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A Catalogue for Jewish Books in Italy

By Gloria Arbib*

In August 2016, when Noemi Di Segni was just appointed president at the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI), we planned a meeting with Sally Berkovic, Chief Executive for the European projects at the Rothschild Foundation – Hanadiv Europe. The purpose of the meeting was not the sole interest that the foundation showed in the Jewish cultural heritage in Italy, which are considered important and relevant for Judaism all around the world.
The Chief Executive also complained about the scant ability of presenting comprehensive projects by the communities to the point where it was not possible to offer financial contributions to start initiatives in Italy. President Di Segni decided then, along with the author of this article, to lead a network consisting of all the Jewish communities, and also involving the Foundation for Jewish Cultural Goods in Italy (FBCEI, in Italian) and the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation (CDEC, in Italian). Time has passed since then, but we have made progress.
The first task was to deal with the book heritage owned by Jewish institutions and communities. Then, we followed up with a survey about the condition of the communities’ libraries to understand their size, the presence of antique books, the presence of catalogued material and expert librarians. While a group of people filled out the questionnaire, another group attended a workshop that took place in the National Library of Israel (NLI) in Jerusalem. Also Andrea De Pasquale attended the workshop. He is director-general at the Central National Library of Rome (BNCR, in Italian), who was already directly involved in European projects about the Jewish heritage.

*Gloria Arbib is the secretary-general of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities. Translated by Simone Simonazzi and revised by Rachele Ferin, students at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of Trieste University, interns at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.

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Historian Michele Sarfatti Honored
At Columbia University

By Centro Primo Levi*

A crowd of 250 people at the Italian Academy at Columbia University paid homage to historian Michele Sarfatti. Renowned for his groundbreaking research on Italian Jewry, Fascist antisemitism and the Shoah in Italy, Dr. Sarfatti was introduced by Prof. David Kertzer (Brown University) whose remarks highlighted how profoundly his research of forty years influenced Italian and international historiography.
The evening was presented by Centro Primo Levi and the Columbia University Seminar in Modern Italian Studies on the occasion of the upcoming publication of a special issue of the Journal of Modern Italian Studies focusing on the 80th anniversary of the implementation of the Racial Laws in Italy. The volume, edited and introduced by Annalisa Capristo and Ernest Ialongo, will be published in honor of Michele Sarfatti.
In his presentation entitled “Jews In Italy And Nazi And Fascist Persecution. Themes For Future Research,” Dr. Sarfatti discussed research areas that have not been sufficiently studied or have not been studied at all. 
A member of the Italian delegation of IHRA, Dr. Sarfatti has been Coordinator and then Director of the Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (CDEC) from 1982 to 2016. He has been member of “Government Commission to investigate the expropriation of Jewish assets between 1938 and 1945” (1998-2001).


The article was published in the Centro Primo Levi New York online magazine on November 19, 2018.

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President of the Knesset Visits Rome

By Adam Smulevich

Yuli Edelstein, the President of the Israeli Parliament, participated in the "Rome Med Dialogues" conference in Rome last week.
For the occasion, Edelstein also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, and the vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies, Mara Carfagna.
At the Med Dialogue conference Edelstein spoke about Israel's openness to the other. Mediterranean countries: "Our doors are open. Both as the Knesset and as the State of Israel, we want to work together" he said, also emphasizing Israeli concern over Iran’s behavior.

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noticias

Lea Sestieri (1913-2018)

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bechol lashon - Español

Memoria

David Bidussa*

Después de su confrontación, Labán y Jacob, como testimonio del acuerdo alcanzado, levantan un muro divisorio que se convierte en un lugar de memoria [Génesis 31:44-52]. Ambos le asignan un nombre en su idioma. Es fácil imaginar que ambos compartirán la memoria de ese lugar. Pero no tenemos la certeza de que vayan a conservar y a transmitir una memoria compartida del acto.







*David Bidussa, historiador social de las ideas
Traducido por Arianna Mercuriali, estudiante de la Escuela Superior para Intérpretes y Traductores de la Universidad de Trieste, de prácticas en la oficina del periódico de la Unión de las Comunidades Judías Italianas.

Leia mas

double life

South

By Daniela Fubini*

There are many types of double lives.
Some are a bit sketchy, and usually involve a job that should not be known to the wide public: like many, I too know a few people who might serve in secret service or something similar, and they wouldn’t say it for obvious reasons, but they cannot be as many as we tend to think just by binge-watching series on Netflix.
Some are ethically despicable, and usually involve a lover and even children from two parallel families who don’t know of the existence of the other. And no, I don’t know anyone running such a tiring and expensive life.
In my case, the new representation of a double life is plainly geographical..

*Daniela Fubini (Twitter @d_fubini) lives and writes in Israel, where she arrived in 2008 from Turin via New York.




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ITALICS

Israeli woman wins Florence marathon, smashing national record

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