Sicily Gets Its First Rabbi in Over 500 Years

June 21 2023

Jews have likely been living in Sicily since before the destruction of the Second Temple, and a community flourished there until, in 1492, the Spanish monarchy—which then ruled the island—decreed that all Jews in their lands must convert to Catholicism or leave. Now, descendants of those Jews are attempting a revival. David I. Klein writes:

Rabbi Gilberto Ventura believes his synagogue has the most beautiful view in the world. Located in the tower of a century-old castle on the slopes of Mt. Etna in the eastern Sicilian city of Catania, the synagogue is wedged between a snow-capped volcano and the sun-kissed Mediterranean Sea.

The forty-nine-year-old Brazil-born rabbi also thinks his congregation is one of the most unique in the world. It’s made up mainly of Bnei Anusim—descendants of Jews forced to hide their religious practice and convert to Catholicism after . . . 1492. Before that infamous decree, Sicily was home to tens of thousands of Jews. The synagogue, which was first inaugurated last fall, is the result of decades of grassroots efforts by those descendants in Catania to find each other and forge a sense of community that had been lacking for centuries.

Hiring a full-time rabbi was the last piece of the puzzle. . . . Ventura, who is Orthodox, might be the island’s first permanent working rabbi in over 500 years, but it’s not his first time working with Bnei Anusim.

Although many of the synagogue’s members have undergone formal conversion to Judaism, the community is still trying to obtain recognition from Italian Jewry’s central body.

Read more at Times of Israel

More about: Inquisition, Italian Jewry, Sicily, Synagogues

Expand Gaza into Sinai

Feb. 11 2025

Calling the proposal to depopulate Gaza completely (if temporarily) “unworkable,” Peter Berkowitz makes the case for a similar, but more feasible, plan:

The United States along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE should persuade Egypt by means of generous financial inducements to open the sparsely populated ten-to-fifteen miles of Sinai adjacent to Gaza to Palestinians seeking a fresh start and better life. Egypt would not absorb Gazans and make them citizens but rather move Gaza’s border . . . westward into Sinai. Fences would be erected along the new border. The Israel Defense Force would maintain border security on the Gaza-extension side, Egyptian forces on the other. Egypt might lease the land to the Palestinians for 75 years.

The Sinai option does not involve forced transfer of civilian populations, which the international laws of war bar. As the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other partners build temporary dwellings and then apartment buildings and towns, they would provide bus service to the Gaza-extension. Palestinian families that choose to make the short trip would receive a key to a new residence and, say, $10,000.

The Sinai option is flawed. . . . Then again, all conventional options for rehabilitating and governing Gaza are terrible.

Read more at RealClear Politics

More about: Donald Trump, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula