The People of the Book

The European Day of Jewish Culture is just a few days away.
Titles chosen each year are always extensive, but this one—The People of the Book—is truly immense. Books are omnipresent in Jewish culture; Jews, both religious and secular, read and write extensively, and Turin’s Jews perhaps even more so than others, at least in the last century. A Culture Day could be dedicated solely to books written by Turin’s Jews, and the material would already be too much.
It was therefore inevitable that the Community’s Cultural Commission chose to adhere to the original meaning of the term “People of the Book,” and focus solely on the Book with a capital “B,” the Torah, or more generally, the Tanakh. Even so, the topic is vast, because all Jewish culture revolves around the Book. A Book that must be continually read, meditated upon, commented on, discussed, and put into practice: the written Torah cannot exist without the oral Torah; the text needs to be interpreted, in a continuous dialogue between generations. The afternoon round table discussion, with Rav Alberto Moshe Somekh and Ori Sierra, will be dedicated to the transmission from one generation to the next.

The Book and its commentaries, especially the Talmud, are also material objects that pass from hand to hand over the centuries, so we will also focus on the book as an object.
The Book, with its content and the values ​expresses, it is also the basis of any possible discussion and dialogue, particularly among those so-called religions of the Book. For this reason, despite the difficult climate of hostility in which we are immersed, we have once again chosen to open ourselves to the city, inviting religious and secular authorities, welcoming visitors, and engaging in dialogue.
The European Day of Jewish Culture is also an opportunity for us to meet, thanks to the involvement of so many people—guides, ladies of the Adei, representatives of the various groups and organizations with their stalls, security—whose invaluable work is indispensable to the success of the Day. Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone.

Anna Segre