Rabbi Pinchas Punturello will begin work in southern Italy and Sicily to reach out to the Bnei Anousim, the descendants of Jews forced to convert to Catholicism centuries ago. Punturello’s posting is a joint project of Shavei Israel, an Israel-based nonprofit that helps strengthen and recover Jewish identity, and the Union of Italian Jewish Communities….
If all goes according to plan, a starkly modern, $30 million Holocaust museum will soon rise on the site of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini’s Rome residence. The site, also the location of ancient Jewish catacombs and now a city park, will be home to a museum first proposed in 2005 but held up repeatedly by…
Moments before he passed away, in 1945, composer Aldo Finzi whispered the words, “Fate suonare la mia musica” (“Let my music be performed”). Recently, on a particularly cold December night, his last and greatest wish was fulfilled in the 19th-century Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo, less than 35 miles away from the legendary La Scala Opera…
In the wake of mounting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents, Italy’s Jewish leadership has “forcefully denounced” a “spiral of violence” that has erupted in the country over the past few weeks. “It would be too long to enumerate the individual episodes, but we cannot refrain from drawing attention to a climate of tension that is increasingly…
Rome’s provincial council is calling for websites that promote racism and anti-Semitism to be blocked and such online hatred criminalized. The council on Monday unanimously passed a motion voicing solidarity with Rome local official Carla Di Veroli and with the Rome Jewish community in general following anti-Semitic attacks on Di Veroli that appeared last week…
Hundreds of far-right Italians converged on Predappio, the town in northern Italy where Benito Mussolini was born and is buried, to mark the 90th anniversary of the “march on Rome” that brought the Fascist dictator to power. The crowds chanted “Duce, Duce” and gave the fascist salute during Sunday’s anniversary march. Hardcore Fascists mark the…
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and a high-level delegation of government ministers and businesspeople flew to Israel for a bilateral summit with Israeli leaders. It is Monti’s second visit to Israel in just over six months. Thursday’s meeting is the third such Italy-Israel intergovernmental summit and its announced themes are growth, science and culture. A…
In a medieval tavern in 21st century Italy, waitresses in archaic costumes served a tepid, chalk-white substance the texture of oatmeal to tables filled with slightly skeptical diners. Sweet yet salty, and flavored with a mix of unexpectedly tangy spices, it turned out to be a tasty puree made from shredded chicken breast, almond milk,…
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