European Day of Jewish Culture

Sicily in the Spotlight

By Daniel Reichel
 
The European Day of Jewish Culture will be celebrated in Italy on September 10, in over 80 locations. The heart of the initiatives this year will be Sicily; its ancient Jewish roots and the blooming of its new Jewish life. The theme of the day will be, “Diaspora: Identity and Dialogue”. The idea is to “enhance the central role of the land of Israel towards which the Jewish people are directed in their long exodus from Egypt and towards which they have directed their unfaltering gaze in the millennia to come”, said the President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Noemi Di Segni.

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European Day of Jewish Culture

Between Identity and Dialogue

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European Day of Jewish Culture

Sicily, an Island of Exiles, Returns and Destiny 

By Ada Treves
 
The history of a thousand-year old presence, which dates back to the destruction of the second Temple, the characteristics and the traditions of a special island. A presence recognized as an integral and essential part of the local history and the consequences of an Edict of Expulsion which, in 1492, affected thousands of lives. The stories of Italy’s largest Jewish Community, the troubles and the efforts of a rebirth which, for a long time, could only rely on the determination of a handful of people.
All this and more is the Jewish Sicily, a community which reaffirms its existence and is currently fighting to take back its history. If from one hand the Community is facing many difficulties, from the other hand it is having outstanding successes. Telling the world about the Italian Judaism means to start a learning process which is not easy at all, or in other words to take a winding and unpredictable road made up of conflicting characters and stories which still need to be understood.

*Translation made by Arianna Mercuriali, student at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Trieste, intern at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.

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European Day of Jewish Culture

Sicily: Determination and Will
to Be Born Again

By Claudia Lo Iacono*
 
Judaism in Palermo has regained importance thanks to a woman: Evelyne Aouate, a French Jew born in Algeria. She experienced the wandering that led her and her family to Paris. She was raised in an observant family and when she was very young, she decided to stay in Sicily after a trip. “I thought I was the only Jew in Palermo, but I was wrong, even though there wasn’t a reference organisation. When I found out other Jewish realities I was very happy. Then, accidentally, Miriam Ancona came looking for me. She had heard from one of my clients that I am Jewish and she came to see me in my shop.”
After many years of work, came the decision to retire, and it is right at this moment that Evelyne starts to be approached from outside Palermo. “Three and a half years ago I decided to retire and in that period I was approached by rav Pierpaolo Pinhas Punturello to organise a seminar to talk about Judaism. It was an unknown field, but with the support of a friend who is a bookseller, we did it and we saw that the people are very curious to see, to know, to understand what Judaism is. At the end of the seminar, rav Punturello suggested kindling the lights of Hanukkah. I thought it was an ambitious plan, but nonetheless we wanted to try. We presented the idea to the university: we proposed just one day, but the rectorate wanted the kindling for the eight days of the holiday. It was especially moving because they were the prisons of the Inquisition. From there every institution of the city has opened its doors to us. We were well received, we never got a no. That’s why Palermo is special, for its past of hospitality and domination.”


*Translation made by Sara Volpe, student at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of Trieste University, intern at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.

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European Day of Jewish Culture

The Unique Jewish History of Sicily

By Rossella Tercatin*

“I first took an interest in the history of the Jewish Sicily towards the end of the 1980s. I had the chance to read Obadia Da Bertinoro’s writings on the synagogue of Palermo. Thus I began to study this subject”. Architect David Cassuto was the vice mayor of Jerusalem between 1993 and 1998, in which period he committed himself to the city’s urban and cultural development in particular. While talking to Pagine Ebraiche, Mr. Cassuto has been recalling the detailed studies he carried out on the Sicilian Jewish community, starting from the very writings that made him wonder what was, and what is, left.

*Translation made by Federica Alabiso, student at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of Trieste University, intern at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.

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bECHOL LASHON Español

Normalidad

par Adolfo Locci*

En un mundo donde el estado de derecho reemplaza cada día más al sentido del deber, el hecho de darse cuenta de que alguien está haciendo lo que naturalmente tiene que hacer parece un evento que, por su rareza, produce un gran revuelo. Uno de los mensajes que la Torah quiere transmitir es el de “la normalidad de cumplir con nuestros deberes” y cuando ocurra esto, no se habrá hecho nada trascendental.







*Adolfo Locci es rabino. Traducción de Francesca Antonioli, estudiante de la Escuela Superior para Intérpretes y Traductores de la Universidad de Trieste, en prácticas en la oficina del periódico de la Unión de las Comunidades Judías Italianas.

Leia mas

Altrove/Elsewhere

Free and Free to Err

By Daniel Leisawitz*

As we made our way well into the summer, the thoughts of many Americans, just as those of many Italians, turned toward taking a vacation: that brief respite from routine that helps us to break away, if only momentarily, from our responsibilities and obligations… at least in theory. In Italy, where most people enjoy more time off than the average American, the traditional summertime dilemma is whether to go either al mare or in montagna: to the beach or to the mountains.
Among his many other accomplishments, the chemist, writer, and Holocaust-survivor, Primo Levi, was an amateur alpinista or mountain-climber.

*Daniel Leisawitz is the Director of the Italian Studies Program at Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA). The artwork is by Abraham Cresques a 14th-century Jewish Spanish cartographer.

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IT HAPPENED TOMORROW

Good News and Bad News

Guido Vitale

"There’s good news about the Jewish people and bad news. The good news is we’re amongst the greatest speakers in the world. The bad news is we’re among  the world’s worst listeners." (rav lord Jonathan Sacks)

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italics

Orthodox Judaism
and the Catholic Church,
a New Milestone

By Lisa Palmieri-Billig*

A highly significant event in the history of Catholic-Jewish relations, as well as of intra-Jewish relations, took place August 30. The top representatives of the world’s three main bodies of Orthodox Judaism from Europe, Israel and the U.S., presented Pope Francis with a memorable document entitled “Between Jerusalem and Rome”.   
Its significance lies in its being the very first of its kind to receive unanimous consensus by international Jewish Orthodoxy. The document evaluates and proposes joint commitments based on a dialogue begun 52 years ago with the publication of the Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate. It expresses deep appreciation and esteem for the way the Catholic Church and successive papacies in the 20th and 21st centuries -- particularly those of John Paul II and Francis -- have acted to implement a positive revolution in teaching regarding Jews, Judaism and Israel, based on the principles of the landmark Vatican II document.

*Representative in Italy and to the Holy See of AJC - the American Jewish Committee. The article was published in The Vatican Insider section of La Stampa, on September 2, 2017.

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