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

Books tell of Germany’s destroyed synagogues

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel (TNA)–I literally trembled with emotion when I held the two volumes ofPogrom Night 1938: A Memorial to the Destroyed Synagogues of Germany. Together they comprise over seven hundred pages which are packed with information about the more than one thousand synagogues and prayer rooms that existed in pre-WWII Germany […]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History

Rescue Tape ad demeans women, promotes violence

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Disgusting! As occasionally happens, one day last week I found myself trailing behind my husband as he undertook several missions involving the purchase of equipment connected with repairs to the house and improvements in the garden. Thus it was that I found myself looking around in an admittedly

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

‘Motherhood’ book unappealing for secular readers

Tzippora Price, Mother in Action: Exploring the Inner World of Motherhood, Menucha Publishers, ISBN 97816145130-7, 133 pages. By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — First of all, the title is a misnomer, as the first part of the book is concerned with the author’s personal journey from college student in the USA to devout Jewess

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish Religion, Science, Medicine, & Education

The snake is a creature of many metaphors

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — Snakes Alive! The setting was a club for retired people in one of Jerusalem’s more prosperous and prestigious neighbourhoods. Most of its members are ladies of a certain age or more, well-dressed, well-coiffed and well-preserved, with a sprinkling of elderly gents. They spend their spare time engaging in activities which

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Science, Medicine, & Education

Jewish audience enjoys concert in a Protestant church

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — A performance of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem by my local choir, the Mevasseret Choir, in which several of my friends and neighbours sing, was more than enough to entice me to attend their recent concert, which was given in the Augusta Victoria church. The imposing church-hospital complex, which is

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

Political corruption manifested in towering eyesore

  By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM–Over and above the scandal and shenanigans surrounding the prosecution, trial and eventual conviction for accepting bribes and betraying the voters’ trust by the erstwhile  mayor of Jerusalem and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his associates is the very material existence of the building that lies at the heart of

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Middle East

The little things that provide so much happiness

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — “What makes you happy?” A recent survey in England asked people that question and, after obtaining thousands of replies and running the various statistical analyses, came up with the result that on the whole people are happier after the age of 55 than when they were younger. Various explanations

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

Narratives recapture the chaos, pride of Six Day War

  The Lion’s Gate; On the Front Lines of the Six Day War by Steven Pressfield; Sentinel/ Penguin, (c) 2014. ISBN 978-1-59523-091-1, 430 pages including index and bibliography, $29.95. By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — ‘The Lion’s Gate’ is a fascinating attempt to present the events before and during the Six Day War of June 1967,

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Middle East

Richmond has history, art and many monuments

Editor’s Note: Our correspondent from Mevasseret Zion, Israel, has been visiting the United States and occasionally blogging about what she sees.  Here is a report from Richmond, Virginia. By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson RICHMOND, Virginia — For me personally, the principal attraction of Richmond, Virginia is the presence there or in the vicinity of two first cousins

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Travel and Food, USA