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 –How we got onto the topic of education about the Holocaust I don’t quite know, but in a recent conversation with some friends I happened to say that I didn’t think it appropriate or beneficial for Israeli high-school students to go on school trips to Poland to visit concentration […]
Should Israeli kids skip concentration camp visits? Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –A Facebook message that appeared on my computer screen caused me so much shock and dismay that I committed a mortal Facebook sin: I told the person who had put the message up what I thought of him by using insulting language. I regret that reaction. I regret my
In defense of ‘Haaretz’ and ethical behavior Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — A petite lady with short dark hair and amazing green eyes called out my name as I entered the café at the Israel Museum where we had agreed to meet, never having set eyes on one another before. “You just looked like someone who would be called Dorothea,” she said
Becky Guttin installing sculpture in Israel Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — A few years ago I was asked to prepare the text for a website for Joseph Hirsch (1920-1997), a highly regarded Israeli artist who also happened to be my mother’s first cousin (double first cousin, actually, as two brothers had married two sisters in pre-WW1 Germany, one
My cousin Joseph Hirsch, the artist Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel -In preparation for our summer in France, or perhaps simply because I like to think I can read books in French, I bought Anne Sinclair’s book, 21 Rue la Boetie. Reading it took me into the fascinating world of French art in the twentieth century, with extensive ramifications regarding
Picasso, Rosenberg and the Nazi looters Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson ZIKHRON YA’AKOV, Israel — It’s over twenty years since my own children were teenagers, and it was with some trepidation that my husband and I agreed to leave our home and spend a week in Zikhron Ya’akov attending to our three grandsons while their parents took a well-deserved break abroad. Like everywhere
Here’s Zikhron Ya’akov from grandma’s perspective Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Travel and FoodBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson LA CREUSE, France –The village where we are currently spending our summer is a place where almost all its inhabitants are either retired, absent or dead. The memorial plaque in the centre of the village commemorating those who died in the two world wars lists 37 names for WWI and 5 for
When Jews go to a church, and vice versa Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, InternationalBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –It was only after our father died, almost ten years ago, that my sisters and I could begin to tackle the daunting task of going through all the books, papers, and sundry objects that he and our mother had managed to accumulate in their roughly 20 years of life in
Collating my mother’s recipes Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — A cold and rainy Saturday morning with no visiting grandchildren or social obligations presented a golden opportunity to attend a concert of chamber music given in the nearby neighbourhood of Ein Kerem. This is an outlying part of Jerusalem, consisting mainly of picturesque old houses, many of
Chamber music and soup! Mmm-mm good! Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –Music has played a vital role in the development of humankind. It can rouse people to action, soothe the troubled breast, and elicit a wide range of emotions. Some people, myself included, are addicted to music (classical, in my case), and cannot bear to be conscious for a single
Forming a close friendship with Music Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DEAD SEA, Israel –If one lives in Israel long enough one cannot escape being brushed by the wings of history. One week in my life recently took me – metaphorically — across continents and eras. On Tuesday I joined a group of friends for a guided tour of the home of Shai
Brushed by history on tour of Israel Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Travel and FoodBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel–I finished reading Howard Jacobson’s book, The Finkler Question, and was still pondering its manifold messages in the evening as I attended a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. This was given in Jerusalem by an amateur troupe composed mainly of immigrants from English-speaking countries.. Friends had tried to
Greatly to their credit, most Jews hold Israel close Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Travel and FoodBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Despite rumors to the contrary, Israel is a normal country at least as far as retail therapy is concerned. Shopping malls are popping up with ever-increasing frequency wherever one looks. They incorporate many advantages for both vendors and shoppers, and the ambience in them varies from quiet
Normal Arab-Jewish coexistence in Israel goes unreported by media Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — A ginger cat scampered along the gangway in front of the stage at the special concert given in the Jerusalem Theatre by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra last Independence Day. The young soloist who was playing Rachmaninoff’s very demanding third piano concerto didn’t seem to notice, though the audience did.
Feline interruptions not cat-astrophes for the orchestras Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson