Having trouble viewing this email? Click here July 18, 2022 – 19 Tamuz 5782

From September 15 to 18th, the Jewish Book Festival returns to the MEIS - National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah in Ferrara. This 13th edition will address the issues of the relationship between Judaism and image and of renewal. A prestigious parterre of national and international guests is going to be featured, including Joshua Cohen, 2022 Pulitzer Prize winner with the novel The Nethanyahus, which will be published in Italy by Codice at the beginning of September and Israeli cartoonist Rutu Modan, who will unveil some initiatives she is committed together with the National Library of Israel. The program also includes meetings with the authors and workshops, a tribute to Primo Levi and the presentation of the project for a new house for the National Library of Israel, designed by the architects Herzog & de Meuron.
The relationship between Judaism and image will be explored through comics, graphic novels and ancient manuscripts illustrated in a comparison with the authors who, as the Director of the MEIS Rabbi Amedeo Spagnoletto says, reflects on “identity issues, the need for self-representation and the powerful balance between words and drawings, a combination that, in addition to entertaining, often allows us to express the ineffable".
Renewal is instead the theme chosen for the European Day of Jewish Culture, which will take place on September 18, coinciding with the last day of the Jewish Book Festival, and will have Ferrara as the leading city in Italy. “Renewing means changing – points our Rabbi Spagnoletto – but also to make different something you already had, and even to return to appreciate ideas and beliefs set aside because hastily labeled as outdated. It means giving ourselves an opportunity to improve and so to respect ourselves and our environment. So, why not do it reading a book?”.

Photo by Maurizio Cinti

Read more

À partir du 1er septembre, Turin aura un nouveau rabbin: Rav Ariel Finzi. Le Conseil communautaire en informe avec une communication exprimant ses "sincères regrets", mais aussi sa "pleine compréhension des exigences personnelles et familiales" qui ont conduit l'actuel Rabbin Ariel Di Porto à démissionner à cette même date. 
Ce jour-là se termineront huit années de travail qui, comme le souligne le Conseil, l'ont conduit à être aimé et apprécié par la Communauté entière, qui a vu en lui un guide sûr, une personne dotée d'une extraordinaire disponibilité humaine envers les personnes âgées et en difficulté, un enseignant solide capable de conquérir les étudiants et les jeunes, un travailleur infatigable, prêt à assumer tout type de responsabilité et à répondre en temps réel à tout type de demande, un point de référence sûr pour les familles, les enseignants, le Conseil et tout le personnel communautaire". À ce sujet, on parle d'un "immense dette de gratitude" à son égard. Après "une longue et profonde réflexion", le Conseil a choisi de s'adresser au rabbi Finzi, actuel rabbin de Naples, qui a récemment obtenu le titre de Hakham "après une période intense d'études à l'École Rabbinique Margulies-Disegni sous la direction du Rabbi Alberto Somekh". 
Parmi les éléments qui ont fait la différence figurent "sa préparation, l'appréciation unanime qu'il a reçue au cours de ses sept années à la tête de la Communauté de Naples, et son grand enthousiasme pour le nouveau défi qui l'attend". Ces qualités ont convaincu le Conseil de lui confier une chaire "qui dans le passé a été occupée par de grands maîtres du judaïsme italien". Rabbi Finzi est le premier Turinois "après plusieurs décennies à devenir le rabbin de sa ville natale, où il a passé son enfance et sa jeunesse, ainsi que le premier diplômé après plusieurs années au cours d'études avancées" de l'École Rabbinique locale, qui a formé de nombreux rabbins prestigieux depuis l'après-guerre, appelés ensuite "à occuper la chaire de nombreuses communautés en Italie et à l'étranger". 
On souhait "une période fructueuse et satisfaisante pour lui et tous les Juifs de Turin". 

Dans la photo: Rabbi Ariel Finzi lors du récent examen pour le titre de Hakham. 

Traduction d’Alice Pugliese, révisée par Erika Centazzo, étudiantes à l’École Supérieure de Langues Modernes pour les Interprètes et les Traducteurs de l’Université de Trieste, stagiaires dans le bureau du journal de l’Union des communautés juives italiennes – Pagine Ebraiche. 

Read more

By Simonetta Della Seta*
 
I first met him in person at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem. It was the early 90s and I had not yet read his books. His eyes pierced with passion and his still dark curls swirled with the head movements. He was pointing his finger at an audience of academics and intellectuals. He was not talking about literature but politics. He was concerned by the occupation of the Palestinian territories. “What will we become?”, he said. “How can we Jews occupy other peoples?”.
My Hebrew was already good enough to understand his sentences, punctuated with such clarity and confidence. A rounded pronunciation, powerful, even if the tongue clashed his teeth when he pronounced the double “t” of the Hebrew alphabet, giving a quick and funny lisp. His eyes often met those of a woman sitting in second row. She would smile, reciprocate, approve. Soon I would also meet Ika, psychologist, lecturer, mother of his children, companion of his life. They had met and loved each other, sharing a love for the children and their country, for France and then Italy, for friends, for music, for theater and finally, for their grandchildren.
Their home on Mount Carmel was full of color and light. Ika always seemed to be in a good mood, but one could tell that everything was subject to his judgment. Bulli, as friends called him, taught literature at the University of Haifa. He would tell me about his students, how sometimes their questions intrigued him. Ika already knew everything. He had made her aware of it, had confided in her, they had already discussed every detail.

* The author is the former director of MEIS – National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah

Photo by Marco Caselli Nirmal
 
Translation by Maria Cianciuolo, revised by Alida Caccia, students at the Secondary School of Modern Languages for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Trieste, interns at the newspaper office of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities – Pagine Ebraiche.

Read more

The Piemonte Agency and Margalit Startup City a new partnership Monday with the aim of forging new ties in tech, business, and economic organizations between the northwestern Italian region and Jerusalem. Piemonte has been diversifying its economic structure in recent years, attracting some of the most important Italian and multinational companies to the region. Strategically located in the heart of Europe and the Mediterranean area, the Piemonte region is dynamic in services, with a skilled, flexible, and versatile workforce.
Margalit Startup City is the flagship of a network of innovation centers of excellence in Israel, which integrate the best local and international strategic partners in both the public and private sectors.
"Our mission has always been to build bridges, between communities, between cities, between regions – and today is a milestone on this journey," said Erel Margalit, founder and executive chairman of JVP and Margalit Startup City. "We are not just opening one partnership today, we are expanding across an entire network of innovation." 

*This article was originally published on Israel Hayom on July 12, 2022.

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