Update news from Adei-Wizo Italy

Milan- Brige and Golf tournement for Wizo institutions (clik for photo)

Edith Ovadia, past President of the Milan chapter, has pulled it off once again: twice this time!! A bridge tournement, followed by a delicious dinner, took place in the elegant setting of Monticello Golf Club. The 175 partecipants had the opportunity, among others, to win a lottery prize of one-week's stay for two people at a luxury hotel in Mauritius inclusive of airtikets. The select pubblic, both jewish and not jewish friends, werw happy to give thei substantial support to Wizo Institutions. Only ten days later, within the same Golf Club, a second event, that saw a large number of partecipants, was a golf tournement, including a charity lunch for Wizo children. Both events prooved a brillant personal sucess for our creative and reresorceful Edith.

Roma – Official launch of  the fundraising campaign in favour of the Daycare Center of Rehovot in the Sharona area.

On Sunday June 18^th 2005, a Gala Evening was held by the Roman branch of the ADEI-WIZO, the Italian Federation, at the Hotel Cavalieri Hilton in Rome.. This event marked the official launch of the the Italian Wizo Federation’s sponsorship of the Rehovot Daycare Center. The Italian Wizo actively supports this, as well as three other istitutions: Beth Wizo Italia, Maalot and Yevul. The project was illustrated to the publicattending the event, together with the fundamental role that the numerous WIZO istitutions play in the lives of so many underprivileged people in Israel. The many honoured guests invited that evening publically expressed their appreciation for the work carried out by ADEI-WIZO for so many years. After this first more official part, the program of the evening included a very elegant and sumptuos dinner followed by a brief recital of poetry in the ancient Roman –Jewish dialect. The evening carried on with  the lively music by the Group “Black is Black “ which provided a warm and friendly atmosphere. This resulted in a great succes in promoting the image of ADEI-WIZO among the 400 guests and raised a large amount funds for our new project.

European Jewish Culture Day - September 4^th 2005

Wide partecipation of Italian ADEI-WIZO branches to the sixth annual edition of the European Jewish Culture Day. The theme this year was: “Sapere e Sapori: la cucina nella tradizione ebraica” (Knowlede and Tastes - cooking in the Jewish tradition). Most of the Italian Wizo branches worked toghether with the various Jewish institutions of each town, to organize events open to the public. A town worth mentioning for the high level of its cultural programming was once again Ancona. Among the various initiatives carried out by our Wizo ladies, we’d like to mention a few branches that have had a stronger impact on the media: Florence orgnized food stalls and a culinary competition; Genova created a table display laid for each of the Jewish festivals; Milan organized a conference on Jewish cooking in Italy; Modena published a book called “Sapere e Sapori”; Rome organised free cooking lessons and food tasting; Siena, Turin, Triest and Venice organized stands for traditional foods tasting and sales and also provided information on the laws of casherut. Verona, who receltly designed a silk scarf representing a section of the paintings on the Sinagogue ceiling, on this occasion decided to launch its sale. The profits were entirely devoted to the daycare Centre of Rehovot, recently sponsored by the Italian Federation.

 Milano – An evening of discussion on antisemitism – September 15^th 2005

Taking example from the well documented publication issued by WIZO for Bible Day, the Department of Culture and Information organized a successful public debate on Antisemitism in a prestigious Milan venue. Roughly two hundred people attended the event, among which many non-Jews. he four speakers, all eminent spokespersons in their field, were: Rav. Giuseppe Laras, Rabbi Emeritus of Milan; Don Gianfranco Bottoni, Diocesan responsible for the World Council of Churches; Cobi Benatoff, former President of The Europian Council of the Jewish Communities. Lele Fiano, leader of the opposition in the Milan City Council, was the moderator. The event was a great opportunity for a serious discussion on Antisemitism and a chance to .  

 5th ADEI-WIZO Literary Prize – Rome September 21^st 2005 (click for photo)

The aim of the Prize is to acquaint the public to the topics of Diaspora, Judaism and Israeli society. The Chairman of the Organization Committee, from its creation, is Lia Hassan  supported in the past by Berta Sinai z.l. The President of the jury is Adelina Della Pergola and Tullia Zevi is the Honorary President. This year, for the first time, the Award Ceremony was held outside of Milan, in a very prestigious venue at the Rome Town Hall on the spectacular ancient Capitoline Hill. The  winner was Nathan Shaham author of the book “Quartet Rosendorf”. Two other books, with an Israeli setting, received second and third prize: respectively “Mentre la città bruciava (While the town was burning)” by  Shulim Vogelmann and “Fontanel” by Meir Shalev. prize was also awarded for the children’s book, “The diary of Yehuda” by Yehuda Nir. The public was numerous and the event was covered by the press and television. A lively cocktail and a dinner in honour of the winning author was a fitting conclusion to this prestigious and perfectly organized event. Trip to Berlin organised by ADEI-WIZO of Rome - September 25-28 2005

Fiftythree people among Wizo members and their husbands, participated in the trip organized by the Wizo branch of Rome.  The trip gave the attendants the opportunity to visit old and new places of Jewish interest: the Sinagogue that now hosts an exibition on Einstain, an old people’s home, the old ghetto with the wall sign that remembers the places were the Jews once lived. Especially memorable were the Jewish Museum and The Shoà Memorial.Particularly moving was the visit to the monument in Rosenstrasse dedicated to the brave women who dared to protest and gained the freedom of their husbands, inprisoned by the Nazis. In The German Historical Museum the photographs of the huge gatherings of Germans  hailing to Hitler shown next to the photos of concentration camps made us reflect on the fact that perhaps Germany has publically admitted its responsabilities for that shameful period of its history.