Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA)

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The Roles of the Jews in Italian Society

January 17, 2010 | Dan V. Segre

Most Italians think there are many times more Jews in Italy than the thirty-one thousand paying members of the Italian community. Native Italian Jews probably number no more than fifteen thousand. There are sizable communities of Libyan (mainly in Rome) and Lebanese and Iranian origin (mainly in Milan). The false perception of a large number of Jews in Italy results from the fact that several Jews have indeed played key roles in Italian society over the past century and a half.

Living with Normative Duality: The Values at the End of the Tunnel

October 30, 2000 | Yedidia Z. Stern

Israeli society draws its values primarily from two civilizations: traditional Jewish culture and Western liberal culture. Therefore, many Israelis live in a cultural duality that sometimes expresses itself in a normative duality: halakhah and Israeli law are part of the primary and unconditional commitment of many Israelis.

The Conversion of American Jewry

August 1, 1991 | Samuel Z. Klausner

Consider the conversion of a people. Two notable mass conversions were the sweep of Christianity through the Roman empire in the fourth century and the seventh century military campaign that made Islam the dominant religion from North Africa through the Arab East to India. In most societies in which several religions meet, people pass continuously across the boundary between faiths.