Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is a freelance journalist based in Mevasseret Zion, Israel.
Her published works, available on Amazon, include:
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I have read at least one daily newspaper almost since I could read. At my parents’ home in London we had the luxury (which we took for granted) of having a morning newspaper put through our letterbox every morning, so that it was there on the mat, waiting […]
A Love Affair with Newspapers Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Lifestyles, Middle East
In 1928 Herbert van Son, the uncle I never knew, was a young man of nineteen. The family lived in Hamburg and his father was a successful importer of tobacco. He arranged for his son to travel to Louisville and work as an apprentice to a business associate who was a tobacco farmer and trader there. He writes about the hot, damp climate and the warm relations between him and his employer, who helped him get settled and even took him to the Kentucky Derby. It was all interesting but very different to the life he had known in Hamburg,
The life and unexplained suicide of Uncle Herbert Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Travel and Food, USA“We don’t know anything about what happened to our (mutual) grandparents. Our parents never talked about them,” my American cousins told me when I visited them last year. The two sons of my mother’s brother, the late Dr. Kurt Hirsch, live comfortable lives in Virginia. Jack and Harry and their families maintain their connection with Israel and Judaism, and are loyal American citizens. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Tracking the Fate of My Grandparents Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History, Middle East, USAIt seems rather ironic to hear in the press these days that the name of Balfour is used to represent two contradictory phenomena in the context of modern Israel, depending on one’s point of view. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Netanyahu family, demonstrators profane ‘Balfour’ name Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle EastOne Friday night, when my grandchildren tried to tell me a joke (in Hebrew) and my sole response was to point out the linguistic fallacy involved, it dawned on me that I had become an old curmudgeon. And a bilingual one at that. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Becoming an Old Curmudgeon Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastWhen a recent zoom meeting of the only group in which I still participate set as a subject for discussion ‘A Book That Has Influenced Me,’ I had no hesitation in choosing J.G. Frazer’s study of comparative religions, anthropology, history and sociology entitled The Golden Bough; a Study in Magic and Religion.’The paperback copy I bought in 1962, when I was a university student, numbered almost 1,000 pages and was touted as the ’abridged edition in one volume.’ [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Books that have greatly influenced me Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-VansonAttending an annual performance of Handel’s oratorio Messiah has been part of my life since childhood, and I have tried to pass this tradition on to my own children and grandchildren whenever and wherever possible. (Dorothea Shefer-Vanson)
Messiah: An oratorio of enduring beauty, spiritual uplift Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts
Meet Anna, Helena, and Naomi. As a reader of this novel, you’ll have the privilege of knowing exactly what each of these women is thinking over the course of a few days in Jerusalem, circa 1983. (Donald H. Harrison)
Novel eavesdrops on thoughts of 3 lonely women Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson“You are invited to watch the ceremony to mark the graduation of the soldiers who have completed the Officers’ Training Course.” That was the text of the official invitation emailed to me and other family members by one of our granddaughters, whose sister was one of the soldiers concerned. We were informed that we would be able to watch the ceremony live, as filmed by the IDF’s official photographer, on the official IDF site on the internet. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Watching granddaughter’s IDF ceremony in Covid19 time Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Theatre, Film & BroadcastThe euphoria lasted exactly two weeks. As June progressed the general rejoicing and premature self-congratulation on the part of the government came to an abrupt stop. The dreaded second wave had arrived. The curve which had been flattened reared its ugly head again, and alarm bells started ringing as the number of infections rose drastically. The idea of returning to the theatre and the concert hall vanished like the proverbial mirage. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Between Hunkering Down and Resurgence Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Lifestyles, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
Albert Cohen wrote (or at least published) this book when he was about sixty years old. I don’t know when his mother died, but – as its title implies – the book is about his late mother and her devotion to him, embellished by his evidently deep-rooted sense of guilt at not having been as kind to her as he felt should have been in her lifetime. (Dorothea Shefer-Vanson)
French Jewish author details a son’s deep regret Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, LifestylesBack in the day, when my children were young, I would sometimes join them when they watched certain programs on Children’s TV. One of these was Zehu-Zeh (That’s It), which tried to amuse, entertain and educate by means of little skits, songs and quizzes. Let’s face it, most of the programs on Children’s TV were noisy, gaudy American imports, with little or no educational content, though of course Sesame Street was the exception that proved the rule. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
‘Zehu-Zeh’ revival brings much needed humor to Israel Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USAI read Orlando by Virginia Woolf originally many years ago, when I first ‘discovered’ Virginia Woolf and the fascinating world of the Bloomsbury Group – the coterie of artists, writers and intellectuals who coalesced around her and her husband, Leonard Woolf (who was Jewish). I eagerly swallowed every word she had ever written, as well as her diaries, collected letters and the many works about her and the other members of the group. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
Who’s reconsidering Virginia Woolf? Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, InternationalThe CD with the title (in German and Hebrew) Total Baloney was given to me some time ago by the Association of Former Residents of Central Europe, and when I finally got round to watching it I found myself taken back to the kitchen of my mother and other ‘Yekke’ relatives, back to the enchanted land of nostalgia, to the tastes and aromas of yesteryear, and to a time of innocence and memories (though not always fond). [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]
‘Total Baloney’ and the secrets of the German kitchen Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, Travel and Food