ROME (EJP)---Observant Jews, entrepreneurs in search for Jewish contacts in Italy, and tourists wishing to visit the Jewish side of, say, Naples, can now count on a comprehensive directory of everything Jewish in the Bel Paese.
The Italy Jewish Guide - now in its second edition - was compiled by Meyer Piha, who scanned the country from north to south and listed every Jewish service available, from shops to restaurants and hotels, including synagogues and cemeteries in over 50 cities.
Italy is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, and its small but active Jewish Orthodox community is able to offer a large variety of products and services to guarantee a kosher stay for every observant Jew.
The book also briefly lists a number of important ancient Jewish sites that usually fall outside of the most beaten tourist paths, including the Jewish catacombs of Trani, a small town in Puglia where the revival of Jewish traditions recently brought to the rebirth of a community that had been dormant for many centuries.
The tourism pages of the book also provide brief introductions to the different historic sites.
The book is highly appreciated around the world as an invaluable source of information for businessmen, as it provides a list of Jewish contacts for anyone wishing to expand his business to the Italian Jewish market.
Concerning food, the Italy Jewish Guide provides a list of every single kosher restaurant and shop with a tehuda kasherut (kosher certification) in the country, as well as a list of what kosher products can be found in Italian supermarkets, explaining which additives are or are not considered kosher.
Back home, tourists will be able to repeat their Italian culinary experience by trying out the Sephardi and Ashkenazi recipes that made it into the Italian Jewish cooking tradition, contained one of the sections.
Wine lovers can consult the guidebook for a list of all Italian kosher wines, and sweethearts can plan their Jewish wedding in the hills of Tuscany or in front of the Colosseum, with the help of a number of catering services, ketubbah writers, Jewish bands, and a selection of rabbis.