Unione Giovani Ebrei d'Italia

The UGEI organizes various weekends (Shabbattonim) throughout the year for its members to discover the various small communities scattered throughout the country and meet other young Jews around the country. Additionally, the organization offers "Trips of the Memory" to symbolic sites of the Shoah, in Italy and abroad.[3] [4] The organization offers Hebrew language classes as well as classes in Jewish culture for its members.

The organization collaborates with a number of different religious youth movements in Italy. In 2017, UGEI, together with CII - Confederazione Islamica Italiana and the Sant'Egidio Youth Community, has met with the Italian Ministry of Interior, Marco Minniti, in order to promote dialogue and mutual understanding.[5]

The Union also represents Italian Jewish youth on a number of intrafaith bodies, both within Italian Judaism and other national or international Jewish bodies.[6][7] UGEI represents Italian Jewish Youth both at a national level, at Consiglio Nazionale Giovani (Italian Youth Forum) and at an international level at EUJS (European Union of Jewish Students) and WUJS (World Union of Jewish Students).[8] UGEI represents all Italian Jewish youth associations at the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) and holds an observer status at UCEI's Council meetings.[9]

While the organization remains apolitical,[10] the Union is heavily involved in keeping the historical memory of the Shoah alive and fighting attempts at historical falsification and supporting the historical Resistance to Nazi-Fascism.[11][12][13] In 2020, UGEI joined the international campaign Adopt IHRA, to promote institutions and companies to adopt the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) working definition of antisemitism.[14][15]

The Union continues to organize seminars and debates to create a platform of encounter, reflexion and enrichment for the young Jews of Italy.[16]

In 2017, UGEI hosted in Florence a gathering of all Jewish youth organizations in Italy. The event, called Irua, had its focus in tackling the issues facing Jewish communities in Italy and the various challenges they will encounter in the future.[17]

In November 2019, prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, UGEI hosted an international Jewish event called JIR - Jewish International R(h)ome, which goal was to promote networking and coalition building among European Jews.[18]

During the 2020 lockdown, the UGEI Board created a department dedicated specifically on event planning and recreational activities, called Rewibe.[19]

HaTikwa (Hebrew for The Hope) is a youth newspaper for Italian Jews. It was originally published in January 1949 as a supplement accompanying the magazine “Israel”. Seven issues were published before publication ceased for 1950/1951. On March 13, 1952, issue #8 was published, still as a supplement accompanying the magazine “Israel”(a. XXXVII, n. 26).

From February 12, 1957, HaTikwa was published as an independent magazine with the subtitle Organo della Federazione Giovanile Ebraica Italiana [Voice of the Young Italian Jewish Federation]. First published as a monthly magazine, it became a bimonthly in 1978.

The magazine wrote about prominent issues facing young Italian Jews, such as the Jewish identity and Israeli politics. It also looked at the main issues of post-war Italian society, including anti-fascism and Resistance, student protest and social movements, as well as the social reform and the referendums on divorce and abortion. In 1980 HaTikwa stopped being published on a regular basis.

In 2010 HaTikwa was reborn, as a supplement of the Italian Jewish monthly paper magazine “Pagine Ebraiche” and, in digital edition, on the UGEI website.[20]

In June 2020, HaTikwa created the first Italian Jewish podcast, The Jews who made History.[21]

During the lockdown, in the aftermath of the pandemic in 2020, a strong desire to relaunch and strengthen Jewish life in Italy was felt, which led the UGEI Executive Board to create a special department in the association, dedicated especially to organizing parties and events. While creating new and innovative forms and means of communication, through the REWiBE department, the UGEI tries to appeal to the new generations to build the future of Italian Jewry.