International

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

November 21, 2016 - Cheshwan 20, 5777

CULTURE

"Honoring Giorgio Bassani Is Important
for Italy and Its Culture"

By Pagine Ebraiche staff

On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of author Giorgio Bassani, Italian cultural world celebrated his figure, work and legacy. “This anniversary is an important opportunity for the country, for its institutions and cultural centers, to honor a figure that is beloved all over the world,” minister of Cultural Heritage Dario Franceschini said while opening the conference devoted to Bassani at the La Sapienza University in Rome.
The conference’s sessions took place both in Rome and Ferrara, the writer’s native town, last week. They covered a number of topics connected to Bassani’s work: his role in explaining Italian Fascism, his passion for theater and cinema, the new opportunities of understanding his masterpiece “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis” opened by the recovery of the original manuscript.

EVENTS

Pagine Ebraiche at Milan Bookcity Festival

By Daniel Reichel

With three events organized on Sunday, the Italian Jewish paper Pagine Ebraiche was one of the protagonists of Bookcity, the Milan Festival dedicated to books, writers and literature.
The first event focused on online hate and digital dementia (as professor Manfred Spitzer defined it): the journalist of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities Ada Treves moderated the debate between the sociologist Giovanni Ziccardi, the philosopher Giulio Giorello and the legal expert Carlo Melzi D’Eril. They discussed how online hatred has turned into a tool for politicians and media to get consensus: those who should work to stop the verbal violence on the social networks are doing exactly the opposite to gain more followers.

NEWS

Jewish Teacher Honored by President of Italy

By Adam Smulevich

The President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella conferred one of the highest Italian honor, the title of Commendatore dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica, upon a former teacher and principal of the Jewish School "Vittorio Polacco" in Rome, Emma Alatri.
Alatri, 90 years old, has been selected together with other people who distinguished themselves in their field, because of her ability "to transmit, with her testimony and her teaching, the values of freedom and democracy" to many generations of students.
Alatri worked at Jewish School from 1945 to 1979, but she is still a point of reference for the entire Jewish community.

bechol lashon - Español

Un solo barrio turco acoge a 300.000 refugiados sirios

Francesco Moisés Bassano*

En la esquina de Gaziler Caddesi, si quieres una botella de agua, Emre, el vendedor de kebabs, te enseña a pedirla en turco, árabe y kurdo. Hasta el más mínimo conocimiento de estos tres idiomas es una especie de pasaporte para entrar en el barrio de Basmane, en la ciudad turca de ´. Basmane, alejada de las grandes avenidas modernas de Alsancak, el escaparate de esa urbe laica y republicana que durante años votó mayoritariamente por el CHP –el partido de centroizquierda fundado por Ataturk– y de Kemeralti, el bazar más tradicional, con sus colores y sus aromas especiados, conserva el alma multicultural original de Izmir, la ciudad en la que griegos, armenios, europeos y turcos vivieron en armonía antes del catastrófico incendio de 1922.
Tras el acuerdo sobre emigración firmado entre la Unión Europea y Turquía, más de 300.000 migrantes sirios de origen kurdo y árabe que huyen de los recientes conflictos han buscado refugio en Izmir, uniéndose a los kurdos del sur de Turquía y a los romaníes que ya residían aquí desde los tiempos del imperio otomano.

*El Pais, 17.11.16

Leia mas

pilpul

The Chaotic Power
of Laughter

By Yaakov Mascetti*

There is a profound difference between passively accepting Divine presence and Divine commandments, and the ability to actively argue with G-d, point by point, wrestling with Him upon every single thing he imparts. But there is also a cognitive state in which man, empowered with the capacity to see Divine intervention, dialogue with the Divine agent, and present himself physically in front of God, can even laugh at the things done or about to be done by God. The kind of laughter I wish to refer to here is that of Sara in Genesis 18:12, which is a tragic laughter, an outburst of voice and emotions as the individual is brought to confront a situation that is far from comprehensible – Sara's laughter in Gen. 18:12 and, for that matter, also the laughter of Abraham in Gen. 17:17, is almost that of a joker, that of an individual who sees beyond the regular dynamics of worldly affairs, and confronts all those around him (or her) with that incomprehensible chaotic essence.

*Yaakov Mascetti holds a Ph.D. and teaches at the Department of Comparative Literature, Bar Ilan University.

Read more

VENICE AND THE GHETTO

A Cosmopolitan Community

By Rachael Kohn*

The world's first ghetto was nothing like the racial enclaves and impoverished neighbourhoods that the use of the term conjures up today.
Nor was it a voluntary refuge where immigrants clustered, preferring their own company to that of the host population.
On the contrary, the Jewish population of Venice was abruptly removed to one of the lagoon city's 117 islands, Canarregio, and housed there under lock and key in 1516 — 500 years ago this year.
The alternative was to expel them following the wishes of Pope Innocent VIII.
But the canny Venetians, who were never slavish followers of Rome, knew "their Jews" were valuable, particularly as the chief source of financial credit in an age of trade.
Jews acted as moneylenders, a role imposed on them by the church, which used their services but considered it a sinful profession.

*This article was published in the ABC Australia, on November 12, 2016.

IT HAPPENED TOMORROW

Trump in Jerusalem

Guido Vitale

"I don't think he'll move the embassy, and I don't think he'll legalize settlements. I'm confident we'll work with President-elect Trump and his administration to achieve peace and to achieve the two-state solution". (Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization - The New York Times 19th november 2016)

Read more

italics

Rediscovering Historian
Azariah Dei Rossi

By Eli Kavon*

Azariah dei Rossi, a pioneer of Jewish scholarship born into a distinguished family in Mantua, earned the condemnation of the rabbis of his time. The rabbinic leadership in the 16th century in Italy, Central Europe, and the Middle East were especially outraged by Meor Einayim (“Light to the Eyes”). This was Azariah’s outstanding work of Jewish history, a harbinger of great modern Jewish historians such as Heinrich Graetz who would emerge later in the modern period. “Light to the Eyes” was a daring approach to the history of the Jews, a history that had been neglected since the ancient works of Josephus.

*This article was published in the The Jerusalem Post, on November 6, 2016.

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.