Italy as a country is nothing if not traditional. Many of its cobblestone streets existed long before the U.S. gave so much as a birth cry and the Italian Jewish community boasts roots that go back to the second century B.C.E. The Renaissance is almost a modern phenomenon in comparison. But Rabbi Barbara Aiello, an…
This year, Israel’s contribution to the World’s Fair is, more or less, breakfast cereal. The theme of the fair, which opens in Milan in May and runs for six months, is “Feeding the planet, energy for life.” Israel will be represented by a 39-by-230-foot living billboard of wheat, rice and corn. It is meant to…
Historian David Kertzer won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography detailing how Benito Mussolini’s secret relationship with Pope Pius XI influenced the Italian dictator’s persecution of his country’s Jews. Kertzer, a professor of anthropology and Italian studies at Brown University, was recognized in the biography-autobiography category for “The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of…
Italian President Sergio Mattarella, met the family of a two- year-old Jewish boy killed in the 1982 attack by Palestinian terrorists on the Great Synagogue of Rome. The meeting took place Wednesday afternoon in Quirinal Palace, the official residence of the president. Mattarella warmly welcomed the parents of Stefano Gaj Tache, Joseph and Daniela; the…
The Italian city of Trani celebrated the reopening of the medieval Scolanova Synagogue. The reopening on Monday following some seven months of restoration efforts took place during the Lech Lecha Jewish culture festival in southern Italy’s Apulia region. Built in the 13th century, the synagogue was confiscated by the Catholic Church a few decades later…
Italian lawmakers on Friday backed a non-binding resolution that encourages the government to recognize Palestine as a state, a move that underlines European frustration over stalled Middle East peace negotiations. European countries have become increasingly critical of Israel, which since the collapse of the latest U.S.-sponsored talks last April has pressed on with building settlements…
New Italian President Sergio Mattarella, in his inaugural speech to Parliament, remembered a Jewish boy killed in a terrorist attack . Mattarella, who was elected Sunday by the parliament, in his first speech before parliament Tuesday during his inauguration, remembered Stefano Gaj Tache, a 2-year-old Jewish boy killed in an attack on the Great Synagogue…
Sergio Mattarella, the new president of Italy, at a visit to the site of a Nazi massacre called for international unity in the fight against terrorism. On Sunday, a day after he was elected by the Italian Parliament, Mattarella made his remarks at the Ardeatine Caves, where German occupation troops killed 335 people in March…
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