The contributions of Italian Jews

A gathering at Mishkenot Sha’ananim will explore the impact of an often-overlooked Jewish community.

By BARRY DAVIS
Italian Jews (photo credit: Courtesy)
Italian Jews
(photo credit: Courtesy)
It might not initially sound like a line from Life of Brian, but the theme of next week’s conference on Italian Jewry at Mishkenot Sha’ananim would probably fit snugly into the script of the Monty Python film.
In the Pythons’ spoof on life here in the days of Jesus, there is a very funny scene in which the leader of one of the many hapless Jewish resistance groups, played by John Cleese, claims that the Romans haven’t helped the Jews along too much.
However, Cleese’s character is tactfully reminded that the Romans had, indeed, built roads, hospitals and schools and done much more besides for the locals. After eventually and reluctantly ticking off all the said categories, Cleese says, “Other than that, what have the Romans ever done for us?”
If the Pythons were marketing the two-day gathering at Mishkenot Sha’ananim (June 27-28), they would probably have packaged it as something along the lines of “What has Italian Jewry ever done for us?” The conference is patently designed to address that issue and will examine the role played by Italian Jews in the establishment and development of the State of Israel.
Prof. Sergio Della Pergola, who will contribute to the opening session of the conference, titled “Who Are the Italians? The Italian Road to Zionism and Israel,” is well placed to enrich our knowledge about what Italian Jewry has done for Israel over the years. He made aliya in late 1966, works as a lecturer at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University and is an expert in the demographics of Jewish communities around the world.
It appears that there were Italian Jews in pre-state Palestine more than a century ago. “A census that was carried out here during World War I includes a number of Jews from Italy,” explains Della Pergola, “and one arrived here in 1904.”
Other evidence suggests there was a sizable Italian Jewish community long before that.
“A census of Safed, carried out by the Ottoman authorities in 1550, after the exile from Spain, shows that out of the 3,700 Jews in the town, 10 percent came from Italy,” he elaborates.
That is a surprising statistic. Ask most people where the various Jewish communities here originated from, and it is unlikely that too many will mention Italy.
Della Pergola says that while Italy’s Jewish community was never one of the biggest, he notes that the quality of its contributions to this country far outweighs its numerical stretch.
“The Jewish population of Italy never exceeded 50,000 or 60,000,” he says.
Della Pergola was born in the northeastern city of Trieste in 1942.
At the age of one, he fled with his family to Switzerland. Two years later the family moved to Milan. Della Pergola’s birthplace is an interesting case in point.
“Trieste had a very varied and multicultural Jewish population,” he says. “There were Jews there who originated from Corfu, and there were also Austrians and Hungarians. It was on the seam of the West and the East, and Jews migrated to Northern Europe and Eastern Europe from there over a period of more than 1,000 years.”
Some also made it to Palestine.
“Some came here. There were two or three Jewish communities in Italy that were not numerically large but made a significant contribution to life here. One of those was the community from Trieste, and a high percentage of the community came to Palestine in 1938,” he says.
Della Pergola again notes that olim from Italy have left their mark on life in Israel that far exceeds their number.
“There are around 5,000 Jews from Italy here, which I always say is nowhere near enough to elect a member of Knesset,” he laughs. “But the level of education among Italian Jewry was always high. Many of the Italians who came here were academics, and there were some leading industrialists. There were also those who were active in youth movements in Italy and came here to live on kibbutzim, from all schools of thought and ideological approaches. They all made a high-quality contribution to life here,” he says.
That also includes representing their new country in diplomatic circles.
“Some became ambassadors, and others filled senior positions in various ministries, such as the Ministry of Religious Services. But Italian Jewry has made its most telling contribution in Israeli in universities,” he notes.
Della Pergola himself is one such example.
“That’s true, but I belong to a ‘pampered’ generation, not like the ones who came here a generation earlier,” he points out.
Della Pergola reels off an impressive list of leading Italian-born academics.
“There was the [Israel Prize recipient] physicist Prof. Yoel Rakach, who was the rector of the Hebrew University and established theoretical physics at the university. Then there was Prof. Gad Tedeschi, who was a leading law professor, and he taught all the members of the Supreme Court, including Aharon Barak. And Roberto Bachi [another Israel Prize winner] established the Central Bureau of Statistics in Israel and was a professor of statistics at Hebrew University. He was also my teacher and influenced me greatly,” he says.
Italians have also made notable contributions in other fields here, such as music and Judaica.
Like many waves of aliya over the last century-plus, some Italian Jews came here for ideological reasons, but there were many who made aliya when life became difficult in their home country.
“Some ran away from the constraints of the fascist regime in Italy,” explains Della Pergola. “In the fall of 1938, the new race legislation prevented Jews from taking part in all civilian life, and many came to Palestine.”
On the other hand, the professor is also keen to point out that he came here of his own accord, did not run away from an adverse political situation in Italy and was not drawn here by the promise of the good life.
“I came here half a year before the Six Day War, so you could say that I came here for pure ideological reasons and with no negative motivation. And I didn’t come on aliya with those who were attracted by the euphoria that swept Israel after the war in 1967. That’s quite rare,” he says.
Naturally, you can’t talk about anything Italian without food finding its way into the equation.
“I remember the first pizza restaurant here, established by a friend of mine called Sergio Mulcho, and Italian food has become very popular all over the country,” Della Pergola recounts.
There are plenty of non-gastronomic subjects on the conference menu, including literature, science, finance, art and philosophy. The Italian ambassador will attend the events, as will leading Italian journalist Paolo Mieli.
No doubt, by the end of the two days it will become clear that the Italians have, indeed, done a lot for us.
For more information about the conference: 629-2214 and prog@mishkenot.org.il