29, 2016 - Adar I 20, 5776

NEWS

President of Italian Rabbis on Civil Unions:
“We Heed the Signals of the Society,
but Our Benchmark is Halakhah”

By Pagine Ebraiche Staff

The Italian Senate approved the first law granting legal recognition to civil unions last week. The law includes provisions both for same-sex couples and for unmarried couples. The president of Italian Rabbinical Assembly rav Giuseppe Momigliano told Pagine Ebraiche that while the signals of the society are to be heeded, the benchmark for Orthodox Judaism is Halakhah.
“We acknowledge this new bill which is struggling to find its way to be approved by the Italian Parliament. As Italian citizens, we cannot avoid the responsibility of reading and interpreting the signals that come from society, from political forces and institutions. Therefore we have the highest respect for all these different opinions, including within our own communities. However, something must be clear: the educational line of Orthodox Judaism is based on Halakhah, the Jewish law,” rav Momigliano said.

news

European Rabbis Meet in Rome

By Adam Smulevich

Rabbis and representatives of different currents of European Jewry met in Italy, in the surroundings of Rome, for a strategic confrontation concerning the future of their Communities and the possible synergies to activate.
“The Europe to come”, “European Jewry to come”, “To be a Jew today”, “A strategy for European Jewry” were the main topics discussed during the meeting organized by Matanel, an international foundation that focuses on strengthening the rabbis’ status and roles in the Jewish communities throughout Europe. Also by providing them, its mission-statement said, “with means ensuring their happiness through the success of their ritual and spiritual work”.

MEDIA

Pagine Ebraiche Features a Special Section
on the 500th Anniversary of the Venice Ghetto

By Rachel Silvera

"The delicate situation of Venetian Jews is the metaphor of a crossroad that required strong choices and, at the same time, openness to the world." 500 years after the establishment of the Ghetto of Venice, rabbi Roberto Della Rocca (former Chief Rabbi of the city) reflects on its meaning in the Pagine Ebraiche special section devoted to the anniversary.
Inside the special section, edited by journalist Ada Treves, the readers will also find op-eds by Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro, governor of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, Venice Chief Rabbi Scialom Bahbout and president of the Venice Jewish community, Paolo Gnignati.
"This anniversary is an opportunity to explore a long history of denial, oppression and pain, but also the walk together toward freedom," wrote the president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities Renzo Gattegna. The March issue of Pagine Ebraiche also reports on all the details about the big concert that will open the anniversary commemorations at historic La Fenice Theatre.

BECHOL LASHOn - Español Cómo los judíos de hoy viven el antisemitismo por Sergio Della Pergola* Estudios recientes en América Latina, Europa y Oriente Medio muestran que el antisemitismo está en aumento junto con el racismo, la xenofobia y la intolerancia religiosa. Esto es cierto, sea examinanda la frecuencia de las manifestaciones de antisemitismo en la población general de un país o mediante la medición de las percepciones de antisemitismo dentro de la población judía. Según una reciente encuesta conducida en más de 100 países por la Liga Antidifamación sobre la propagación de prejuicios negativos hacia judíos, todos los 16 países con más alta frecuencia de antisemitismo son países musulmanes. Países con el menor nivel de antisemitismo se encuentran en Asia (Laos, Filipinas, Vietnam) y en occidente (Holanda, Inglaterra, Estados Unidos). En América Latina los países más afectados son Panamá, Colombia y República Dominicana, y los menos afectados son Brasil, Jamaica y Trinidad y Tobago. Es quizás paradójico que el prejuicio antisemita es a veces mayor entre personas que nunca han conocido un judío que en países donde se concentran hoy las comunidades principales. *Sergio Della Pergola es Profesor Emérito de Demografía, Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén. El Tiempo 21.02.2016. Leia mas	PILPUL My Barbie and I By Susanna Calimani* Last week I was wasting my usual amount of daily time in compulsive internet browsing: from IKEA to Financial Times, from Huffington Post to the new Spring collection of Max&Co, from Bloomberg to Lufthansa offers, from the Macro Prudential Policies Bulletin to the new catalogue of Barbies. Because financial markets might be in distress, but toys are always ruling the world. I have to admit I have never been a big fan of Barbies per se, but of course they were a status symbol and society told me I needed to have at least 5 of them. Together with the vast variety of gadgets: dresses and houses, bags, shoes, and also Ken –her super good looking boyfriend. I always had the feeling she was tremendously fake: her body was not proportioned, her neck was too long, her legs too thin, her hips too narrow, her head too tiny. Far from being realistic, close to being a monster… nevertheless she was so artificially beautiful. And although I liked Ken, I hated her. When a couple of years ago I found out that someone was trying to produce an alternative doll with average, realistic, women sizes, I was so happy about it that I participated in the crowdfunding. *Susanna Calimani is a wandering economist, currently based in Frankfurt. Read more

IT HAPPENED TOMORROW Militant Energies By Guido Vitale “With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the retreat of Marxist socialism around the world, militant energies have needed somewhere to go. The battle against inequalities under liberal capitalism has mobilised some of that passion, but postcolonial guilt has fired up the war against its prize whipping boy, Zionism, like no other cause. Every such crusade needs a villain along with its banners and I wonder who that could possibly be?”. (Simon Schama , Pagine Ebraiche, March 2016) Read more	italics Historian David Kertzer in Rome By Pagine Ebraiche Staff Historian and Pulitzer Prize winner David Kertzer is currently in Rome to carry on his studies on the relationship between the Vatican and the fascist regime. His book on pope Pius XI and dictator Benito Mussolini (“The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe”) earned him the Pulitzer Prize in 2015. Last week he attended an event at the American Academy in Rome. As reported in Pagine Ebraiche, Kertzer disclosed some new documents on the issue: letters to Mussolini from high-profile Vatican figures praising his work and asking him to prevent Jews from running for public office. Read more

moked è il portale dell'ebraismo italiano

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.