Having trouble viewing this email? Click here May 10, 2021 - 28 Iyar 5781

By Noemi Di Segni*
 
A day of celebration, Jerusalem Day, turned into a day of guerrilla warfare and terror. And only by a miracle, for the moment, no losses of life. All these upsets and worries us, also for the fear that the violence, not easily tamable, will spread to other cities in Israel and in the Territories. Responsibility, clarity, and consistency are now needed from everybody, also from governments, leaders, and international diplomacies.
This is not the time to launch one-way appeals, expecting only from Israel and its security forces something that is not only practically impossible but unfair and shortsighted: inertia in front of those who have interests in increasing chaos, hate, and violence. Accusatory attitudes towards Israel just add more fuel to the fire.
It is disheartening that on this very significant day, marked by the remembrance of a vital occurrence in the millenary Jewish history, celebrations must be curtailed and stifled. That a Jewish citizen of Jerusalem may not be able to move freely in his city, in his capital reunited after the many sacrifices that we remember today.
 
*President of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.

By Adam Smulevich
 
A new edition of the Giro d'Italia bycicle race has just started in Turin. Among the participating teams, running for the fourth consecutive edition, there is also Israel Start-Up Nation (ISN). Israel's first professional cycling team seems to compete with stronger ambitions than in the past. ISN is working to bring its captain, the Irishman Dan Martin, as high as possible in the standings.
There are good feelings about it. In his career Martin was in the final top ten three times in the Tour de France and in 2020 he arrived in fourth position at the Vuelta. A prestigious placement in the Giro, even taking this into account, seems possible. "We have never been so competitive" Sylvan Adams, the Canadian-born philanthropist owner of the team, confirmed to Pagine Ebraiche.
The hero of the last edition of the Giro was the British Alex Dowsett, already world record holder of the hour, who won a stage alone. A victory with many meanings: Dowsett suffers from haemophilia and for years he has been fighting for greater awareness of this discomfort.award.“Impossible to forget that day, our first stage victory in a great race”, Adams told us. Dowsett is also in the running with ISN in Giro 2021.

(Above, the Canadian-born philanthropist Sylvan Adams in a recent visit to Florence)

Read more

The eruv, the abbreviation by which the “eruv chazeroth” generally goes, is the ritual halakhic enclosure made for the purpose of allowing activities which are normally prohibited on Shabbat. It integrates symbolically private properties and public spaces, such as streets, squares, and fields into one larger private domain. In that area, the prohibition of carrying objects on Shabbat that applies to Jews in public places is lifted. Trough a recent agreement, the eruv has been renewed in Venice for five years drawing again attention to a unique custom. Unlike in Manhattan or Jerusalem, a physical boundary is impracticable in such a city built on the waters. So, the task is devolved to the canals that ideally delimit the area. With a further peculiarity. With “acqua alta”, the peak tides that periodically flood Venice, the visible boundaries between foundations, streets and canals are eliminated, thus temporarily canceling the eruv. 

Read more

By David Meghnagi*

It has been seven years since Reuven Feuerstein’s passing. Though, his voice has kept on resonating with those who could know and appreciate his scientific and cultural commitment and his open-mindedness. Born in 1921 from a rabbi family, the fifth of nine sons, Feuerstein grew up in a religious Zionist setting which did not disdain socialism. Age three he could read and write. Age eight he taught a fifteen years old pupil how to read prayers in Hebrew; the kid’s father feared that his son could not recite the Kaddish for him someday.
On the verge of the Nazi invasion, Feuerstein was in Bucarest, teaching in camps created by the Zionist movement in preparation for life in Israel. He then carried out his activity in Transylvania with children escaped from extermination. Imprisoned and then freed, Feuerstein reached Israel. There, “in that jumble of almost impossible experiences, of unprecedented efforts for survival but also of immense hope and enthusiasm”, as he often told me, he started his work with escaped children, then with Jewish children coming from Arab countries, from Morocco, Libya, Yemen. Lastly, with Ethiopian Jews arrived in Israel after terrible mishaps with the “Moses” operation. Important material that he proudly showed me and that should be revisited and studied.

*Psychoanalyst

Translated by Silvia Bozzo and revised by Antonella Losavio, students at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of Trieste University, interns at the newspaperoffice of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities.

Read more

By Carol Memmott*
 
Best known for her female-centric legal thrillers, Lisa Scottoline has, over more than 30 novels, dealt with issues of family, justice and honor. Her new book, “Eternal,” tackles many of those same subjects, through a different lens. Set in Italy before and during World War II, the book is an accomplished historical novel that is both steeped in period detail and full of relatable characters — a welcome addition to the growing list of history-based novels about everyday people, especially women, who did what they could to defeat the Third Reich.
“Eternal” begins in May 1937 when teenagers Elisabetta D’Orfeo, Sandro Simone and Marco Terrizzi are living simple lives in Rome. Elisabetta, who cares for her alcoholic father and works as a waitress, dreams of becoming a novelist. Sandro lives with his prosperous parents and sister in the Roman ghetto where Jews have lived for centuries. Marco’s family runs a successful bar and restaurant. Sandro and Marco are besotted with Elisabetta, who has feelings for both, but getting married doesn’t interest her.
them.
 
*This article was originally published on The Washington Poston on April 1, 2021.

Read more

In addition to our social media in Italian, Pagine Ebraiche International recently launched its new profile on Facebook. On our page, we share news, photos, and updates. Please take a moment and visit it, and once there, click “Like” or “Follow”. We look forward to bring you great information and connect with you.
We encourage you to comment, ask us questions, or share the content with your friends, family, and co-workers. Join us on Facebook