Having trouble viewing this email? Click here March 22, 2021 - 9 Nissan 5781

Behind him is the hall where, in the Sixties, the first sessions of one of the most important trials against Nazi criminals responsible for the Final Solution were held. In front of him is a stained glass-window showing the building where, in 1848, the constituent assembly to further the founding of a unitary German state, with respect for fundamental human rights at its core, met.
Places and cornerstones of History that put those with political responsibilities in front of a choice: “Commit to the light, or let the darkness advance”. It is one of the key-concept Mayor of Frankfurt Uwe Becker lingered on, in doing the honours to the many colleagues from all over Europe and the world who chose to join him and the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement in a unique event held last week.
From Buenos Aires to Amsterdam, from Bruxelles to Toronto, from Riga to Tirana: mayors’ joint appeal during the first “Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism” aimed at an even stronger commitment against hatred, through repression of harmful behaviours but also through the development of educational and cultural programs up to today’s many challenges.
 
Translated by Silvia Bozzo and revised by Antonella Losavio, 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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From matzos to wine, from donuts to Parmigiano Reggiano. Over 250 food packages are being distributed throughout Jewish Italy to help less well to do families celebrate the upcoming Pesach holiday. The effort is coordinated by Jacqueline Fellus, the Union of the Italian Jewish Community councilwoman in charge of Kasherut. “From the companies that provided us with products, professional support, and means, to the volunteers who came to help in packaging and distribution: at every level I found great commitment and collaboration”, she said. “There is a great desire to help. And this, of course, is very positive”. Part of the cost of the packages, offered at a controlled price, is absorbed by the UCEI. For the rest, some communities, such as that of Rome, recipient of the largest number of parcels, have taken charge of it. “It is an important initiative – Fellus highlighted – that come at a time of serious difficulties for so many families”.

From Chag hamatzot (feast of unleavened bread), zeman cherutenu (feast of freedom), chag aviv (feast of spring). These are the names by which Pesach is known, but what is the difference between these meanings? An answer can be found in the new edition of the Haggadah of Pesach by the publisher Belforte, characterized by a stimulating dialogue on the many themes that this holiday has posed to Judaism for millennia.
The role of the interviewer is played by Dario Coen, who asks some specific questions to the Rabbi Roberto Della Rocca and the psychoanalyst Alberto Sonnino. The volume, whose introduction is signed by the rav Riccardo Di Segni, is enhanced by the colorful illustrations by Micol Nacamulli.
“In the Torah - explains Rabbi Della Rocca - the name Pesach is mainly linked to the qorbàn, sacrifice (Shemòt, 12; 11), and is instead chag ha matzòt, the feast of unleavened bread (Shemòt, 23; 15), an expression that better defines this holiday, since its symbol is the matza. The matzot are also the paradigm of freedom, symbolized by the genuineness and 'diligence' with which this bread must be kneaded”.

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For centuries Venice was the capital of Jewish publishing, with the first complete Talmud, Torah commentaries, mysticism and, in 1609, a famous Haggadah in several languages. In 2015, marking the Ghetto quincentennial, Beit Venezia – A home for Jewish culture invited eight international Jewish artists to design a New Venice Haggadah after a full immersion in the city and a residency at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica.
They produced 24 beautiful etchings illustrating the Haggadah that were on show at the Jewish Museum of Venice. The etchings are now offering a unique visual commentary of the New Venice Haggadah, published by Edizioni Damocle and printed in Venice.
The Hebrew text is accompanied by a new English translation intended to invite discussion and interpretation. The New Venice Haggadah is informed by the spirit of the “original” while being consummately fresh, contemporary and innovative, as the director of Beit Venezia Marc Michel Epstein explains in this video.

 

By Jerusalem Post Staff*   

As the latest of a number of Jewish heritage projects coordinated by the Vercelli Jewish community in recent years, a 400-year-old wooden Aron Kodesh (Torah scroll ark) has been fully restored and will be installed in a prominent place in the city's grand synagogue, the Jewish Heritage Europe website reported. The Moorish-style synagogue, built in the northwest Italian city in 1878, is currently closed because of COVID-19 restrictions. The Vercelli Jewish community hopes to hold an inauguration of the ark in May or June. The Ark showed significant damage suffered over the centuries, and was stored for a long time in the synagogue waiting for its restoration.
The €50,000 restoration of the ark was funded by three bank foundations: Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Vercelli and Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino and the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo. “In the year of ‘lockdowns’, and despite the delays, the community has now taken back a precious witness of its history and culture,” the Jewish community said in a statement.
The baroque-style ark is said to date back to 1600, well before the imposition of the Vercelli ghetto in the 1720s, as a resident Jewish community had been living in the city since the early 15th century, according to the current Jewish community.
 
*This article was originally published on The Jerusalem Post on March 21, 2021.

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