The “Gazeta Officiale”, the official gazette of the Italian Government, publishes to-day a degree regulating the territorial arrangements of the Jewish communities of Italy. The decree provides that there will be 26 principal Jewish communities in the entire Italian Kingdom. Every Italian Jew, no matter in which part of Italy he lives, must belong to the Jewish Community in his particular area. Membership ceases only through a formal act of conversion to another faith, or a public declaration that the person in question no longer desires to be considered a Jew.
The same issue of the “Gazeta Officiale” publishes another decree, postponing the elections to the Councils of the various Jewish Communities, which were due in August, for another eight months, so that they will take place exactly a year after the date originally fixed. Until the elections are held, the Communities will continue to be administratered as at present by the Government Commissioners who have been appointed by the Minister of Public Worship.
In connection with the new law a Conference will be held this week in Rome of the Rabbis of the most important towns in Italy and of the Government Commissioners who are now conducting the affairs of the Jewish Communities, convoked by the Government Commissioner of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Italy, Advocate Felicia Ravenna. The Conference will deal mainly with budget questions and with questions relating to the future activities of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Italy.
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