Tel Aviv: Italian Jewish conference, Jan. 3-5

The Italia Judaica Jubilee Conference starts today (Sunday, January 3) and runs through Tuesday, January 5 in Tel Aviv. If you had family living in Italy, some of these topics may be of interest to you and your research.

The opening session begins at 5.30pm today in the Cymbalista Jewish Heritage Center, while Monday and Tuesday sessions are in the Gilman Building. All lectures will be in English.

Sunday, January 3
5.30-7.30pm - Session I
Chair: Dr. Simha Goldin

Prof. Ehud Gazit, Vice-President for Research and Development, Tel Aviv University Prof. Shlomo Simonsohn, Prof. Moises OrfaliMons.

-- Hebrew Books in the Libraries in Italy in the 17th-century (Professor Pier Francesco Fumagalli, Biblioteca Ambrosiana)

Monday, January 4
10am-12:15pm - Session II: Economy
Chair: Moises Orfali, Bar-Ilan University

-- International Trade and Italian Jews at the Turn of the Middle Ages (Shlomo Simonsohn, Tel Aviv University)

-- The Jews and the Trade in Wheat, Oil and Wine in Apulia, 15th-16th-centuries (Cesare Colafemmina, University of Bari)

1:45-4:45 -Session III: Sources and Archives
Chair: Manuela Consonni, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

-- The Publication Project of Corpus Epitaphiorum Hebraicorum Italiae (CEHI): A Precious Archive on Stone and a Treasure of Jewish Poetry (Mauro Perani, University of Bologna)

-- The Conservation of History: The Archives of the Jewish Communities in the Veneto (Ariel Viterbo, National Library of Israel)

-- The Material Context of Hebrew Manuscripts as a Source of Information Regarding Jewish-Christian Contacts in 15th-Century Florence (Nurit Pasternak, Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

-- Rhymes to Sing and Rhymes to Hang: Some Remarks on a Lampoon in Yiddish byElye Bokher (Venice 1514) (Claudia Rosenzweig, Bar-Ilan University)

-- The Types of Community Minute Books: Some Preliminary Conclusions (Yaakov Andrea Lattes, Bar-Ilan University)

5-7:30pm - Session IV: Jewish Literature in Italy
Chair: Marina Arbib, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya

-- The Escape from Vasto: Complaints of a 15th Century Italian Rabbi (Dvora Bregman, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

-- Re-creating Creation in Early Italian Yoẓerot: A School of Poetry in the Making (Yehoshua Granat, Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

-- Azariah de' Rossi and the Amaziah Tombstone: The Past in Medieval and Humanist Jewish Thought (David Malkiel, Bar-Ilan University)

-- Italy: The "Breadbasket" of Hebrew Manuscripts (Benjamin Richler, National Library of Israel)

-- Dante's Role in the Formation of a National Identity Among Jews in Italy (Asher Salah, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design

Tuesday, January 5
9am-12 noon: Session V: Jewish Art
Chair: Simona Cohen, Tel Aviv University

-- Jewish Book Collection and Patronage in Renaissance Italy (Andreina Contessa, Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

-- Salom Italia and Maniera Italiana (Emily Bilski, Adi Foundation, Jerusalem/Jewish Museum, Munich; Sharon Assaf, Jerusalem)

-- The Order of Circumcision of Salomone Leone: Chronicle of a Ceremony in 17th-century Italy (Gioia Perugia Sztulman, Israel Museum, Jerusalem)

-- A Shrine within a Shrine: A Unique Depiction of the Motifs Symbolizing the Future Temple in Jerusalem on the Torah Ark of the Trino Vercellese Synagogue, Italy, Mid-18th Century (Nitza Behroozi-Baroz, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv)

-- Changing Directions: The Synagogues in Piedmont, Before and After 1848 (Ariella Amar, Center for Jewish Art, Hebrew University)

1:45-3:45pm - Session VI: Intellectual Figures
Chair: David Katz, Tel Aviv University

-- About the Use of Hebrew in the Medieval Southern Italian Jewish Renaissance (Peter Sh. Lehnardt, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

-- Figures of Freedom in Don Isaac Avravanel's Italian Works (Cedric Cohen Skalli, Tel Aviv University)

-- From Sicily to Rome: The Cultural Route of Michele Zumat, Physician and Rabbi in the 16th Century (Angela Scandaliato, AISG)

-- Joseph ha-Cohen's Negative Attitude Toward R. Meir Katzenelenbogen of Padua (Abraham David, National Library of Israel)

-- R. Azriel Diena: Halakhist at the Crossroads (Jeffrey Woolf, Bar-Ilan University)

4-6.30pm - Session VII: Mobility and Presence of Jews in Italy
Chair: Benjamin Arbel, Tel Aviv University

-- The Mobility of Italian Jews between the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Michele Luzzati, University of Pisa)

-- The Angevines of Naples and their Jews (Joseph Shatzmiller, Duke University)

-- Jewish Presence in Sicily as Reflected in Medieval Sicilian Historiography (Nadia Zeldes, Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

-- Towards Jewish Emancipation in the Grand-Duchy of Tuscany: The Case of Pitigliano through the Emblematic Figure of David Consiglio (Davide Mano, Tel Aviv University)

6.30pm Concluding Remarks