JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
While the Iberian Peninsula continues to experience a reckoning with, and resurgence of, its Jewish past, a quieter, but similar, reckoning is taking place on the island of Sicily, specifically, in the capital city of Palermo. A New York Times piece published earlier this week tells the story of the Jewish population of Palermo, which…
(JTA) –The Roman Catholic Church in Palermo is ceding to Jewish ownership the use of part of a church and monastery complex built atop the ruins of a medieval synagogue. The move is being viewed as a gesture of reconciliation more than 500 years after the expulsion of Jews from Sicily. The church will finance…
More than 300 men and women who identify as descendants of Jews whose families were forced during the Spanish Inquisition gathered in the Sicilian capital of Palermno on Sunday to celebrate their shared bond of Jewish history. “This celebration of Jewish culture in the heart of Palermo underlines the resilience of the Jewish spirit,” said…
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….
When my Sicilian father-in-law converted to Judaism at the age of 60, he said he felt “a strong pull toward home, as if I always had a Jewish soul.” Several years earlier, Joe had survived colon cancer and several complicated surgeries. His long recuperation gave him time to read, and to think. His second wife…
This week in the world of Jewish food we’ve all been lusting after delicious fried Hanukkah goods, but in case you need a break, we bring you some healthy Hanukkah culinary options as well. Happy Hanukkah. For Hanukkah recipes from Mario Batali’s Latkes with Apple Sauce to Brisket Bourguignon check out Serious Eats’ Hanukkah page….
I have long thought that Hitler could have used a makeover. Maybe I just prefer my historical dictators to be cleanly shaven. However, jeans company New Form’s new ad campaign, which portrays the Nazi leader in Barbie-pink military garb and an armband with a red heart in place of a swastika, somehow doesn’t quite inspire…
