Having trouble viewing this email? Click here January 2, 2023 – 9 Tevet 5783
  

Am 27. Dezember 2022 wird der 75. Jahrestag der Erlassung der Verfassung der Italienischen Republik begangen. In einer Mitteilung, betont die UCEI-Präsidentin Noemi Di Segni wie folgt: „Es geht um die Festigung unserer antifaschistischen Demokratie, unser solidester Anker und Anhaltspunkt nicht nur auf gesetzgebender Ebene. Am Vorabend eines für Italien so wichtigen Tages gibt es jedoch diejenigen, die es für angebracht gehalten haben, einen anderen Jahrestag zu preisen, nämlich den der Gründung der neofaschistischen Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI). Der letztere ist eine Partei, die sich nach dem Sturz des kurz zuvor besiegten faschistischen Regimes in ideologische und politische Kontinuität mit der Italienischen Sozialrepublik (RSI) gestellt hat. Man spricht hier über eine Regierung der unbeugsamen Faschisten, die aktiv an der Deportation der italienischen Juden mitwirkten.“
So sagt Di Segni weiter: „Es ist beklagenswert, dass gerade die Träger hoher institutionellen Ämter es bekräftigen, indem sie diese nostalgischen Gefühle legitimieren. Wir heben die Erwartung hervor, dass nicht nur die Rassengesetze von 1938 als absolutes Übel verurteilt werden, sondern auch der Faschismus und sein Ableger, nämlich die RSI, als ein Übel für ganz Italien sowie für sein bisher verborgenes und heute immer deutlicher Erbe.“ Die Rassengesetze, erinnert sie sich, „wurden nicht in einem kosmischen Vakuum erlassen, sondern durch ein System von Machtmissbrauch und Gewalt. Wenn wir sie heute verurteilen, müssen wir uns an das Gewicht der Diktatur und an derjenigen, die sie erlassen haben, erinnern. Die institutionelle Verantwortung und die verfassungsrechtliche Kohärenz verlangen den Verzicht auf jedes nostalgische Gefühl“.
Die Bedeutung dieses 75. Jahrestages steht auch im Mittelpunkt einer Betrachtung, die kürzlich in der italienischen Tageszeitung La Repubblica an prominenter Stelle veröffentlicht worden ist. „Es ist klar, – behauptet Di Segni in ihrer Eröffnungsrede – dass die Verfassunggebende Versammlung unter dem Vorsitz von Umberto Terracini in der Zeit nach der Zerstörung Italiens und dem Weltkrieg vor einer schwierigen Aufgabe stand. Es ging darum, einen wohl-strukturierten Aufbau vorzuschlagen, der Italien als Nation und als Volk seine Würde zurückgeben konnte, wie auch die Fähigkeit, sich als europäische Demokratie zu behaupten und anerkennen zu lassen, ohne dies jemals erfahren zu haben. Der Vorschlag beinhaltete auch die Fähigkeit, seinen Bürgern die Souveränität zu übertragen, die sich in Freiheiten und in der Ausübung von Rechten niederschlägt, welche lange verweigert wurden. Der Text wurde schließlich nach langen Monaten feiner Ausarbeitung und lebhafter Debatten angenommen. Er spiegelt den Kampf für die Befreiung und das Überleben des Landes wider und war notwendigerweise auch das Ergebnis von Kompromissen zwischen verschiedenen Seelen und Stimmen, bei denen viele maßgebliche Historiker und Juristen verweilt haben“. 

Im Bild: Das Titelblatt der Sonderausgabe der Gazzetta Ufficiale, in der die Verfassung der Italienischen Republik am 27. Dezember 1947 veröffentlicht wurde. Letztere trat am 1. Januar 1948 in Kraft.
 
Übersetzt von Valentina Megera, durchgesehen von Maria Cianciuolo, Schülerinnen der Hochschule für moderne Sprachen für Dolmetscher und Übersetzer der Universität von Triest, Praktikantinnen in der Redaktion der Vereinigung der Italienischen Jüdischen Gemeinschaften – Pagine Ebraiche.

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The Union of the Italian Jewish Communities expresses its togetherness to Pope Francis, to the leaders of the Church, and to the entire Catholic world on the death of Pope Emeritus Joseph Ratzinger. A great figure of a spiritual leader, capable of leaving a profound mark with his work, which we also remember for the encounter with Roman and Italian Judaism of which he was the protagonist crossing the threshold of the Great Synagogue of Rome in January 2010 - second Pope in history to make a gesture also of symbolic and universal value in the footsteps traced 24 years earlier, on an unforgettable day in April, by Karol Wojtyla and Rabbi Elio Toaff. His visit to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem in the jubilee year and later the visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau were also fundamental to strengthening the common commitment to dialogue and the fight against all distortions and prejudices. He was a Pope who showed courage and consistency in his choices. Also in the light of this, the emotion and gratitude in greeting a figure who made history and sowed the foundations for a better future, not only for the Church, are therefore profound.
 
Above, Pope Ratzinger visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem in May 2009.

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Reactions and commotion for the death of Joseph Ratzinger all over the world. "In his brief but intense pontificate, Benedict XVI has left an important mark not only in his Church but the whole world" remarks, among others, the Rabbi of Rome Riccardo Di Segni. "The image of himself that he proposed – reads a note – was more of a theologian, a professor, than of a pastor. For this reason, his ascent to the papal throne raised questions and even concerns for many. In the Jewish world, in particular, there were fears of a doctrinal involution and a slowdown in the dialogue, which had made many steps forward with John Paul II. Instead, it was precisely the doctrinal depth characterizing him that gave strength and new tools to the path of friendship. Benedict XVI, on the one hand, established precise limits. On the other, he showed unusual openness and fought against deep-rooted prejudices". "Even after his retirement – concludes Rabbi Di Segni – he continued to elaborate on his thought by discussing it with rabbis. The news of his death leaves us with regret for losing an interlocutor of the highest level, firm in his faith and convictions, but willing to listen respectfully".
 
