Rector René Roux, Micaela Goren Monti, Rector Boas Erez
To promote the study and knowledge of Jewish culture by funding academic research, programs, and activities. This is the aim of the new Jewish Center promoted and supported by the Goren Monti FerrariFoundation in collaboration with USI (University ofItalian Switzerland) and theFaculty of Theology of Lugano.The agreement for theCreation of theCentre was signed on Wednesday,27 January2021 by Prof. Boas Erez, USI Rector, Prof. René Roux, Rector of FTL and Micaela Goren Monti, President of the GMFF. Jewish history, religion and culture have played a very important role in the formation and development of modern thought and even today, in the light of the equilibria and social transformations taking place in theMediterranean basin, the need to develop knowledge of the great cultural subjects present in this geographical area remains alive. These are the premises that led the Goren Monti FerrariFoundation to promote the study and knowledge of Jewish culture through the funding of research, courses, seminars and programs established within the academic panorama of the University ItalianSwitzerland and theFaculty of Theology of Lugano. The important collaboration between the Foundation, USI and FTL has led to the signing of an agreement for the construction of the new Ferrari Goren Monti Judaica Center, which aims to promote the carrying out of research and teaching activities in relation to Jewish culture with particular attention to the relationship with the territory of the canton of Ticino. In particular, the Foundation intends to promote the A bridge for peace in the Mediterranean Area project - in line with USI's important MEM Freethinking Platform project, to consolidate the dialogue between university and territory as well as the national and international network on the subject. The activities of the new GMF Judaica Center, based within USI on the Lugano Campus, will have the advantage of joining the network of other centers with similar goals that already exist in the Confederation and developing strong links with the centers that the Goren Goldstein Foundation has created in Israel (Ben Gurion University of Negev and Tel Aviv University), in United States (New York University) and with the Institute of Jewish Studies of the Freie Universit ät Berlin, directed by Prof. Giulio Busi, Member of GMF Judaica Center. According to Micaela Goren Monti, President of the Foundation,"the establishment of the Centrewill also be an opportunity to develop a further historical-sociological strand, linked to diaspora, memory, citizenship in order to make a fundamental contribution to the construction of a social and organizational fabric capable of experiencing diversity within a framework of shared principles and values, without, however, erasing the roots of one's identity".For ProfessorBoas Erez, Rector of USI,"the project allows to structure realities already present in the territory in the form of initiatives that now, thanks to the convention, are part of a promising reference framework".Representatives for US Iand FTL will follow the project Giacomo Jori, Professor of Italian Literature at USI and Deputy Director of the "Journal of History and ReligiousLiterature", and Marcello Fidanzio, Professor of the Faculty of Theology of Lugano,Director of the Institute of Culture andArchaeology of BiblicalLands FTL.For Giacomo Jori, the new Center of Judaica Goren MontiFerrari "intensifies the link between the academic institutions of the territory and the Foundation, which since 2016 has been supporting university courses in archaeology, philosophy, law, biblical history, Jewish culture. The signing for the convention takes place on Remembrance Day 2021, in line with the purpose of the GMFF: To design the future so as not to forget the past.In the 25 years of USI, the Judaica Centre is part of a series of important opportunities for cultural and scientific consolidation of theUniversity, from the acquisition of the Library of the great scholar Carlo Dionisotti the establishment of the Middle East Mediterranean (MEM) Freethinking Platform". "The Judaica Center offers a precious resource for FTL and USI", underlines Marcello Fidanzio, recalling that "thanks to the network of Goren Goldstein study centers present in different universities around the world, the Center for Judaic Studies in Lugano was born with privileged relationships. The creation of the Centre represents an important step for academic activity inTicino which is young, dynamic and also thanks to it will continue to grow".
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