Banda Improvvisa
Synagogues and Hebrew communities across the continent will celebrate the 16th European Day of Jewish Culture on September 6. From the 72 Italian cities officially participating, Florence has been chosen as the capital of the 2015 festivities. Beginning August 31, the synagogue will launch a series of concerts, lectures (in Italian), culinary events and more, anchored in via Farini 6 but extending to other corners of the city. Sara Cividalli, president of the Firenze Ebraica association, called this opportunity ‘a recognition of how hard our community has worked to create cultural bridges and to strengthen those that are already in place.’
Throughout the week, flash mobs and pop-up demonstrations will break out on Florence’s bridges, keeping with this year’s theme of ‘Ponti e attraversamenti’ (Bridges and crossings). Groups will parade toward the synagogue, picking up any interested bystanders along the way. Follow the Facebook pages Firenze Siamo Noi and Balagàn Café to stay in the loop on starting times.
The fun moves from Sant’Ambrogio to San Frediano on September 3 for the inaugural concert of the first-ever Capriccio Italiano festival (Teatro di Cestello, 9pm). Young Jewish violinist Jacob Ventura will perform music from Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn with Orchestra Nazionale Artes, conducted by Andrea Vitello.
On the eve of the Europe-wide celebrations, the synagogue garden will host ‘Suoni e Luci al Tempio Maggiore’ (Sounds and Lights at the Great Synagogue), a multimedia presentation of Florence’s Jewish history, spanning the turbulent to the triumphant. Activities culminate on September 6 with a full day of guided visits, music and foodie fun: highlights include an 11.30am concert on the steps of the synagogue, a 12.30pm kosher feast in the synagogue gardens, and a 7.30pm apericena; the grand finale is a 9pm concert by Israeli band A-WA and Florence-based Stone Mother.
Firenze Ebraica’s cultural director Enrico Fink called the local celebrations a ‘meeting between our community and the city, which have come a long way together in recent years. The challenge, the bridge that we must continue to cross together, is building a society where our identities are an asset and a source of wealth, where they can exist side by side without disappearing: a society based on the value of differences.’
For more information on the European Day of Jewish Culture, see ucei.it/giornatadellacultura; for local events and news from Florence’s Jewish community, check out moked.it/jewishflorence.
