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March 9, 2020 - Adar 14, 5780

NEWS

David Kertzer about Pope Pius XII
“Let historians do their job”

By Adam Smulevich*

“To impose a preconceived celebratory narrative, as if trying to protect something which should definitely be investigated, is a mistake. Unfortunately, many Italian newspapers have lent themselves to this misunderstanding over the last few weeks. It will be up to historians, and historians only, to work on this matter.”
David Kertzer, Pulitzer Prize who has a deep knowledge of the Church history, especially in its complex relationship with Judaism, is one of the historians who gained access to the Vatican Apostolic Archive on Pope Pius XII’s pontificate.

Translated by Claudia Azzalini and revised by Mattia Stefani, both students at the Advanced School for Interpreting and Translation of Trieste University and interns at the Newspaper’s Office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.

news

Coronavirus, Italian Rabbis invite
to safeguard health and life

By Pagine Ebraiche staff*

"Until now we have refrained from giving general provisions because the situation was very different in the different regions of Italy and therefore each rabbi gave instructions to his community. Unfortunately, the situation is currently more homogeneous and we believe that some general recommendations can be made. Clearly these recommendations apply with the exception of the places where greater restrictions are imposed by the health authorities and may in any case vary with the variation of the situation." This is part of a statement from the Italian Rabbinical Assembly, which issued some recommendations relating to the Coronavirus emergency and the observance of precepts and Jewish law.
The note mentioned some Halakhah norms which must be taken into consideration: “There is a duty for everyone to observe mitzvot even in difficult situations. There is also a duty to safeguard one's life and one's health and the life and health of others and therefore it is a halakhic duty to observe the health recommendations of the competent bodies. These two fundamental duties must be reconciled as far as possible, even if clearly safeguarding life and health takes precedence over everything."

NEWS

A tribute to Joseph Varon (1926-2020)

By Pagine Ebraiche staff*

“I’m telling this to young people: read a lot, study history and ponder over the disastrous consequences which can arise from a disastrous policy”. This is the message which Joseph Varon wanted to share on the occasion of the solemn ceremony at the Quirinal Palace for the Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2017. A short but meaningful speech aimed at remembering part of his dramatic experience and raise awareness among younger generations.

*Translated by Sara Facelli and revised by Claudia Azzalini, 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.

bechol lashon - Francais

Archives de Pie XII:
le rabbin de Rome critique
le Vatican

Beniamino Morante*

La promesse que les documents seraient étudiés dans le calme, sans scandales, aura duré moins de 24 heures. Lundi 2 mars, suivant une décision du Pape François prise l’année dernière, les archives secrètes du Vatican sur le pontificat de Pie XII [1939 – 1958] ont été ouvertes aux chercheurs. Selon les propos de l’historien Alberto Melloni, rapportés le jour même par le quotidien romain La Repubblica, “un travail qui prendrait des mois, voire des années”, allait alors s’ouvrir, tandis qu’un de ses confrères, Marcello Pezzetti, affirmait qu’il était “improbable que quelque chose de significatif émerge de ces documents”.

*Courrier International, 03.03.2020.

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pilpul

Uprooting

By David Bidussa*

In the Sunday literary supplement of the Corriere della Sera, English historian Peter Burke said that intellectuals in exile have been the voices that, with their uprooting, have helped to create culture, trigger news and produce innovation. Perhaps, together praising the concept of belonging, which seems to be the most appreciated language, it would not be wrong to find "virtue" in uprooting.

*David Bidussa is a historian of social ideas.

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ITALICS

A Syrian donated a tree in Israel for an Italian boy whose bar mitzvah party was canceled
due to coronavirus

By Ben Sales*

Aboud Dandachi isn’t Jewish. Or Israeli. Or Italian. Or sick with coronavirus.
He’s a Muslim from Syria living in Canada.
But when he read the Jewish Telegraphic Agency story about an Italian boy whose bar mitzvah was curtailed because of the rapidly spreading virus, Dandachi responded in a way he figured Jews might appreciate: He donated $18 in honor of Ruben Golran to the Canadian branch of the Jewish National Fund to plant a tree in Israel in the teen’s honor.
“This is what I know how to do,” said Dandachi, 43, of Toronto. “I’ve had friends in Canada, Jewish friends who have children, and they seem to appreciate it. That’s how I know how to commemorate such an occasion.”

*The article was published in JTA on March 3, 2020.

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.

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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.