In 2000, the Italian Government instituted the International Holocaust Remembrance Day to commemorate the victims of Nazi brutality during WWII. Since then and every year, in Italy and abroad, on the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, January 27, as per the UN resolution dated 2005, all representatives of the Sistema Paese commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and Nazism.
The Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney has been actively working with The Great Synagogue of Sydney for some years to organise events that have become a constant in uniting the Italian and Jewish communities in commemoration. Past events have included the screening of the film The Munich Clock on Giorgio Pressburger, the conferences by Marco Sonzogni and Alice Loda with Rabbi Elton (translation of Primo Levi’s The Occasional Demon), Perlasca, an Italian hero with HE Ambassador Francesca Tardioli, Dr. Simon Holloway and Rabbi Elton and in 2022, the conference The Holocaust and the Psyche – Victim, Perpetrator, Bystander, Beneficiary with Prof. Michael Robertson and Rabbi Elton, held digitally due to pandemic restrictions.
Whereas in the past years these events took place at the Institute, in 2023 the renewed collaboration with the Great Synagogue is an invitation to commemorate the Day of
Remembrance at the Synagogue’s premises on Castelreagh Street.
The event will be divided into two parts: during the first, hosted on January 27 by the Synagogue at its premises on Castlereagh Street, actor Nino Lo Giudice will read passages in English from the writings of Hannah Arendt and poems from Primo Levi’s The Occasional Demon in the translation by Marco Sonzogni and Harry Thomas. The reading will be followed by the traditional Friday evening service which will be officiated by Rabbis Benjamin Elton and Menachem Feldman.
The appointment is for Friday 27 January at The Great Synagogue (187a Elizabeth Street, Sydney). Readings will begin at 6.00pm sharp. Participants will be seated on the ground floor of the synagogue, with men and women in separate areas, as per the Synagogue’s custom. For men, a kippah or hat will be required.
Nino Lo Giudice (BA Hons Ancient History – Master of Science Coaching Psychology, Univ. of Sydney) has gained experience in Theatre, Film (feature & short), television, TVC, corporate and more. As an actor, he has professional credits in Australian feature films and several television series and have worked professionally in theatre. He obtained his Bachelor in Arts in the study area of Ancient Rome. Other subjects studied included Italian, Performance Studies, Medieval and Modern History, Philosophy, and Classical Literature. In 2018 he obtained his Master of Science specializing in Coaching Psychology.
Benjamin Elton has been Chief Minister of The Great Synagogue since 2015. Born in Manchester, England, Elton holds an MA in History from Queens’ College, Cambridge and a PhD in Jewish History from Birkbeck, University of London. He studied for four years at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) in New York. He published Britain’s Chief Rabbis and the Religious Character of Anglo-Jewry, 1880-1970 and is the author of numerous articles on Anglo-Jewish and Australian religious history. He is also an honorary fellow at the University of Sydney, a Jewish chaplain of the Returned Services League (NSW branch) and an Orthodox rabbinical advisor to leading bodies.
Menachem Feldman was born in Jerusalem and raised in Sydney. He carried out his studies in Sydney, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, New York, Jerulasem and Moscow where he was ordinate a Rabbi. Before to be appointed Rabbi at the Great Synagogue he served as young adult director, co-chazan and associate rabbi at Dover Height Shule. He has also been teaching music at Kesser Torah College. Rabbi Feldman is passionate about Jewish communal service, pastoral work, chazzanut, Jewish music and Jewish education.
Free entry. Limited seats.
Booking essential: www.eventbrite.com.au