International

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

June 11, 2018 - Sivan 28, 5778

featureS

Florence, a Community of Arts and Culture

By Nebiyat Tadesse*

Aside from Florence’s well known artistic patrimony, one of the most interesting facts about this famed city is that it is home to about 950 Jews, the third largest Jewish community in Italy. The rich history of Florentine Jews is characterized by rapid change, struggle and resilience. The Jewish community of Florence is one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities in Europe, and also one of the most culturally important Jewish communities in all of Italy.
The story of Florentine Jews begins in the 14th century, when Jews from Portugal and Spain began emigrating to the Tuscan region. During this time, Jews were limited to working as moneylenders. Cosimo di Giovanni de’ Medici (better known as Cosimo the Elder), the de-facto ruler of Florence from 1434 to 1464, had an extensive mercantile background and realized that there was huge potential for Jewish moneylending and entrepreneurship in Florence. As a result, the Medici family recruited and encouraged Spanish and Portuguese Jews to settle in Florence, and the Jewish community was officially established in 1437.

*Nebiyat Tadesse is a student at Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA).

Read more

features

Massimo Teglio: a Geonese Story

By Dan Amouyal*

Genoese Jewish history is a remarkable and unique part of Jewish history.
Genoa (or Genova, in Italian) is home to one of the oldest Italian Jewish communities. The first extent records of Genoese Jews are two letters by Theoderic the Great (454-526 C.E.), king of the Ostrogoths and ruler of Italy, which discuss grants for Jews and permission to rebuild their synagogue.
Yet, throughout the Middle Ages, Genoa was not a welcoming city for the Jews. It introduced many decrees and punishments against Jews in order to prevent their settlement. From prohibiting residence in the city for more than three days, to heavy taxation levied by the Church, and constant persecution. This discrimination stemmed from commercial jealousy of Jewish merchants at the important port of Genoa, and religious extremism which called for the expulsion of Genoese Jews. Famous friars, like Bernardino da Feltre, were among the notable figures to support and advocate this expulsion. Only certain physicians and merchants with Papal approval were allowed to live and work in the city, wearing the notorious yellow badge as identification.

*Dan Amouyal is a student at Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA).

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.
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.
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.