Portici di Carta: Genesis, the book of foundations

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was one of the greatest interpreters of the religious meaning of Judaism in our age, marked by political and philosophical crises often hostile to the faith. He offered firm guidance, inspired by Jewish tradition.
Born in 1948 and passed away in 2020, the strength of his ideas and the depth of his knowledge made him one of the most influential religious voices in the United Kingdom and the diaspora, even more so today.
His lectures on the weekly parashah, published on the rabbinate website, are collected in this volume in Italian, which offers various reflections for each parashah. The hope is to continue publishing his Torah texts.
Bereshit, the book of Genesis, recounts the origins of the world, humanity, and the family, but also the foundations of the Jewish experience and human universality. It addresses the major themes of freedom, responsibility, justice, and faith.
In this first volume of the Alliance and Conversation series, Rabbi Sacks intertwines Jewish wisdom with philosophy and literature, inviting us to rediscover Genesis—from Creation to Abraham’s calling—as an eternal dialogue between God and humanity, to live the present with awareness and hope.
These discussions were held at the presentation of the book for Portici di Carta at the Accorsi Ometto Museum, featuring Father Enzo Bianchi, Claudia De Benedetti, Pastora Lidia Maggi, and Giorgio Berruto.
Giorgio Berruto, the book’s translator, explained the reasons for the title of the volume.
The meeting continued with a discussion of the parashots of Bereshit, Vayygash, and Chaye Sarah.

Claudia De Benedetti