Sunday, November 17, 2024 11am – 12:30pm MDT
10:00 a.m. Pacific | 11:00 a.m. Mountain | 1:00 p.m. Eastern | 7:00 p.m. Italy
Do not miss our final lecture for this year!
From our longtime member Rabbi Barbara Aiello comes the remarkable story of the re-discovery of southern Italy’s hidden Jewish past. Tapped in all the way from her home in Serrastretta, Italy, we are forever grateful for her time and wisdom in bringing this remarkable history to us.
Presented by Rabbi Barbara Aiello
Welcome to Southern Italy – to our hidden mountain villages where ancient olive trees dot the landscape, bright bouquets of tropical flowers burst around every corner, and where Jewish traditions, long hidden, are just now coming to life. Rabbi Barbara Aiello, descendant of “crypto-Jews,” (Jews forced into Christian conversion during Inquisition times) has shared a wealth of hidden Jewish secrets.
For nearly two thousand years Jews have had a presence in Calabria, the southernmost Italian region. Calabria is not only Rabbi Barbara’s ancestral home but her tiny mountain village of Serrastretta boasts the first active synagogue in Calabria in 500 years since Inquisition times. It is here in synagogue Ner Tamid del Sud, (“The Eternal Light of South Italy”) where local Italians have gathered to discover their lost Jewish heritage and to begin their journey to embrace their hidden Jewish roots.
From the southernmost point on the Italian “boot,” rich Jewish traditions, kept secret for centuries are coming to light. We thank Rabbi Barbara for her guidance on a southern Italian Jewish journey to uncover a remarkable Jewish past – a secret flame that never died.
- Registration opens November 6th
- Cost: $10.00
- A follow-up with a Zoom link will be emailed to every registrant before the event.
Will the presentation by any chance address areas further north —in particular, mountain villages near Naples? My ancestors are from Caserta, Castelmorrone (-marrone?) and Pozzovetere. Thank you.
Hello,
Yes, these areas will be addressed as they are part of Southern Italy – Sicily also.
We will record the presentation and will make it available to everyone who registers.
Thank you.
B”B Realizing the the Anusim phenomenon (Jews discovering and returning to their Jewish roots) is not unique to Latin America (where Rabbi Stephen Leon has done yeoman’s work), can I dare, as I do, ask —- did a similar, not so well known occurrence happened in my native Greece, elsewhere in Europe?
We have been following Rabbi Aiello for years! We actually just got back from a trip to Sicily. We know there is a lot of Jewish history but it was hard to find. Will the talk focus only on Calabria? If so, I guess, we have our next trip on the roster.
Hello,
Calabria, south Italy in ancient times was part of an area known as “magna Grecia” greater Greece.