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 — “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 […]
The little things that provide so much happiness Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East
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,
Narratives recapture the chaos, pride of Six Day War Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –Returning from a four-week jaunt across the USA in which we visited six cities and met countless relatives and friends – both old and new – it took no time at all to get used to the pace of life in Israel. That may be due in part to
An Israeli tourist’s reflections on America Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, USAEditor’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
Richmond has history, art and many monuments Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Travel and Food, USA
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson SAN DIEGO –The JCCs (Jewish Community Centers) that are to be found in almost very town and city throughout North America provide a focal point for activities that reach out to Jews of all kinds, no matter what form or shape their convictions take. I was recently taken to visit the
JCC Association emphasizes pluralism Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, USABy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM–Not long ago I was privileged to hear renowned architect Arthur Spector give a talk about the new Hadassah Hospital building at Ein Kerem designed by his firm. Leaving aside the financial aspect of the building, which has aroused some controversy, Spector proceeded to provide his audience with a fascinating insight into
The architect’s vision of Hadassah Hospital at Ein Kerem Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Last year, for various reasons, the annual conference of the Israel Translators Association was not held. Consequently, this year’s event, which was held in Herzliya at the beginning of February, was eagerly awaited. The three-day programme comprised around fifty lectures and workshops, some of them held concurrently, interwoven
Translators often lonely and underpaid Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The general Israeli public is on the whole soft-hearted and empathetic towards those in need. The scenes we see on TV almost nightly of Syrian refugees pouring across the borders into Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, sheltering from the snow or sweltering in the heat inside the flimsy tents
By Arab standards, I’m a refugee and so are my children Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The title of the lecture, ‘An Ode to Salonika: the Ladino Verses of Boueno Sarfatty,’ was not particularly enticing, but I decided to go along anyway. In the event, I was taken by surprise and completely captivated by the erudition, mental agility and linguistic ability of the speaker,
In remembrance of a heroine of Salonika Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish HistoryBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson Naomi Tsur, who was born in England and moved to Israel in 1966 to study Classics and Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has had a varied career, ranging from coin curator in Israel’s Antiquities Authority to co-authoring a Hebrew-English/English-Hebrew dictionary and heading the Society for the Protection of Nature in
Naomi Tsur to push for green tourism Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –Taxi! Taxi drivers the world over are a race unto themselves. The taxi drivers of London, have to acquire ‘The Knowledge,’ which involves studying London’s streets till they can find any address, and have to pass an exam to gain their taxi license. These days they are separated from
Taxi drivers around the world are a special breed Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Trivia, Humor & SatireThe Jews and Germans of Hamburg; The Destruction of a Civilization, 1790-194 by J.A.S. Grenville; Routledge, London and New York, 2012, 330 pp. By Dorothea Shefer Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — This thorough study of the history of the city-state of Hamburg, a thriving Hanseatic port in north Germany, describes in almost unbearable detail the
Hamburg’s Jewish history told Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish HistoryBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I wanted to prepare a suitable version of the advertisement for my book, The Balancing Game for inclusion in the website of the San Diego Jewish World, which posts my articles from time to time and whose motto is ‘There is a Jewish Story Everywhere.’ For this purpose I
Should SDJW change its masthead font? Who knew? Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Travel and FoodBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, ISRAEL –Just as Americans remember where they were when Jack Kennedy was assassinated, Israelis remember where they were when the sirens went at 2 p.m. on Saturday, 6th October, 1973. Anyone who is now under forty or had not yet immigrated to Israel and wasn’t there at that crucial time
In the maternity ward at the onset of the Yom Kippur War Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History