Above, Pope Ratzinger with Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni.

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Among the most significant events of Ratzinger's pontificate, there is the visit he made to the Great Synagogue of Rome in January 2010, marking only the second time that a pope has crossed the Tiber River to enter the primary Jewish place of worship in Rome. His visit was preceded by that which in 1986 had as protagonists Karol Wojtyla and Rabbi Toaff, and for this reason, before entering the Synagogue, in a touching homage, he met with Rabbi Emeritus Toaff. On that day, numerous themes and complexities were on the table, as recalled in two remarkable illustrations donated by the author, the artist Enea Riboldi, to Pagine Ebraiche and later reproduced in the national press.
"The teaching of the Second Vatican Council – said Pope Ratzinger - has represented for Catholics a clear landmark to which constant reference is made in our attitude and our relations with the Jewish people, marking a new and significant stage. The Council gave a strong impetus to our irrevocable commitment to pursue the path of dialogue, fraternity and friendship, a journey which has been deepened and developed in the last forty years, through important steps and significant gestures". He then claimed of having wanted, during his mission, "to demonstrate [his] closeness to and [his] affection for the people of the Covenant". He also argued that the Church had "not failed to deplore the failings of her sons and daughters, begging forgiveness for all that could in any way have contributed to the scourge of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism".
Regarding the Holocaust, he remarked that "the Shoah represents, as it were, the most extreme point on the path of hatred that begins when man forgets his Creator and places himself at the centre of the universe". Unfortunately, he continued, "many remained indifferent, but many, including Italian Catholics, sustained by their faith and by Christian teaching, reacted with courage, often at risk of their lives, opening their arms to assist the Jewish fugitives who were being hunted down".
"Christians and Jews – he said - share to a great extent a common spiritual patrimony, they pray to the same Lord, they have the same roots, and yet they often remain unknown to each other. It is our duty, in response to God's call, to strive to keep open the space for dialogue, for reciprocal respect, for growth in friendship, for a common witness in the face of the challenges of our time, which invite us to cooperate for the good of humanity". Many steps must be taken in this direction, "aware of the differences that exist between us, but also aware of the fact that when we succeed in uniting our hearts and our hands in response to the Lord's call, his light comes closer and shines on all the peoples of the world".
Many observers, also in an issue of Pagine Ebraiche that went to press on the same evening, commented on the visit and the gestures that had most distinguished it. "For the first time – historian Anna Foa pointed out – a pope paid homage to the plaque commemorating the raid on Roman Jews on October 16 and stood up from his chair in the synagogue to greet the survivors of the camps. All this means that we are looking ahead, towards a new respect and closer fraternity".
That intense visit, wrote the mathematician Giorgio Israel, "was the demonstration that those who wanted the pope's visit to take place were right". In his assessment, "the legacy, both in Ratzinger's words and in those of the Jewish leaders, of a previous meeting is evident: all the interventions, in fact, were less formal than those of 1986 and the points raised were very specific and, above all, already included in a perspective of a dialogue that can only bode well for the future". 
Mordechai Lewy, then ambassador of Israel to the Holy See, remarked that "the ability of Judaism to survive is guaranteed by the foundation of the Jewish state. Catholics offer us their hand. It would be foolish not to grasp it, unless we wish to mortgage our future with a constant animosity with the Catholic world. The first 2000 years do not legitimize repetition. We both deserve better". Not very likeable as a person, but honest: so was Ratzinger in Sergio Minerbi’s opinion. Speaking with Pagine Ebraiche, the former ambassador said that: "It took counter-balls to write to all the bishops 'I was wrong' about the Williamson case. But he did so. Benedict XVI is less versed than his predecessor in symbolic or if you like, spectacular gestures. But this is precisely a reason for hope".
 
Above, the illustrations by Enea Riboldi depicting the visit of Pope Ratzinger to the Great Synagogue in Rome. In the first, the Pope crosses the Tiber while balancing a long pole with signs saying Dialogue and Conversion. On the riverside, in front of the monumental Temple, signs read "Remember the Shoah". "Stop negationists", and "Enough with the Good Friday prayer". In the second, the Pope leaves the Synagogue greeted by the people on the riverboard accompanied by words such as "Memory" and "Respect of diversities".

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By Seth Wikas*

Lorsque Janet Jagan, une immigrée des États-Unis, est entrée dans l’Histoire en devenant la Première ministre du Guyana en 1997, on pensait qu’elle était la seule juive du pays. Mais un autre Juif avait récemment acheté une île au large de la côte guyanaise. Et 25 ans plus tard, il y a toujours au moins deux Juifs qui vivent dans la petite nation sud-américaine. L’un d’eux est l’acheteur de l’île susmentionnée – un exploitant de pension de famille guyanais-britannique-israélien qui travaille au Guyana depuis les années 1970. L’autre est un ancien cadre marketing de Madison Avenue, originaire de Chicago, qui dirigeait jusqu’à récemment le plus grand tour-opérateur du pays. Tous deux offrent une fenêtre sur trois dynamiques qui définissent le Guyana, à savoir un gouvernement qui embrasse toutes les croyances, une économie basée sur les industries extractives et une vaste forêt tropicale alors que l’industrie de l’éco-tourisme est en pleine croissance.
 
*This article was originally published on The Times of Israel on December 28, 2022 

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