Rabbi's Week in Review Blog

I have just returned from Italy.  Among the places Fay and I toured included the Jewish Museum in Bologna, providing both a comprehensive history of Italian Jewry and the Bologna Jewish community. We also toured the Jewish Ghetto in Venice. Dating back to 1516, the Jewish Ghetto is both a symbol of Jewish persecution, and an example of Jewish persistence against the most difficult circumstances.  We always find opportunities to connect to our Jewish history when we travel abroad, and always take great meaning in connecting Judaically over both time and distance.

We also happened to be in Italy during Italian Liberation Day.  It is a day in which the Italians celebrate their liberation from Nazi occupation, and the defeat of Mussolini’s fascism.  We witnessed a special commemoration of the day in the small Italian town of Pietrasanta near the Italian coast.  World War II veterans, the last of what is known as the great generation gave speeches in then town square.  Even with the language barrier I could feel the emotion of the speakers, feeling the admiration and gratitude of the townspeople for their courage.  It was not a celebration of military might with a garish parade, rather, it was a way to honor quiet courage.

Today we confront a present threat of fascism.  I fear that we do not see the threat of fascism to a free democratic people with the same understanding of how serious a threat it is, an understanding that these elder Italian heroes understood so well. They still celebrate the victory over fascism some 80 years later.   

It left me to wonder whether we will have the same resolve to fight against the present threat that is in every way a threat of fascism, and whether decades from now we will have the honor to celebrate a victory for democracy and freedom.