Having trouble viewing this email? Click here August 22, 2022 – 25 Av 5782 

In the middle of summer, as Italy found out that it had to go back to the polls again, a publishing initiative showed how books can be a symbol of solidarity too, reminding us that not far from this country, a gruelling aggression is still going on. In particular, for the many families from Ukraine who have fled to Italy - and other countries - a campaign has begun to publish books in Ukrainian to get into their hands.
Five thousand volumes have been published in our country on the initiative of Rubbettino Print together with the Ukrainian Book Institute, with the support of the Federation of European Publishers and The Italian Publishers Association-AIE. “With this initiative”, explained Ricardo Franco Levi, president of AIE and vice-president of the Federation of European Publishers, “the Ukrainian Book Institute provides concrete help to families and minors who have fled the war all over Europe, while at the same time helping to maintain a strong bond with their home country”. The five thousand volumes were produced thanks to the support of Ukrainian publishers, who made the print files available free of charge.
Meanwhile, from Ukraine, one of the most circulated images in these months concerns exactly a pile of books. Those used as a barricade in a house in Kiev to protect the windows from possible bombs. The one who took the iconic image was the researcher Lev Shevchenko, a neighbour of the family who thought to use literature as physical protection.
The volumes are mostly arranged with the binding on the inside, so it's difficult to tell what they are about. “Only one large volume stands out, featuring the works of the Russian artist Ilya Glazunov. - reports journalist Katerina Segatskova in the Guardian - Ironically this painter, who saw World War II as a teenager and who witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union, publicly supported Vladimir Putin's authoritarian policies and he painted pictures praising Russia's 'greatness'. The people of Kiev are now using a catalogue of his paintings to defend themselves from airstrikes by the Russian army”.
In case of emergency therefore, books can become a physical shield against violence. But, as it is reminded by the Ukrainian publisher Leonid Finberg, it is above all a protection against ignorance and a tool for awareness.

From top, in a house in Kiev a pile of books protects the window from possible bombs; the frontpage of the dossier published by Pagine Ebraiche: the headline reads Books, a shield against ignorance.
 
Translation by Martina Bandini, revised by Maria Cianciuolo, 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.

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Siempre es el momento para hacerse la pregunta contenida en el título del libro de Abraham Joshua Heschel ¿Quién es el hombre? Una lectura que el rabino rav Giuseppe Momigliano de Génova, dice que hizo hace varios años y que ha vuelto a cogerlo hace poco. “Como dice el título, se habla del sentido de la vida. Ayuda a razonar sobre la identidad del hombre. Es un ensayo, quizá uno de los menos conocidos de Heschel, que leí hace muchos años y fue interesante volver a leerlo. Están todos los subrayados que hice entonces y está la dedicación de una persona que desgraciadamente ya no está con nosotros”. Pues un valor también afectivo. “Es interesante porque Heschel empieza por una reflexión más amplia sobre la identidad y el ser humano y luego llega al análisis de los aspectos del pensamiento judío, planteándolos como universales. Él tiene todo el enfoque del jasidismo”.
Además del texto de Heschel, el rav explica que se encontró con un gran clásico de la cultura italiana: Los novios de Alessandro Manzoni. “En realidad no lo estoy leyendo, sino escuchándolo en la radio. Sin embargo, me parece interesante intentar repensarlo a través de la perspectiva judía, analizarlo a través de la reflexión sobre el efecto que tuvo en el contexto de la época, sobre qué pensamiento ayudó a madurar. Comprender la función que de alguna manera desempeñó en los lectores contemporáneos y qué influencia tuvo en las relaciones con la minoría judía. Pienso que es una operación útil para todos los grandes clásicos”. Además, otro tema es el de las lecturas en hebreo de artículos dedicados al análisis, a través de la Halajá (la Ley judía), de cuestiones de actualidad.
En particular, su mirada se centró en un tema relacionado tanto con la política italiana como con la israelí: las elecciones y el comportamiento de los candidatos. “Leí un artículo sobre la propaganda política que cuestionaba hasta qué punto es legítimo hacer ciertas promesas. Si no existe el riesgo de caer, según la Halajá, en una actitud engañosa. En particular, se habla de la prohibición de que los candidatos hagan regalos o promesas personales a los votantes y de que sólo está permitido presentar un programa más amplio y general que afecte a la comunidad”.

Traducido por Martina Bandini y revisado por Erika Centazzo, estudiantes de la Escuela Superior de Intérpretes y Traductores de la Universidad de Trieste, pasantes en la oficina del periódico de la Unión de las Comunidades Judías Italianas – Pagine Ebraiche.

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What is the state of health of Western democracies? Where is the Israeli society going? What are the more significative cultural processes in act? And what is happening in the Jewish communities in Europe and the rest of the world? These are some of the questions at the center last week of the meetings of Redazione Aperta, the journalistic laboratory curated by the UCEI journalistic editorial staff.
Among the guests, the Italian-Israeli demographer and statistician Sergio Della Pergola, professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Slovenian philosopher Igor Pribac, a well-known voice of dissent against the anti-European right of Janez Janša, former Prime Minister deeply attached to Orban's Hungary. Starting from the recent experiences of their own countries, both drew attention to the fragility of western democracies. As Pribac explained, although the recent elections led to the defeat of Janša, the system remains undermined in some of its institutions. Fragility, albeit with many differences, remarked professor Della Pergola, is also found in Israeli democracy, where institutions appear more structured but not protected from the illiberal impulses manifested by some elements of national politics.
“We take it for granted, but in the world liberal democracy is an exception and not a rule”. It is strengthened by prosperity, whereas economic crisis makes it weaker. “When the future turns dark -stressed Pribac - it is easy prey for populist and anti-system messages like Steven Bannon's in the US, which are capable of reorienting consensus and undermining democratic institutions”.

Above, from left Slovenian philosopher Igor Pribac and Italian-Israeli demographer and statistician Sergio Della Pergola. Photo by Giovanni Montenero.

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By David Bidussa*

In New York, Friday 19 August, a week after the attack, intellectuals gathered on the steps of the New York Public Library to give public readings of Salman Rushdie’s work to show solidarity, but also because they were concerned about the ongoing process. Paul Auster intervened and said: “We have the right to stand up and speak. This is valuable. And now that our freedoms are under attack it is very important to make ourselves heard, in a doubly loud voice to fiercely defend our democracy”.
For a strange echo effect, it reminds me of Giacomo Matteotti's words in Parliament on May 30, 1924 - or his last speech - when to the president of the Chamber of Deputies Alfredo Rocco, the same who later will be among the protagonists of the construction of the Fascist juridical system, who asked him to measure his words, Matteotti replied: “I ask to speak not prudently or imprudently, but in parliamentary terms”. We know how it ended then. What will it be like this time?
 
* Social historian of ideas

By Georgia L Gilholy*

An Italian politician has been suspended by his party after he appeared to make humorous remarks about the Holocaust.
38-year-old Naples councillor Giorgio Longobardi of the Brothers of Italy made the comments via Facebook. He joked that Italy’s left-wing Democratic Party wishes to broadcast films relating to the Holocaust films on television until the 25 September election to “avert the danger of ‘fascism’’”. He said that films including Schindler's List, Anne Frank's Diary, The Pianist and Life is Beautiful would be broadcast in the lead-up to next month’s poll and that they would be “interspersed with insights and testimonies from the Holocaust survivors.”
Longobardi was quickly suspended and is now subject to an inquiry. He has issued a statement reported on by Italian-language media in which he says he has “never made fun of the tragedy of the Holocaust, as some media outlets would like to believe with pre-election mastery in these hours.”

*This article was originally published on The Jewish Chronicle on August 19, 2022.

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