Having trouble viewing this email? Click here November 2, 2020/15 Cheshvan, 5781

By Pagine ebraiche staff

Fifty-five years ago, this week Pope Paul VI promulgated Nostra Aetate, the declaration that marked a historical change in Christian-Jewish relations. Among others, it exonerated the Jewish people of the collective blame of Jesus' death - one of the main sources of religious anti-Semitism throughout history. An exchange of messages between Rabbi Noam E. Marans, chair of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations and Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Vatican Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, marked the anniversary.
"It is without doubt that 'Nostra aetate' laid the foundation for relations between Catholics and Jews and can therefore rightly be considered to be the 'Magna Carta' of Catholic-Jewish relations", wrote Cardinal Koch. The dialogue between Catholics and Jews has made its own this vision, in a spirit of fraternal and authentic friendship. “It is with gratitude – he continued - that I reflect that on the level of daily coexistence, many groups around the globe have emerged aimed at building bridges between Jews and Catholics in the spirit of ‘Nostra aetate’”. 

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By Pagine Ebraiche staff

The Italian composer and pianist Francesco Lotoro and his wife Grazia Tiritiello have been honored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance for their thirty years long commitment to give life to music from Holocaust. The Medal of honor has been awarded at a virtual hosted by Jeffrey Katzenberg, Simon Wiesenthal Center Board Member and Rabbi Marvin Hier, Simon Wiesenthal Center founder and dean.
On the same occasion, Amal and George Clooney have been honored for their humanitarian work, along with Dame Louise Ellman DBE, for her decades-long commitment to fighting anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom and Douglas Miguel Rodriguez (posthumously), from Ecuador, who was killed while trying to protect others from anti-Semitic terrorists who stormed a Jersey City kosher supermarket where he worked.

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By JHE*

Renovation work on the monumental synagogue in Turin (Torino) Italy has been completed — and the work was celebrated at Simchas Torah with the dedication of a plaque honoring major donors to the project, including the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation and two families. Before the restoration, costs for the work had been estimated at between €60,000 and €100,000.
The renovation saw safety, consolidation, and conservation work on the roof, facade, and interior features that was initiated after fallen debris was discovered in the women’s gallery during Rosh Hashanah 2017. At the end of 2017, debris also fell from exterior cornices, and an inspection of the building found other problems. On the facade, the renovation work entailed repairing serious cracks and material detachments as well as restoring its decorative elements. The roof required waterproofing as well as cleaning, restoration and repainting of structural elements damaged by serious water seepage. Inside the synagogue, decorative elements, including cracks in plasterwork, were repaired and consolidated. 

*The article was published on JHE -Jewish Heritage Europe on October 13, 2020
 

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By David Bidussa*

In einem Interview des 22 Oktober von Marion Galy Ramounot von Madame Figaro, wenn über den Grund befragt, woraus sie nach dem Mord an Samuel Paty eine Karikatur von Charlie Hebdo veröffentlicht hat, antwortete Delphine Horvilleur das Folgende: "Nichts macht uns mehr wachsen, als wenn wir widersprochen werden".
Danach fügte sie hinzu, dass ein gewaltiges Mittel, um gegen religiösen Fundamentalismus zu kämpfen, die Fähigkeit ist, "unsere religiösen Geschichten durch die erfahrenen Einflüsse zu erzählen. Denn die Fundamentalisten sind chronophob, sie können nicht leiden, dass die Religion sich fortentwickelt haben könnte und Einflüsse von anderen erfahren hat, und denn das alles stößt gegen ihre Idee der Reinheit; Reinheit des Körpers, der Frau, der Andachtsübungen und ihrer Geschichte". Die sind zahlreiche Argumente, manche dessen vielleicht nicht von allen begreiflich sind, aber es lohnt sich darüber zu reden, hier wie auch dort. Auf dieser Seite der Alpen steht alles jedoch still.

*Sozialhistoriker der Ideen

Übersetzung von Rachele Ferin mit der Hilfe von Antonella Losavio, beide Studentinnen der Hochschule für Dolmetscher und Übersetzer der Universität von Triest und Praktikantinnen bei der Zeitungsredaktion der Union der jüdischen Gemeinden von Italien (UCEI).

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By Lahav Harkov*

Since Italy agreed to send coronavirus vaccines to Israel, following a meeting between Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. Ashkenazi thanked the Italian government for agreeing to send the vaccines, and expressed hope that tourism between the countries would open soon.The EU, which has a population of 450 million, ordered over a billion doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines from three pharmaceutical companies, but the European Commission projected this week that there will not be enough doses delivered for the 27-country bloc's population before the end of 2021. The doses are only supposed to go to EU member states, but Israel has negotiated to get spares from Italy and Germany. Ashkenazi and Di Maio also signed an agreement for cooperation in the areas of education and culture.

*This article was published in the Jerusalem Post on October 29, 2020.

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