On Sunday 14 September 2025, the European Day of Jewish Culture, now in its 26th edition, will return to dozens of Italian and European cities.

The initiative, awarded the Medal of the President of the Republic again this year, is presented as a choral journey into the history, memory and identity of a people that has made books its deepest home.

The chosen theme, ‘The People of the Book’, is a definition that did not originate internally within Judaism but was attributed to it from outside: it is in fact the way the Koran refers to the Jews.

“Torah and Judaism seen as a unicum, one, qabbalistically united like two spouses, for eternity,” writes Fiona Diwan, editor of Bet Magazine.
As Rav Sacks said, “The Qur’an calls Jews ‘A people of the Book,’ but that is an understatement. We are a people only because of the Book. It is our constitution as a holy nation under the sovereignty of God. It is God’s love letter to the children of Israel. We study it incessantly. We read it in the synagogue every week, completing it in a year. During the long centuries of Jewish exile, it was the memory of the past and the hope for the future of our ancestors. It was, said the German poet Heinrich Heine, the ‘portable homeland’ of the Jews. ”
The national leader city was Soncino where, in 1488, the first complete Bible with Hebrew vocalisation was printed.

In Milan, the day will open at 9.00 am with a guided tour of the Central Synagogue in via della Guastalla by Esther Nissim.

At 10.00 am institutional greetings will follow from Chief Rabbi Alfonso Arbib, Community President Walker Meghnagi and Culture Councillor Sara Modena.

At 10.45 a.m. the meeting “The new rejection of Israel” will get into full swing: a dialogue with Rav Arbib, Bishop Fumagalli, Imam Pallavicini, Massimo De Angelis, Niram Ferretti and David Elber, moderated by Paolo Salom. At 12 noon, there will be another guided tour of the Central Synagogue.

From 3 p.m., the events will be held at the National Museum of Science and Technology. It will begin with Fiamma Nirenstein who will dialogue with Davide Romano on “The culture of hatred”.

This will be followed by “Lo spartito dell’anima”, at 3.45 p.m., with the Kol haShomrim Choir, directed by Simona Cataldo and Manuela Sorani, and commentaries on the texts by David Piazza.

At 4.30 p.m., Maurizio Molinari will address the theme “Reading time nourishes knowledge and curbs intolerance”. This will be followed by a special link with the new headquarters of the National Library of Israel, in Jerusalem, for “The sanctuary of the book: the preservation of Israel’s book heritage” with Angelo Polacco, Rachel Neumann and Giulia Rossetto introduced and moderated by Fiona Diwan.

“Books return incessantly and obsessively in Jewish history, collected, consumed, read and re-read, handed down, protected, safeguarded…It would be enough to take a tour of the magnificent new National Library of Israel in Jerusalem to understand this, it would be enough to immerse oneself in the spiral corridors crammed with volumes, to follow the elliptical progression of this descent into the subterranean and chthonic depths of the reading experience, it would be enough to drown oneself in the well of books that is the National Library of Israel to understand this”, quoting the words of Fiona Diwan published in Mosaic.

At 6 p.m., the meeting “Israeli literature translated worldwide” will feature Roy Chen, Anna Linda Callow and Sara Ferrari, moderated by Fiona Diwan.

After an informal cocktail at 7 p.m. in the kiosk, the day will end with the show ‘Musical. A Jewish story’, at 8 p.m., presented by Gianni Gualberto Morelenbaum, with the voice of Alberto Milazzo, Eleonora Zullo on piano and Alessandro Usai on guitar.

The whole day in Milan is not only a cultural event, but a declaration of identity and civilisation at a time when anti-Judaism is resurgent and increasingly pervades the streets of our city. “As is well known, the sacred text and the passion for study have preserved Jewish identity for millennia, saving it as a shell protects its pearl,” writes Fiona Diwan.

The People of the Book continue to study, write and pass on their identity from generation to generation.