news

Dozens of Italian locations celebrate
the European Day of Jewish Culture

By Pagine Ebraiche staff

The European Day of Jewish Culture was celebrated on Sunday all over the Italian peninsula.
Over 80 cities and towns joined in the event. The 2019 edition was focused on the topic of “dreams” in the Jewish tradition. Parma was this year’s capital of the day.
“Twenty years have passed since September 1999, and this event, coordinated and promoted in our country by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, has grown exponentially, year after year, becoming a consolidated appointment in the Italian cultural scene,” said Union of Italian Jewish Communities vice-president Giorgio Mortara.
“The purpose of the Day, which is celebrated in over thirty European countries, is to promote the knowledge of history, places and traditions of a minority that has been in Italy for over two millennia: a long history of coexistence, between dark periods and times of extraordinary cultural vivacity. The Jewish community is almost superfluous to point out, now lives perfectly integrated and substantially ‘in symbiosis’ with the general society, to which it gives its own contribution in terms of values, contents, ideas, culture,” he added.

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SPORTS

Israel and the Holy See: stamp celebrates
25 years of diplomatic relations

By Pagine Ebraiche staff

Israel and the Holy See celebrated 25 years of diplomatic relations with a stamp jointly issued by the Israeli Philatelic Service and the Vatican Post Office.
The stamp, which depicts the Church of St. Peter and the synagogue of Capernaum in the Galilee, was presented last week by Jorge Bergoglio.
The delegation was joined by Israeli ambassador to the Holy See Oren David, the director of the Philatelic Service of the Jewish State Elhanan Shapira, the head of the Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City Mauro Olivieri and Marica Fabris from the secretariat.
The State of Israel and the Holy See signed the Fundamental Agreement on December 30, 1993.
The occasion marked the beginning of a new phase, celebrated last June with a concert at the Tempio Maggiore in Rome.
"This special stamp symbolizes the unique relationship between Judaism and Christianity. On the 25th anniversary of the Agreement, we celebrate with great satisfaction the many results achieved," highlighted David.

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featureS

Addressing the Parliament, senator for life Liliana Segre warns against hatred 

By Adam Smulevich

On September 10, 2019, the day of her 89th birthday, Liliana Segre, Shoah survivor and senator for life since January 2018, decided to give the vote of confidence to Giuseppe Conte’s second government. In order to do so, she attended the Senate session taking place at Palazzo Madama.
Well aware of her importance as a public figure, she wanted to show her commitment not only taking part in the session, but also showing her intention to support the new government. Her vote was a definite “Yes”, which she backed up saying: “I wish that this new government could be built not only on alliances based on legitimate political convenience, but also on the awareness of having averted a crisis. On that feeling of relief when you realise you pulled yourself back just one second before falling off the cliff.

Translated by Sara Facelli and revised by Mattia Stefani, both students at the Advanced School for Interpreting and Translation of Trieste University and interns at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.

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bechol lashon - Français  

La coexistence pacifique
à retrouver 

Dario Calimani*

Il y a quelque chose de nouveau dans l’air aujourd’hui. Au cours de quelques jours, les passions se sont apaisées, l’air s’est un peu rasséréné. Les écrans lancent moins d’invectives et d’invitations à la haine. On peut espérer que l’Italie revient à une politique qui ne s’intéresse pas seulement des résultats aux élections, mais qui s’occupe des vrais problèmes des gens : le manque de travail, leur difficulté à joindre les deux bouts, l’avenir des jeunes. Et, pourquoi pas, l’application des lois et des règles qui sont valables pour tout le monde et permettent une coexistence pacifique dans une société où les citoyens se respectent mutuellement et ne font pas de discriminations.

*Dario Calimani, Université de Venise. Traduit par Claudia Azzalini et révisé par Mattia Stefani, étudiants de l’École Supérieure pour Traducteurs et Interprètes de l’Université de Trieste et stagiaires au journal de l’Union des communautés juives italiennes.

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pilpul

Centennials 

By David Bidussa*

The centennial of Fiume (editor’s note: currently Rijeka in Croatian) has been archived with a statue honoring its commander. A different centenary is looming on the horizon. The centennial, which we will search in vain in the history textbooks of our schools, is the burning of the Narodni Dom in Trieste, which happened on July 13, 1920, and marked the first act of discrimination and "ethnic cleansing" associated with the idea of "Italians first". I don't think it would be a good idea to make a statue of the man who led the assault to set fire to that building.



*David Bidussa is a historian of social ideas.






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ITALICS

Muslim, Jewish leaders team up
in 'exemplary' European initiative

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