Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is a freelance journalist based in Mevasseret Zion, Israel.

Her published works, available on Amazon, include:

* All Quiet on the Midwestern Plains: A Tale of Deception, Betrayal, and Vindication

* The Balancing Game: A Child Between Two Worlds, A Society Approaching War

* Chasing Dreams and Flies: A Tragicomedy of Life in France

* The Diary of Anne Frank (Cliff Notes)

* Levi Koenig: A Contemporary King Lear

* A Ruffled Calm

* Time out of Joint: The Fate of a Family

Shefer-Vanson also is a Hebrew to English translator, with those works on Amazon including:
* The Rainy Day Man by Amnon Jackont

Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ Revisited in Tel Aviv Performance

At the performance in Tel Aviv last week the audience sat in rapt silence as the orchestra played and the choir and soloists sang, bringing the majesty and drama of Verdi’s music to life. In Israel of today, with war being waged in the Gaza Strip and skirmishes raging in the north of the country, the performance of the Requiem has special significance. In the plaza of the nearby Tel Aviv Museum families of the hostages held in Gaza were demonstrating in order to convince the government to do more to get them released. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Holocaust, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Our Arab Neighbors

When I need to collect my prescription medicines for the local medical clinic I am almost invariably attended to by one of the Arab pharmacists, both male and female, who work there. The same applies to many of the nurses and even some of the doctors who provide my various medical needs in this and other clinics. Not to mention the many physicians and surgeons in our hospitals. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Theresienstadt Opera Remembered in ‘Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis’

Together with Peter Kien, who wrote the libretto, Ullmann composed the music for an opera entitled ‘The Emperor of Atlantis,’ an allegory of the Nazi regime, in which Death goes on strike in protest at the widespread killing of human beings by a power-mad ruler. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Holocaust, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Israel at War: History Repeating Itself

Of course, we all know that not all Arabs, certainly not all Moslems, are dedicated to the destruction of Israel and Jews.  Signed agreements with several Arab countries contradict this.  The major entity behind all the current antagonism is Iran, which encourages, finances and fosters hatred of Israel wherever it can. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Middle East, Opinion

A New Home for the Bezalel Academy

A plaque embedded into the entrance wall of the building states in Hebrew, Arabic and English: “Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem; Based on principles of human dignity, equality, pluralism and freedom of thought, speech and creative expression.” One can only hope that the students, who come from all segments of Israeli society, will benefit from this noble aspiration. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts, Staff and Bylined Contributors

Difficult Times

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — It is hard to write about what’s happening in Israel at the moment. First of all, we keep being told that the IDF is advancing and succeeding in wiping out the Hamas organization whose terrorists invaded Israel a few weeks ago, wreaking havoc in an orgy of bestiality,

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Opinion

Casus Belli

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — When England declared war on Germany in 1914 and again in 1939 it had not been invaded, its frontiers crossed or its citizens murdered. The basis for the outbreak of hostilities in both instances was simply a mutual defense agreement with other countries. War is a terrible thing.

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Israel, Opinion

Collective Trauma

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Is there such a thing as collective trauma? It seems there is, and Google defines and explains it as “the psychological distress that a group — usually an entire culture, community, or another large group of people — experience in response to a shared trauma. In order to

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Israel, Opinion