Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is a freelance journalist based in Mevasseret Zion, Israel.
Her published works, available on Amazon, include:
CHARROUX, France — In this picturesque village in Central France I was able to attend a literary festival held in French and English. The three-day event was crowded with interesting talks, some in French but most in English, given by a wide range of writers. I wasn’t able to attend all of them, or even […]
Book lovers delight in festival in French town Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France –Spending part of the summer in central France has constituted our annual vacation for several years now. We enjoy the peaceful atmosphere, the beautiful scenery, and the cooler weather. If there are any musical events we are happy to attend them, but they are not the main reason for our
Surprise klezmer music in a French church Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Music, Dance, and Visual ArtsBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France — How typically British. Even if a person isn’t feeling well it must be somehow be connected with the weather — that subject of eternal fascination for the true Brit. In my case, however, at least to the best of my knowledge, it didn’t have anything to do with the
Agony of a vacation sickness Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Travel and FoodA Horse Walks Into a Bar by David Grossman (published in Hebrew by Hasifriya Hahadasha) By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France — I am proud to announce that I have completed my first vacation task, namely, to read the Hebrew version of David Grossman’s book, the English translation of which was awarded the prestigious Man Booker
The author’s joke, alas, is on the reader Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson LONDON, England — As is our custom, Yigal and I take each grandchild to London as a bar-or bat-mitzva present and in order for them to familiarize themselves with their ‘roots.’ These are truly rather farcical roots, as the fact that their grandmother (i.e., yours truly) was born and brought up in
Taking Israeli children on a London visit Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International
Theresienstadt 1941-1945: The Face of a Coerced Community by H.G.Adler; Cambridge University Press, 2017 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — This monumental monograph, to which no book review can hope to do justice, comprises more than 850 pages and constitutes a far-reaching and detailed account, or rather scientific analysis, of the concentration camp that was
Book chronicles and analyzes coercion and depravity Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish HistoryBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — The history of the Herzog Hospital (formerly known as Ezrat Nashim) goes back to 1895 and the establishment of a society to provide care for the chronically ill. Since then the facility has expanded both in physical terms and in its medical scope. In the 1960s it moved to
Herzog Hospital dedicates new facilities Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & EducationFast Girl: a Life Spent Running From Madness by Suzy Favor Hamilton; HarperCollins (c) 2015. By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — This book was recommended to me with the assurance that the story it contained was interesting and even enlightening. I’m not quite sure about that. I don’t happen to find copious detail about the
Bipolar disorder led to life as prostitute Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — One doesn’t normally think of translating and editing as a dangerous profession, but my experience of working in this field for the last fifty years has had a deleterious effect on me, leaving me seriously incapacitated. Reading literature of any kind, and especially if it has been translated
The personal peril of being a translator Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Since the reviews of the above film were positive on the whole, we decided to make a supreme effort to see it, squeezing it in between two evenings of other cultural activities. The subject was particularly interesting for me because it was set in London during the Second
Film Review: Their Finest Hour Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, InternationalOn Writing by Stephen King; Scribner, Simon and Schuster, 2000 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Not being a fan of the horror/fantasy genre of novels, I must confess at the outset that I have not read any of Stephen King’s other books. I do know, however, that he is a very successful and prolific author in
Stephen King more profound as author than coach Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — A recital devoted to three of Schubert’s last sonatas (D 845, 850 and 890) was too good to miss, so we cancelled our subscription tickets to the symphonic concert that happened to fall on the same date and bought tickets for that evening instead. Sometimes life or fate or the
Pianist Wosner brings Schubert sonatas to life Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual ArtsBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I was in the ninth month of my first pregnancy when the Six Day War broke out, fifty years ago. I have written in some detail about this point in my life in my first novel, The Balancing Game, so if you have read it I apologize for
Pregnant and sheltered during the Six Day War Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Last week I was invited to hear a talk by Sharon Bashevkin Perry, who has been involved for many years in early childhood education in a variety of positions in Israel, the US and Africa. The talk was entitled ‘From Israel to Ghana – Building Bridges and Friendships Through Early Childhood Education. In 1958 Golda Meir, then Israel’s
Israeli teaches teachers in Ghana Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle East